Professional Documents
Culture Documents
07 JULY 2010
Growing Rural
Next Month: Convergence, Home Networking
www.cable360.net/ct
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Reality Check
12
30
Katherine Waldron of Waldron and
Associates discusses how education
and more tax dollars could be part-and-
14 Who's Winning The Services War?
The FCC says 14 million Americans still have limited broadband access, and cable, telco and
parcel results of federal broadband
stimulus funding.
satellite providers are racing against each other to get those potential subscribers to "click
here" for voice, video and data.
news and
opinion
Editor’s Letter 6
18 Rural Broadband: Is Fiber Cable's Times Have Changed But Not
Best Buildout Bet? Nearly Enough
The real debate doesn’t begin in the political arena, but with a dollars-and-cents CT Reports 8
understanding of the technologies being pitted against each other. VOD and Multi-Platforms 8
GPON vs. EPON Sales 8
reference
departments Business/Classifieds 29
Advertiser Access 29
26 Tech Talk 28 Global Update
Doctor, doctor, give me the news: I've got a Expect a 2010 pay-TV growth spurt, Chinese
bad case of upstream blues! Your questions cable continues to outperform expectations
answered! and Vietnam is on the DTH TV short list.
© 2010 by Access Intelligence, LLC. All rights reserved. Contents may not be reproduced without permission. Communications Technology™ (ISSN 0884-2272) is published monthly by Access Intelligence, LLC,
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july2010 3
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15780
editor’s letter
Things Have
Changed But Not
Nearly Enough
Back in the days before 3G and 4G, getting a cellphone in urban areas, its capex per sub in rural areas is $300.
signal in a rural area (and even in some suburbs with Looking at things from a network opex point of view,
notorious dead spots) was an iffy situation at best. Amaz- CenturyLink spends $50 per sub in the city and suburbs,
ingly enough, on a car trip through the farmland of south and $57 per sub in rural areas. Transit and transport cost
central Illinois, I was able to make and receive calls via the carrier $6 per sub in the city and $150 per sub in the
my Mitsubishi handset and T-Mobile’s towers. country.
Things have changed, but not nearly enough. Cable Jim Farmer writes in this issue (see page 18), “The
operators and telcos still haven’t covered 100 percent of blunt reality is that this is a capital-intensive business
the U.S. footprint with services robust enough to offer for any operator. Only now are we beginning to emerge
broadband at the speeds enjoyed by most of the rest of from a credit crisis in which available capital was in
the world. And pricing has kept many consumers from short supply.”
being plugged in to the Internet. In fact, the number of Things have changed, but not nearly enough. Who
U.S. businesses and households with Internet connec- will be able to offer more broadband choice and speed to
tions has dropped slightly this year. those who live in unserved or underserved areas? Will it
The United States currently is ranked Number 22 be you? According to Farmer, “Cable operators that sit
when it comes to broadband connection speeds world- back and wait run the risk of being left behind as other
wide, according to a recent Akamai study, with AsiaPac service providers take matters into their own hands.”
far in the lead. There are many business reasons as to why On a different note, I’m going to The Independent
rural areas have not been wired, fibered, towered, etc. In Show in Baltimore later this month, and I’d love to talk
many cases, satellite providers have taken advantage of to you. Email me at dbaker@accessintel.com, and we’ll
this competitive situation by being first to market. set something up!
Speaking at a NARUC staff event earlier this year,
CenturyLink exec David Bartlett pointed out that while
it costs his company $35 per subscriber for wired service
Beneits include:
Subscribe to the
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12539
6 july2010
Fits 3x as much.
Go ahead, pull 3x as many cables as usual. MaxCell
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get the job done. Plus you can overlay with MaxCell.
More cables per conduit, less labor, and the ability to
overlay. That’s the flexibility of MaxCell.
www.maxcell.us 888.387.3828
10 Y E A R S O F M A X I M I Z I N G P RO D U C T I V I T Y
ct reports To subscribe to CT Reports, visit our Web site at www.cable360.net/subscribe/
8 july2010
ct reports
Broadband Internet Technical Advisory Group Formed
A group of broadband and high-tech com- practices within the Internet communi- network-management practices.
panies joined Adjunct Professor Dale ty," Hatfield explained. "The TAG would Hatfield, a former Federal Communi-
Hatfield of the University of Colorado at consider a number of factors in looking cations Commission (FCC) chief tech-
Boulder in announcing initial plans for a at technical practices, including wheth- nologist, will facilitate the TAG.
voluntary Broadband Internet Technical er a practice is used by others in the Participants in the initial efforts have
Advisory Group (TAG). industry; whether alternative technical included representatives from AT&T,
The TAG's mission is to bring to- approaches are available; the impact Cisco, Comcast, DISH Network, Echo-
gether engineers and similar technical of a technical practice on other enti- Star, Google, Intel, Level 3, Microsoft,
experts to develop consensus on broad- ties; and whether a technical practice is Time Warner Cable and Verizon.
band network-management practices aimed at specific content, applications The group also aims to advise on
or other related technical issues that or companies." technical issues, attempt to resolve dis-
can affect users' Internet experience, Participants agreed that the TAG's putes over network management and
including the impact to and from appli- mission also could include: (1) educat- related issues outside of an adversarial
cations, content and devices that use ing policymakers on technical issues; context, and help inform federal agen-
the Internet. (2) attempting to address specific tech- cies (e.g., the FCC, the Federal Trade
"The TAG will function as a neutral, nical matters in an effort to minimize Commission and the U.S. Department
expert technical forum and promote a related policy disputes; and (3) serving of Justice) in their industry-oversight
greater consensus around technical as a sounding board for new ideas and functions.
Tennessee Muni
Cuts Over 'Fi-
Speed' Service
EPB Fiber Optics, Chattanooga’s mu-
nicipally owned fiber-to-the-home (FTTH)
network, now is offering a 150 Mbps
symmetrical residential Internet product
called "Fi-Speed Internet 150."
Prior to the introduction of Fi-Speed
Internet 150, EPB’s FTTH network was
capable of providing 100 Mbps sym-
metrical Internet speeds to more than
100,000 homes and businesses in the
Chattanooga, Tenn., area.
EPB’s service area covers 170,000
homes and business, and 600 square
miles in Chattanooga, Hamilton County
and parts of five other counties in south-
east Tennessee and three in northern
Georgia.
