CableLabs Certifies First 3 Integrated IP Devices
In what’s considered a major cable industry first, 3 integrated, IP-based devices that can act as cable modems, embedded multimedia terminal adapters (e-MTAs) and residential home networking gateways have been cleared for use by cable systems.
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CableLabs put its stamp of approval on the 3 new, multi-function devices during its latest product testing round late last month. All 3 new IP devices passed muster at the close of the long certification wave, which was the last of a record 8 testing rounds the industry research consortium conducted in 2005. They formed a little- noticed group of the 16 products that CableLabs approved during the wave, including 5 e-MTAs, 2 cable modem termination systems (CMTSs) and 3 cable modems.
Although they look just like ordinary data-only modems, the integrated devices can handle high-speed data, VoIP and home networking applications at the same time. The only applications that they can’t handle are video signals. Thanks to the devices’ unique multi-tasking abilities, CableLabs officials like to refer to them as “triple-play” products.
The 3 new integrated devices -- manufactured respectively by Cisco-Linksys, Thomson and Netgear -- earned 4 different approvals under CableLabs’ separate DOCSIS, PacketCable and CableHome tech standards during the Dec. certification wave. Specifically, the Cisco- Linksys, Thomson and Netgear models all passed master for interoperable use by cable operators under the PacketCable 1.0, DOCSIS 1.1, DOCSIS 2.0 and CableHome 1.1 specifications, which govern VoIP, data and home networking features.
CableLabs officials, who have been seeking to encourage the development of such integrated equipment for quite some time, welcomed the news of the 3 approvals by their certification board. They argued that the production of several multi-function devices by equipment suppliers shows that cable operators must be thinking about deploying them soon.
“There’s got to be some interest somewhere,” said Craig Chamberlain, vp-systems evaluation, for CableLabs. He added that semiconductor makers have also spurred the recent development of the integrated devices by fitting all 3 functions -- data, voice and home networking -- onto a single, integrated chipset for the first time.
At the same time that it cleared the 3 integrated devices for industry use, CableLabs also approved an embedded cable modem module for the first time. ATI, a company known mainly for churning out chipsets for TV set manufacturers, earned both DOCSIS 1.1 and DOCSIS 2.0 approval of its embedded module, which can slip into larger devices.
After moving into the modem module market through its recent purchase of Terayon’s cable modem chip business, ATI is looking to help consumer electronics manufacturers build digital cable-ready TV sets, set-top boxes and other video products. Now that the first embedded module has made the grade, CableLabs officials believe that demand for them will grow as consumer electronics manufacturers look to add high-speed Internet access capabilities to their devices.