In Harmony: Cable Ops Like Harmonic's Video-Over-DOCSIS Tech

In CableLabs’ 2nd Innovation Showcase, cable operators voted Harmonic’s cable IPTV solution the "best new idea that is most likely to succeed." Said Charter CTO Marwan Fawaz: "It was not necessarily a new idea, but a unique way to capitalize on the infrastructure of DOCSIS 3.0." The tech managed to stream compelling MPEG-4 video content to the PC with a low-bit rate via the DOCSIS network and the M-CTMS architecture. In the demo, an HD stream used 8Mbps, while standard def used 2Mbps. Harmonic also showed a personal mosaic application, featuring 1 HD stream and 2 SD streams that used about 12Mbps. Harmonic said the solution leverages M-CMTS architecture and delivers state-of-the-art switched digital and on-demand video using the Electra 7000 HD MPEG-4 encoder, StreamLiner on-demand platform and the NSG 9000 Universal edge QAM. About 120 operators voted Mon on the demos, which came from 12 companies at CableLabs’ Summer Conference. At the Winter Conference, the Showcase was only open to start-ups (Cfax, 3/6), but this year CableLabs invited existing vendors as well. Firms had about 10 minutes each to make their pitches. 4HomeMedia gave one of the more popular presentations among the new companies, said David Reed, CableLabs evp, Chief Strategy Officer. "They have a 4-screen approach for managing security and home monitoring services that was viewed as quite innovative," he said. Also participating were ADZILLA, Ambit Microsystems, ARRIS, Digeo, Nortel, Oberon Media/PixelPlay, Pure Networks, Scopus, Sereniti and Tzero Technologies. Comcast svp, new technology Steve Craddock said he was "really impressed" with a lot of the demos, noting Harmonic was in his top 3.