Access to the 100-percent fiber-optic
network will be available to everyone in
EPB’s service area by the end of 2010.
july2010 9
ct reports To subscribe to CT Reports, visit our Web site at www.cable360.net/subscribe/
10 july2010
ct reports
TWC Unsuccessful Re: Maine Rural Telco Petition
Five Maine local telcos won what attorneys voted to maintain the exemption for Lincoln- service territory of the rural companies,
dubbed “a nationally significant ruling” ville and Tidewater. As a result, all five will re- selective competition would undercut the
from the Maine Public Utilities Commission main - in their geographic service territories ability of the rural companies to fulfill their
(PUC) that will protect them from “undue - the sole providers of wireline service. ‘provider of last resort’ obligations.”
competition from Time Warner Cable.” “Our decision…is taking place in a chang- The PUC weighed several factors for each
In a nutshell, the Maine PUC voted to deny ing landscape for telephone regulation at the rural phone company: the technical feasibil-
a request on behalf of Time Warner Cable federal level with pending congressional and ity of the proposed interconnection, whether
(TWC) to terminate the “Rural Exemption” FCC actions, in the marketplace and in wire- lifting the exemption would create an undue
under Section 251(f) of the federal Telecom- less technology,” stated Commission Chair economic burden on the rural telephone
munications Act of 1996 as it applies to the Sharon Reishus. “Our decision came down company, and whether lifting the exemption
five rural carriers. According to the plaintiffs, to an analysis of the current financial ability would be consistent with the universal ser-
TWC sought to terminate the exemption in of the rural companies to withstand market vice goals of ensuring quality phone service
order to move forward with its digital phone competition if the exemption were lifted.” at just, reasonable, and affordable rates for
service in portions of the service areas be- She continued, “Customers in these all Maine residents and access to advanced
longing to the local companies. rural areas must be assured a telephone telecommunications and information servic-
PUC commissioners gave the victory to service provider of last resort and access es. There also were some universal-service
Lincolnville Networks, Tidewater Telecom, to lifeline services. Although the commis- issues addressed in the decision.
Oxford Telephone Company, Oxford West sion has a long history of recognizing the The final PUC order has yet to be released.
Telephone Company and Unitel. They were value of competition in the telecommunica- TWC told Communications Technology it had
unanimous in voting to uphold the exemp- tions market, in this instance, where Time no comment on this decision.
tion for Unitel, Oxford and Oxford West, Warner is not proposing to expand the avail-
while a majority of the three commissioners ability of its service throughout the entire – Debra Baker
july2010 11
broadband By Ron Hranac, Senior Technology Editor
2010
1985
When Digital
Really Is Analog And Other
Things You May Not Know
Did you know the “digital” signals we carry on our Yep, digital signals in most systems are supposed
cable networks aren’t “digital?” They’re analog! to comply with the technical parameters in SCTE-
Our networks can’t carry baseband digital data -- 40 (www.scte.org/documents/pdf/standards/ANSI_
for the purists, a length of coaxial cable can, but that SCTE%2040%202004.pdf).
digital data won’t make it past the first active -- so What’s not in Part 76 of the FCC Rules is the how to
we have to convert the digital data we want to trans- behind helping to ensure those digital signals comply
mit to and from subscribers into analog RF signals. with SCTE-40. The good news is that several digital-
The latter is done using a modulation process called measurement procedures are described in “Recommended
quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM), which re- Practices for Measurements on Cable Television Systems,
sults in a double-sideband, suppressed-carrier analog 3rd Ed.,” also available from SCTE. If you have a modern
RF signal. The digital information to be transmitted is combination QAM analyzer/spectrum analyzer, most of
represented by variations in the RF signal’s phase and the required measurements can be performed fairly easily
amplitude. There are no zeros and ones per se in what using that kind of test equipment.
we call “digital” signals. Did you know that such distortions as composite
While we’re on the subject of digital, I’m occasion- triple beat (CTB), composite second order (CSO) and
ally asked about whether common path distortion
or not cable operators (CPD) don’t go away in
should do some sort of
“Did you know the an all- or mostly digital
proof-of-performance broadband sweep network? Rather than
tests on digital signals, gear used to align clusters of discrete beats
and when is the FCC that occur in a network
going to require digital and maintain out- carrying large numbers
proofs? The answer to side plants only of analog TV channels,
the first question is, in the digital distortions are
most cases, yes. What
shows half of the noise-like! Those noise-
about the second ques- measured frequency like distortion products
tion? Did you know the are known as composite
FCC has required digital
response?” intermodulation noise
signals on most cable (CIN), composite in-
networks to meet certain specs, and that this requirement termodulation distortion (CID) or intermodulation
has been on the books for several years? §76.640(b)(1) noise (IMN) -- none of which should be confused
(i) is where you’ll find the rules for digital signals. with thermal noise.
Confusion does occur, though. We know that
(1) Digital cable systems with an activated channel raising RF levels in the plant improves the carrier-to-
capacity of 750 MHz or greater shall comply with the noise ratio (CNR). But in a system with a lot of digital
following technical standards and requirements: signals, did you know raising levels improves CNR
to a point, then the noise floor starts to increase and
(i) SCTE 40 2003 (formerly DVS 313): “Digital the CNR gets worse? That seems counterintuitive,
Cable Network Interface Standard” (incorporated by but the now-elevated noise floor no longer is just
reference, see §76.602), provided however that with noise. It’s a combination of thermal noise and the
respect to Table B.11, the Phase Noise requirement previously mentioned noise-like distortions. When
shall be −86 dB/Hz, and also provided that the “tran- characterizing plant performance in the presence of
sit delay for most distant customer” requirement in CIN, the term “carrier-to-composite noise (CCN)
Table B.3 is not mandatory. ratio” commonly is used. Indeed, CCN is a much
more appropriate measurement metric than is CNR
12 july2010
under these circumstances, because there Did you know the broadband sweep when the sun lines up with geostationary
is no practical way to differentiate ther- gear we use to align and maintain our out- satellites. The sun emits electromagnetic
mal noise from CIN. side plants only shows half of the measured radiation across a wide range of frequencies,
As more and more cable networks frequency response? Before you accuse me including those used by communications
carry larger numbers of digital signals, of running low on caffeine, understand satellites. When the sun is directly behind a
the issue of signal leakage compliance that “frequency response” is a complex satellite from the perspective of a given earth
comes up. I wrote about this in my quantity that has two components: magni- station, the RF energy from the sun is strong
February 2009 column (www.cable360. tude- or amplitude-versus-frequency, and enough to exceed the desired signal(s) from
net/ct/operations/bestpractices/33882. phase-versus-frequency. The display of a that satellite. Solar-transit outages occur for
html), and follow-up articles appeared in sweep receiver shows us amplitude-versus- a few minutes on each of several days near
the March 2009 (www.cable360.net/ct/ frequency, but not phase-versus-frequency. the spring and autumn equinoxes.
deployment/techtrends/34303.html) and Ideally, amplitude-versus-frequency Finally, did you know that when we
May 2009 (www.cable360.net/ct/opera- should be flat, and phase should change measure the RF level of analog TV chan-
tions/bestpractices/35443.html) issues of in proportion to frequency. When am- nel visual carriers, we don’t measure
Communications Technology. plitude-versus-frequency is not flat, we peak power? We measure peak envelope
Comcast’s Ray Thomas and I co-au- see amplitude ripple (“standing waves”), power (PEP), which is the average power
thored a paper that was presented dur- amplitude tilt or some combination of of one cycle during the modulation crest.
ing last year’s Cable-Tec Expo technical the two. When phase-versus-frequency is A visual carrier’s modulation crest occurs
workshops. A copy of our paper and our out of whack, we have group delay. during sync pulses.
PowerPoint slides can be found on the Did you know that what are sometimes
proceedings’ CD-ROM; contact SCTE for called “sunspot outages” have nothing to do Ron Hranac is a technical leader. broadband
details. Our technical workshop high- with sunspots? Those outages actually are network engineering, for Cisco Systems and
lighted the results of extensive field tests solar transit outages, which are twice-year- CT's senior technology editor. Contact him at
that characterized leakage from all-digital ly satellite reception outages that happen rhranac@aol.com.
networks. Did you know leaking digital
signals can cause harmful interference
to over-the-air services under the right
conditions? And did you know that cur-
rently available leakage detectors can’t be
used to measure leaking digital signals?
The good news is that manufacturers are
working on digital-compatible leakage-
detector technology. But until that equip-
ment is available in production, the only
way to comply with the FCC’s existing
leakage rules is to use an analog TV
channel or continuous wave (CW) car-
rier when measuring leakage.
The migration to larger numbers of digi-
tal signals presents another complication.
Did you know most older amplifier auto-
matic gain control (AGC) circuits don’t play
nicely with a digital signal on the AGC pilot
frequency? Those AGC circuits originally
were designed for analog TV channels or
CW carriers, and not for noise-like digital
signals. Most amplifiers manufactured dur-
ing the last few years have digital-compat-
ible AGC, but hundreds of thousands (or
more!) of older amps do not. In most in-
stances, it will be necessary to use an analog
TV channel or CW carrier on the AGC pilot
frequency if you want those older amps’
AGC to work properly.
july2010 13
Who's Winning The Services War?
The FCC says 14 million Americans still have limited broadband
access, and cable, telco and satellite providers are racing
against each other to get those potential subscribers to "click
here" for voice, video and data.
By Jennifer Whalen
B
roadband services population clamoring for high-speed data. only 70 percent of rural households with
are the drivers of According to the Federal Communica- in-home Internet access had a broadband
revenue growth in tions Commission’s April 2010 report, connection compared with 84 percent of
today’s communi- “The Broadband Availability Gap,” there urban households. The main reason for
cations market. are 7 million housing units, represent- this difference: lack of availability.
Competition ing 14 million people, whose access to Sunflower Broadband recognized the
among cable, telco broadband does not meet the national value of these unserved rural customers
and satellite providers for broadband broadband availability targets of at least 4 and is pursuing a strategy that combines
customers is fierce. Fortunately, the battle Mbps (download) and 1 Mbps (upload). fixed-wireless technology and fiber to the
for broadband is not a zero-sum game. More than 4 million housing units have premise to extend its network reach and
The rural market offers a ripe opportunity no broadband access at all. The U.S. to serve new customers. In 2005, the
for expanding the broadband subscriber Department of Agriculture also noted in cable operator launched its Wave Runner
base and delivering new services to a its 2009 report on rural broadband that Wireless service. Based on Motorola’s
14 july2010
Canopy products (line-of-site, 2.4 GHz the touch points you have for mainte- them to all digital. “We will free up 300
wireless, unlicensed spectrum), Wave nance simplifies the network dramatically, megahertz of the 550 MHz by going to all
Runner Wireless delivers as much as 2 while still providing the same services that digital. That will allow us to add a lot of
Mbps download and 256 Kbps upload operators deliver on their HFC networks,” HD and DOCSIS 3.0 channel bonding,”
speeds for $49.95 per month. Rod said John Dahlquist, vice president/Mar- Might explained.
Kutemeir, general manager at Sunflower keting for Aurora Networks. The new set-tops also will support fu-
Broadband, reported that 656 customers RFoG also help operators reach far- ture capacity expansion, which is critical
subscribe to the service. flung rural homes. “It provides the for sustaining rural broadband growth.
But the wireless Internet service is opportunity to reach much longer dis- “The boxes are also MPEG-4 capable,” he
just the launching point for reaching tances,” explained Matt Endsley, vice continued. “So if we start running tight
new rural customers. In 2007, Sunflower president/Strategic Accounts/West for on bandwidth again, we can implement
began deploying CommScope’s Bright- ARRIS. Plus “it provides the ability to MPEG-4 and reclaim another 40 percent
Path radio frequency over glass (RFoG) build in a pay-as-you-go approach,” said of our bandwidth.”
solution. The operator’s RFoG deploy- John Homsey, senior director/Sales En-
ments now also include products from gineering and Applications Engineering
Alloptics, Aurora Networks and Hitachi, for Hitachi Communication Technolo-
adds Kutemeir. gies America. “With RFoG, you con-
Sunflower uses Wave Runner Wireless struct the fiber past the homes, but only
to introduce new rural subs to its broad- put the equipment necessary in place
band services, and then it builds the RFoG when customers turn up service.”
fiber network into those areas. “Custom-
ers develop a relationship with us,” said Migration To All Digital
Kutemeir. “Then when we run glass to But what if, like many rural cable op-
their house, they are standing there with erators, you still maintain a 550 MHz
lemonade, saying ‘Come on in.’” HFC plant? Will your network have the
He added that most customers passed capacity to support the 50 Mbps and
by the RFoG network switch to the com- 100 Mbps DOCSIS 3.0 broadband data
pany’s DOCSIS 3.0 50 Mbps service, services that will be necessary to remain
In 2007, Sunflower Broadband began deploying
which costs just $10 more a month than competitive? Ironically, a development in
CommScope’s BrightPath radio frequency over
Wave Runner Wireless. As rural custom- the video space could provide a solution. glass (RFoG) solution; it also uses products from
ers migrate from the wireless service to the Roughly 60 percent of CableOne’s plant Alloptics, Aurora Networks and Hitachi.
DOCSIS 3.0 offering, Sunflower reclaims operates at 550 MHz, reported Thomas
the Canopy products and installs them in Might, president and CEO of that com- DOCSIS 3.0: The Killer App
new rural areas that are again outside the pany. However, Might admitted that many Whether you’re deploying RFoG or mov-
reach of its network. Those areas become of those systems lack the bandwidth to ing to all digital in your rural networks,
future prospects for RFoG deployments. support DOCSIS 3.0. supporting DOCSIS 3.0 data services is
Sunflower passes 450 homes with RFoG To solve that problem, CableOne the key broadband driver. With DOCSIS
and has 297 active customers. sought a waiver from the FCC to allow it 3.0, cable operators can bond channels to
to deploy low-cost, high-definition (HD) offer speeds as fast as 100 Mbps. Sunflow-
Benefits Of RFoG set-top boxes that did not include re- er Broadband already has upgraded all of
So why is RFoG suitable for rural areas? movable cable cards. Last year, the FCC its systems to DOCSIS 3.0. The company
“It’s much more cost-effective. We can granted CableOne a waiver for its Dyers- currently offers 50 Mbps service and ex-
build out with lower densities per mile burg, Tenn., system. The FCC has since pects to launch 100 Mbps service by year
of fiber,” said Kutemeir. “With HFC, we indicated a willingness to eliminate that end. Wave Broadband has upgraded five
need 100 to 150 homes per node. With HD set-top requirement for all systems of its systems to DOCSIS 3.0, and it also
fiber to the home, we can get to under operating at 550 MHz and lower, and pos- offers 50 Mbps service in those areas.
10 homes passed per mile and still be sibly for systems operating at 750 MHz “We believe that the benefits of DOC-
profitable.” and higher. SIS 3.0 go well-beyond offering 50 Mbps
From where are these savings gleaned? What does this mean for CableOne? In or 100 Mbps service. The ability to load
Because it’s a passive architecture, RFoG December 2010, the operator expects to balance, better balance customer usage,
eliminates the need for active devices, take delivery of new low-cost ($50) HD and use more down streams is what’s
which saves capital. It also accrues signifi- set-tops for deployment in Dyersburg. going to make this technology so valu-
cant maintenance benefits. “Eliminating Should the FCC expand the waiver to all able,” said Steve Friedman, COO at
active devices, power supplies and all of 550 MHz systems, CableOne will convert Wave Broadband.
july2010 15
Advice for Rural Broadband Providers $100 a megabyte,” said Matt Polka, ACA
president and CEO. “Where there is com-
Deploy RFoG. “Just do it,” said Sunflower Broadband’s Rod Kutemeier. “There is always petition, costs can come down to less than
somewhere close to town where you can try this. Once you try it, you’ll see that it’s easy and $10 a meg.”
that the economics are there.” It’s not just the high cost of these circuits
Secure Fiber Connections to the Internet. “Manage your costs and manage your capacity that causes problems for rural broadband
all the way to the Internet,” said Wave Broadband’s Steve Friedman. “When you do that, you’ll main- providers; it’s their limited capacity as well.
tain the speeds and service levels that customers will want, which will lead to growth.” “If I can’t scale my network, customers will
Go Digital. “Rural operators need to be transitioning to digital as quickly as they can, imple- see slower speeds. All the speed in my net-
menting technology to reclaim analog bandwidth, and using it for higher broadband speeds,” work does no good if I don’t have access to
said ACA’s Matt Polka. the fiber backbone,” said Friedman.
Eliminate Amplifiers. “Push fiber deeper and eliminate RF amps, those power-hungry
gremlins that cause you to spend money on maintenance and power and that cause reliability DSL Competition
problems,” said Aurora Network’s John Dahlquist. Like cable, telcos are pushing their copper
Build Your Network Once. “We’re only just touching what fiber optics can do. It’s not a plant deeper into rural areas to deliver fast-
one-service network, but supports multiple services, platforms, and products,” said Hitachi’s er broadband speeds. “Qwest is competing
John Homsey. Deploying fiber eliminates the need for rebuilds. aggressively,” said CableOne’s Might. “It’s
Prepare for the All-IP Future. “We are in the midst of transitioning from an analog envi- traditional digital subscriber line (DSL),
ronment to an all-IP environment. Investigate new IP solutions to make sure you are making but very aggressive DSL.”
the right decisions for your network,” said ARRIS’s Matt Endsley. Might reported that Qwest offers 20
Make Your Voice Heard. “If you are subject to a government overbuild, be vocal. Scream bloody Mbps data service in many of CableOne’s
murder,” said ACA’s Polka, addressing the federal broadband stimulus funds now being awarded (see service areas and 40 Mbps DSL in a few.
related story on page X). “It’s not fair. The government isn’t supposed to pick winners and losers.” Qwest has also applied for a federal stimu-
lus grant to extend broadband at speeds
of 12 to 40 Mbps to rural communities
Year Cable Modems DSL Fixed Wireless Fiber To The Home Satellite throughout its local service region. (Editor’s
2002 59.0 40.4 -- 0.6 -- note: Qwest declined CT’s request for an inter-
2003 60.4 39.2 -- 0.4 -- view for this story.)
2004 59.0 40.6 -- 0.3 --
2005 57.0 40.9 0.5 0.7 1.0 FTTH Inroads
2006 54.1 43.3 0.7 0.9 0.9
Independent telcos also have rural broad-
band expansion plans. Solarus, the largest
2007 52.4 43.7 0.9 2.0 1.1
independent telephone company in Wis-
2008 52.3 42.3 1.1 3.1 1.2
consin, is conducting a 300-home trial of
2009 50.7 42.4 1.8 3.8 1.2 fiber to the home (FTTH). The company
2010 48.5 41.6 2.5 6.2 1.2 plans to upgrade its entire service terri-
2011 46.6 40.1 3.3 8.7 1.3 tory to FTTH during the next three to five
2012 45.0 39.0 4.3 10.3 1.4 years, said Mike Meinel, director of sales
2013 44.2 38.4 4.6 11.5 1.3 and marketing for Solarus.
“We are building FTTH because the
TABLE 1: The TIA's upcoming 2010 ICT market review and forecast notes that cable appetite for broadband is growing substan-
modems are now and will continue to be the prime source of U.S. broadband access. tially,” Meinel said. “Ten years ago, when we
built fiber to the curb, we thought 5 Mbps
Friedman is a bullish about broadband’s broadband providers is getting good access pipes were enough. Now people are talking
role for rural operators. “The reason our back into the Internet,” said Friedman, who about 100 Mbps to the home.”
business has grown over the years is be- also serves as chairman of the American Solarus offers two DSL packages — 1
cause of the Internet,” he said. “Yes, we Cable Association (ACA). “Many of our Mbps and 2 Mbps symmetric DSL — to 98
add new services to video and revenues members have a problem getting fiber built percent of its territory. The service costs $50
grow. But the real base of the business is the out far enough to access the national fiber when bundled with voice and video ($10
Internet. That’s driven our growth at Wave network.” more for the 2 Mbps service). As a com-
Broadband. That’s how you grow the busi- These rural broadband providers must petitive local exchange carrier, Solarus also
ness, how you protect your business in the purchase T1 or DS3 circuits from local delivers fixed wireless broadband services
future, and how you satisfy your customers. telcos to connect their networks to the via its 700 MHz licensed spectrum to 1,000
The Internet leads the way.” Internet. “Because there is no competi- customers outside of its territory. The wire-
However, you have to get to the Internet. tion in many of these markets, telcos can less service is available at speeds ranging
“The Number One challenge facing rural charge exorbitant rates, sometimes up to from 768 Kbps symmetric ($39 a month) to
16 july2010
3 Mbps symmetric ($159 per month). Satellite-Enabled Voice, Tweeting Speed Rural Road Rally Communications
The Telecommunications Industry As-
sociation (TIA) predicts fixed wireless so-
lutions will play a growing role in rural
broadband, adding 4 million customers
between now and 2013, making it second
only to FTTH as the fastest-growing broad-
band technology.
july2010 17
BROADBAND
Is Fiber Cable's Best Buildout Bet?
The real debate doesn’t begin in the political arena, but with
a dollars-and-cents understanding of the technologies being
pitted against each other.
By Jim Farmer
“(Broadband) technology has changed traditional business million U.S. homes to have, within the next decade, affordable
models that all small business owners once relied on. As such, access to actual download speeds of at least 100 Mbps and actual
it is particularly important that small businesses have access to upload speeds of at least 50 Mbps (see Figure 1 on page 20). Obvi-
broadband technologies so they can compete on a global level ously, there is a significant chasm to be crossed to reach that 100
... We don’t want to connect just Main Street, we also want to Mbps target.
connect every street, every side alley and every country road so The nation’s large MSOs are preoccupied by their battles to
that all small businesses, whether they are in traditional farm- control large urban markets with high subscriber density, pitting
ing interests or Internet start-ups out in these less populated advanced fiber-optic network technology against HFC networks
areas have the same technological opportunities ... at the same operating on the DOCSIS 3.0 standard. Less lucrative suburban
time, we must assure broadband is affordable.” and rural markets often are neglected. Why?
Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), chair of the Senate Committee on For large operators, it is difficult to develop a viable business
Small Business and Entrepreneurship, made this statement in her case for these markets. Even if stimulus funding is obtained (a
opening remarks at an April 27 hearing on federal efforts to ex- foreign concept to many MSOs), a large operator still is faced with
pand small-business Internet access across America, especially in a fragmented marketplace, in which multiple applications must be
small and rural markets that either are under-served or not served made in multiple markets, which raises a legitimate concern about
at all by broadband access to the information superhighway. the ultimate return on the investment.
But while it is fair and legitimate for this issue to have entered The blunt reality is that this is a capital-intensive business for
the political sphere, politicians only can define a sound direction any operator. Only now are we beginning to emerge from a credit
for public policy when they have a clear understanding of the busi- crisis in which available capital was in short supply. However,
ness case for, and the capabilities of, the technologies at hand. given the high-volume metrics upon which the business models
At that hearing, Steve Friedman, chair of the American Cable of the big guys rely, what may be a marginal play for them in terms
Association (ACA), declared, “Cable is the best technology in the of ROI may in fact present a good business opportunity for smaller
ground today to meet the Administration’s goals of bringing 100 operators – those that are more flexible and nimble in terms of the
Mbps broadband speed to all. With the advent of DOCSIS 3.0, markets they accustomed to serving, can avail themselves of such
cable operators can deliver these speeds over their existing cable funding sources as stimulus monies, and have fewer legacy issues
networks without the need for government funding.” related to big investments in traditional industry technologies.
He also observed that the cable industry as a whole provides Does this, then, position the small and mid-sized independent
broadband access to 95 percent of the country, “the vast major- cable operators, represented by the ACA, as the hope of rural and
ity of which receive speeds of at least 3 Mbps – faster than most small-town America for broadband connectivity? If so, they need
DSL providers.” to move fast. A recent study conducted by RVA Market Research
The National Broadband Plan, however, calls for at least 100 for the Fiber-to-the-Home Council found that hundreds of small
18 july2010
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nity level was represented at the hearing by
Terry Huval, director of Louisiana Utilities
Services – a municipal-owned utility that
operates one of the largest and most suc-
cessful broadband fiber deployments in the
country in the city of Lafayette. Residential
service begins with a symmetrical 10 Mbps
connection for $29.95 a month and 50
Mbps for $57.95. A business service with
download speeds of as much as 100 Mbps
also is available.
However, Lafayette faced bitter opposi-
tion from incumbent cable and telephone
providers that fought the deployment all
the way to the state Supreme Court after
refusing to install an advanced broad-
band network on the grounds that the
community was too small to warrant
such an investment.
Typically, municipalities are forced to
step in when commercial service providers
don’t install advanced capabilities. But even
Huval, for all his frustration, stated that
deploying advanced broadband networks to
small and rural communities shouldn’t have
Source: FCC to be the job of local government.
“Our major point is that this kind of
FIGURE 1: The National Broadband Plan calls for at least 100 million U.S. homes to have, infrastructure is what we need to have, we
within the next decade, affordable access to actual download speeds of at least 100 Mbps and need to all set the target – here’s where we
actual upload speeds of at least 50 Mbps. Today, much of the United States meets that challenge.
want to be and ask everyone at the table,
‘who’s going to get us all there fastest,’”
independent telcos, broadband service Snowe (R-Maine) emphasized during the Huval said. “If the private sector can, then
providers and municipalities, in addition April 27 hearing, the fact that only one they should.”
to some cable-TV operators, already have percent of America’s small businesses ex- Cable operators that sit back and wait
brought gigabit-enabled, all-fiber service port anything is a critical issue that must run the risk of being left behind as other
to a total of more than 1.4 million North be addressed at a time when the nation is service providers take matters into their
American homes - about a quarter of all facing a jobless recovery. own hands.
Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) and Business Sen. Snowe cited a recent report from the
(FTTB) connections on the continent. All- Brookings Institute that found broadband Addressing The Challenges
fiber networks now reach 16 percent of capital expenditures helped create 500,000 In fairness to the membership of the ACA,
homes in North America, with 5.8 mil- jobs in 2009 alone while estimating a $5 Friedman did cite several key policy re-
lion homes now receiving TV, high-speed billion increase in funding would increase forms government must undertake to help
Internet and/or phone service via these broadband penetration by 7 percent, result- ensure cable operators serving smaller and
networks. ing in 2.4 million new American jobs. rural markets can afford to make necessary
Typically, these municipal deployments If, in fact, the ACA’s membership has the broadband investments.
have been done to provision advanced technological capabilities in the ground Friedman emphasized the importance of
triple-play services. These networks provide today to meet the ambitious target set forth upgrading middle-mile infrastructure, an
affordable broadband services with upload by the National Broadband Plan, as Fried- undertaking often too expensive for inde-
and download speeds that start at 10 Mbps. man said, then significant work remains pendent cable operators to do themselves.
This compares to services delivered over to be done. A key question however, is Rural middle-mile links, he claimed, “are
DSL and HFC, in which the upload speeds whether the technology available today often high-cost, low capacity pipes creating
typically are only a fraction of the down- upon which most of the industry is rest- a bottleneck that reduces data speeds for
load speed – which can be a significant ing its hopes – DOCSIS 3.0 – truly has the our customers.”
hindrance to local businesses attempting to horsepower to get the job done, and if it He also cited the rising fees to attach
expand and compete on the global stage. doesn’t, what options are there for cable cable wires and routing equipment to tele-
And business is the real issue here. operators that won’t break the bank? phone poles owned or controlled by electric
As both Sen. Landrieu and Sen. Olympia The drive toward fiber at the commu- cooperatives and municipalities as barriers
20 july2010
to rural broadband investment. as more subscribers download over-the-top they can manage with their DOCSIS sys-
Lastly, Friedman called on the FCC to act video and other bandwidth-intensive mate- tem. That is coming.
on a recent proposal that would allow all rial, more bandwidth is needed. In the meantime, we remain where we
cable operators to offer low-cost, low-func- Fiber, on the other hand, provides more are – the big MSOs are, for the most part,
tionality HD set-top boxes as a substitute flexibility and requires less advance plan- investing little if any capital to upgrade
for expensive CableCARD-enabled boxes ning. Take for example, a network on one their rural subscribers to DOCSIS 3.0.
mandated under regulations in effect since of the common FTTH standards: gigagit When the local municipality decides to
July 2007 for the transition from analog to passive optical network (GPON), in which fill the gap with a broadband network of
digital service. He said this would help free 32 subscribers are served from a single its own, the response is often a price war,
bandwidth capacity that will allow for the node. These 32 subscribers will share a 2.4 a legal action or even a departure by the
provision of broadband speeds as fast as Gbps connection, for an average down- MSO from the market.
100 Mbps. load speed of approximately 75 Mbps per There is no real reason why a MSO can-
However, while you can create more subscriber. Obviously, we are much closer not move away from DOCSIS 3.0 for green-
bandwidth if you repurpose some video to the 100 Mbps target called for in the fields and new developments or deploy a
channels to data (and one way to achieve National Broadband Plan. Depending on FTTB overlay. An existing video headend,
this is to convert more channels to digital), how much bandwidth is being used by in- for example, can be shared between fiber
you still aren't going to reach that magical dividual subscribers at any one time, service and HFC cable, using existing voice equip-
100 Mbps target without that costly up- will almost always hit the 100 Mbps mark. ment. While most of the MSO’s cable busi-
grade to DOCSIS 3.0. To achieve similar performance with ness (read “revenue”) can remain on its
DOCSIS 3.0, the number of subscribers existing HFC build, it can deploy FTTH
Is DOCSIS 3.O Enough? per node would have to be limited to two. and FTTB to new greenfield developments
Which brings us to the fine point of the That’s going to require a lot of new invest- or any other market segment to which it
matter – how does DOCSIS 3.0 shape up ment in hardware and cable runs that, in has not yet run cable.
against a passive optical network (PON) the final analysis, makes a fiber deployment
that brings fiber all the way to home and much more economical by comparison. And Smaller Players?
business? At what point does the cost and All this pertains only to the downstream As for the smaller operators represented
effort of upgrading to DOCSIS 3.0 and pre- capacity. A fundamental challenge, and lim- by the ACA, they are in an excellent posi-
planning a network to squeeze as much itation, with DOCSIS 3.0 is its upstream ca- tion to address the rural broadband divide.
bandwidth as possible from an existing pacity, which is dictated by the actual plant, The cable industry, after all, did begin as a
HFC infrastructure make fiber a much the issue of noise funneling depending on grassroots endeavor to serve rural residents
more economical alternative? how many homes and businesses are on the and small communities. Part of the solu-
While DOCSIS 3.0 has made signifi- same channel, and the condition of in-home tion resides with government dealing with
cant improvements in bandwidth availabil- wiring. This can be addressed to some de- the issues outlined by Friedman at the
ity compared with its predecessors through gree by reducing the number of subscribers April 27 hearing.
channel bonding, an operator always must per channel but, again, that requires costly Of course, favorable regulatory and policy
make tradeoffs between downstream chan- investments in new gear as well as frequent decisions are only part of the equation. The
nel allocation and the type of traffic that will reengineering of the network. onus is on the cable operators themselves
be carried on a network, be it video or data. to set their priorities for the future and to
Such advanced network planning might A Happy Medium? consider what technologies allow them to
meet the short-term traffic patterns of the Radio Frequency over Glass (RFoG) also best serve the needs of the communities
network and the bandwidth allocation to has emerged as new option for cable pro- they connect. All stakeholders must work
the node (nodes represent a group of sub- viders, in which RF transmission is used in together to define business models that
scribers that are sharing the allocated chan- both directions. However, it still is a DOC- make it financially possible to roll out the
nels and bandwidth, similar to a PON SIS-bound solution, subject to DOCSIS’ advanced broadband connectivity rural and
network where an optical fiber is serving inherent shortcomings compared to fiber. small communities need at an affordable
multiple customers). It bears noting that there are two parts to price to subscribers. While Friedman said
However, as consumers demand more and a cable operator’s network: the physical net- his membership can deliver broadband ser-
more bandwidth-intensive TV services like work infrastructure and the management vice without government stimulus monies,
HD and 3D, having sufficient bandwidth to system that manages traffic over that infra- it may in fact be a necessary step to deploy
allocate will become increasingly difficult, if structure. For many operators, being able a future-proof network that will endure for
not impossible. DOCSIS 3.0 sharing might to manage the network with their DOCSIS decades to come.
see as many as 150 subscribers on a node, management system is of greater impor- Because the thirst for more bandwidth
with shared bandwidth approaching 160 tance than the underlying infrastructure. shows no sign of abating.
Mbps, at a cost of 40 standard definition What cable operators need is a means to
(SD) or 8 HD video programs. The data uncouple from that legacy HFC network Jim Farmer is chief network architect at Enablence
represents an average speed per subscriber and make the most of a DOCSIS investment Networks Inc. Contact him at Jim.farmer@
of about 1 Mbps, which is a lot today, but by being able to plug into a fiber network enablence.com.
july2010 21
CYBER
SAFET
Secured Messaging = A Protected Brand
By David Harvey, Message Systems, and Ken Schneider, Symantec
C
yber threats against As a hedge, cable providers now need application levels to enhance the accuracy
most organizations, in- to implement a progressive solution that is and effectiveness of threat detection and
cluding cable providers, global in its resources and blends automa- ensure the environment remains safe.
increasingly are origi- tion with human intelligence. Increasing, With a sweeping approach to message
nating from emerging barriers to unwanted attacks not only will security that goes beyond content scanning,
countries where In- save the company money, but also will help carriers and other service providers will
ternet infrastructures are growing rapidly. protect the company’s brand reputation by gain a competitive edge through improved
Attacks—including phishing, bots, spam enabling a better user experience. service levels and better user experiences.
and denial of service (DOS) attacks—from Only a next-generation threat-protection That means less customer churn, higher
these developing areas are becoming more system that enables the dynamic application average revenue per user (ARPU) and sim-
malicious in nature and can be directed at of real-time intelligence sharing for plified management—all at a lower total
any country. Where previously attackers greater effectiveness, responsiveness and cost of ownership.
wrote a relatively small number of threats operational efficiency can absorb and defend Email remains a vital messaging
targeted to a large group, now they create a against these sophisticated attacks. Cable channel for cable providers. However,
much higher number of threats targeted to operators need a multi-tiered system that spam continues to grow (now 85 percent
small groups. provides protection at both the network and of all email traffic) and evolve along with
22 july2010
As cyber threats and attacks continue to evolve, it is critical that
cable providers act now to develop a comprehensive security strategy
that is risk-based, policy-driven, information-centric, operationalized
and comes with a well-managed infrastructure.
security continue to be under pressure even evolving attacks, improve service levels,
as volumes and threats grow. improve customer experiences and reduce
As such, messaging threats tend to be costs through streamlined operations.
treated with older solutions using historic An important consideration for cable-
thought practices and pieced-together dis- cos regarding a next-gen threat protection
parate products and services. Solutions that system is tight integration offered by inde-
offer advanced message management and pendent application and platform providers.
security capabilities in a single integrated Tight integration is important to maximizing
package simply have not been available the benefit of both, but not to the point of re-
until recently. The net result of these factors stricting choice, such as with a single-source
generally is sub-par threat protection. or closed solution. Choosing independent
application and platform providers is impor-
Key Components tant because it allows cable providers to take
In some cases, cable providers are strapped advantage of the technology innovation of
by legacy systems that aren’t flexible and both while preserving the choice to respond
don’t scale. In others, they’ve got point to ever-changing threats in the ways that
TY
applications and platforms that aren’t ex- best suit each operator’s unique needs.
tensible or simply don’t provide solutions
adequate to today’s challenges and needs. The Benefits
What’s needed is a combination of best- Here’s a comprehensive checklist regarding
of-breed products and services to create a the benefits of an integrated solution:
well-rounded suite of message security and
management solutions. This combination It provides better service: The need
will more readily enable service providers for cable providers to enhance the user
to achieve their business objectives, to post experience, and to reduce customer churn
higher financial returns and to gain a com- and infrastructure investment is not a
petitive edge in the marketplace. “nice to have;” it’s a “must have.” Genesys,
Cable providers should look for features Greenfield Online and analysts from Data-
that include network-level, multi-tiered fil- monitor/Ovum found a $50.6 billion loss
tering; advanced spam detection and pre- from customer churn and industry defects.
the increasing number of such security threats vention capabilities; flexibility in running Cable providers are fighting to keep cus-
as viruses, phishing (see Figure 1 and Figure 2 different rule sets for different groups on a tomers who are looking at low cost and free
on page 24), Trojan horses and malware. More side-by-side, per-message basis; and the un- services. Estimates show the cable/satellite
than 40 percent of IT groups cite cyber risk as paralleled ability to integrate into virtually industry has lost more than $10 billion
their top concern, yet most carriers continue to any client environment. from poor customer service.
rely on technology that’s a step behind. Failing To keep the network and customers safe, It better leverages existing infrastruc-
to detect these threats early and allowing them cable providers need a next-gen threat pro- ture: The cable industry can better lever-
to infiltrate the network deeply is costly. In tection system that stays ahead of threats age its infrastructure by stopping spam
addition to hard costs, cable providers face and helps ensure airtight security in an at the network level. However, efficiency
customer-satisfaction issues that often are ever-changing environment. This solution and effectiveness gains are based on intelli-
damaged beyond repair. requires a comprehensive, holistic approach gence-sharing between all components of a
that enables carriers and service providers solution. This means the solution is depen-
Almost No One Is Immune to block threats at the earliest point with dent on adequate end-to-end resources to
If last year is any indication, three out of four fully integrated security components at all identify abuse and to communicate (share
communications service providers will be hit levels (content, protocol and edge of net- intelligence) with the other components.
by cyber attacks in 2010. While the potential work) for realtime intelligence sharing. While lower overall network traffic might
damage from these and other attacks, such as As a result, they can detect and respond appear to justify a reduction in downstream
DOS, can be severe, fully 90 percent are avoid- to threats faster (before they cause serious servers, such reductions could hinder the
able if companies better protect their networks. damage to the business), deploy enhanced effectiveness of the solution and could
Unfortunately, operating budgets for messaging security capabilities to counter ever- introduce latency. With the cable industry
july2010 23
Source: M86 Security
looking to expand into the business/en- more efficient operations than specialized is on the same page, it can create a unified
terprise market, operators should leverage point products. interface with robust reporting in a single,
their existing infrastructure but take cau- Combined global and local reputation unified management console for policy
tion in reducing it. data maximizes accuracy and minimizes and configuration changes, making ad-
It provides better decision-making false positives with expanded use of a ven- ministering the solution easy and efficient,
through shared intelligence from other dor’s reputation lists as well as data from and giving cable providers greater control
networks and data sources: If a cable a provider’s local servers. This balanced over all parts of email security. Powerful
provider chooses an intelligence network approach incorporates new feedback faster, reporting consolidates data from all solu-
with a large base of experts and a high further optimizes Layer Three (TCP/IP) tion components into cohesive graphs,
detection rate with few false positives, throttling at the network edge and blends reports and logs for complete end-to-end
then it most likely find an automatic and the benefits of a global view with filtering insight that’s truly actionable.
seamless information transfer to both tailored for your environment. The result
internal and external data repositories is threats are quickly and efficiently identi- Additional components include a
and additional intelligence that improves fied and dealt with, and spammers seek out streamlined and rapid installation able
a solution’s accuracy and effectiveness in more vulnerable targets. to duplicate a cable provider’s current
filtering out threats. There could be advanced security configuration so it can be assured of a
It offers complete control and visibility capabilities to counter ever-evolving non-disruptive migration. With the flexi-
of all messaging activity and response to threats: Message parking for zero-hour bility to run entirely different rule sets for
observed behavior: Unlike point-focused and outbound attacks improves the ability individual user groups on a side-by-side,
products, multi-tiered systems provide pro- to filter newly released spam threats as well per-message basis, administrators have
tection at both the network level and at the as outbound attacks (egress spam) accu- incredible control over the way messages
application level to enhance the accuracy rately. Combined with such powerful heu- are handled across the network.
and effectiveness of threat detection and to ristics as improved botnet detection, fully Seamless integration and carrier-grade
help ensure the environment remains safe. integrated message parking is an effective availability provide an unparalleled
And with a sweeping approach to message method for staying a step ahead of spam- ability to integrate with virtually any
security that goes way beyond content scan- mers by identifying suspicious messages environment, resulting in a fast, easy
ning, service providers will gain a competi- and holding them for scanning when implementation with minimal adminis-
tive edge through improved service levels new filters are available. tration so cable providers can experience
and better end-user experiences. Enhanced detection of “snowshoe” the benefits immediately. Some solutions
There could be lower costs and greater spam goes beyond basic filtering methods provide an automatic failover to help
efficiency via connection/bandwidth man- that aren’t enough to protect from today’s ensure 100-percent platform availability.
agement: Connection/bandwidth manage- more sophisticated messaging abuse. Once it’s up, it stays up.
ment with SMTP trending and Layer Three However, new tools enable the solu-
network-level control combine multiple tion to identify snowshoe attacks—small David Harvey is vice president/Business Devel-
content scanning modules with heuristics volumes of spam sent from numerous opment at Message Systems, and Ken Schneider
and reputation data at the platform and net- IP addresses—and prevent these covert is CTO/Enterprise Security Group at Symantec.
work levels for true multi-tiered filtering. threats from impacting a network. Contact them at david.harvey@messagesys-
Achieved through tight integration, this ap- Simplified management and solid tems.com and kenneth_schneider@symantec.
proach is proved to deliver better results and business continuity: Once a global team com, respectively.
24 july2010
Your Most Comprehensive
Satellite Research Tool
Updated for 2010, the directory includes:
26 july2010
Tech Talk
signals are transmitted is susceptible to clip- Given that MER is extremely accurate, What is most common outside plant
ping (downstream lasers can clip, too). is there a limit to a field meter’s (specifi- cause of group delay? Is it diplex filters
cally a DSAM 6000) accuracy in regards in actives?
From the CMTS perspective, is there any to MER? Are the rumors true that the Group delay in the outside plant is prob-
best practice that can be applied for up- DSAM is inaccurate when reading MER lematic at the return path band edges
stream issues? at higher (or lower) error ratio levels? (5 MHz~10 MHz, caused by AC chokes/
Consult with your CMTS manufacturer for The article "Is MER Overrated?" may an- filters, and greater than about 35 MHz,
recommended configurations and modula- swer your question from a general per- caused by diplex filters). When a micro-re-
tion profiles. spective as to why one often sees differ- flection creates amplitude ripple ("stand-
ences in reported MER among various ing waves"), one is likely to see group de-
What is meant by unequalized vs. equal- makes/models of test equipment (www. lay ripple, too. The testing Midcontinent
ized modulation error ratio (MER)? cable360.net/ct/sections/columns/broad- has performed on live plant pointed to a
Equalized MER is computed in a QAM re- band/39246.html). All of JDSU’s DSAM diplexer each time. Each time it tested a
ceiver (cable modem, set-top, CMTS up- meter’s have an MER accuracy specifica- cable modem following an amplifiers di-
stream receiver, QAM analyzer, etc.) after the tion of 35 dB +/- 2 dB (typical), with an plexer, the group delay increased until the
adaptive equalizer compensates for channel input level between -5 dBmV and +50 test reached the fourth and fifth amplifier,
response impairments. Unequalized MER is dBmV. Although the DSAM meters can where the cable modem struggled to op-
computed before the adaptive equalizer. (For display MER readings up to 40 dB (or erate.
more on this, see "Equalized or Unequalized? slightly higher), the MER accuracy is not
That is the Question" at www.cable360.net/ guaranteed. But that doesn’t necessarily What are some options for performing re-
ct/operations/bestpractices/21885.html.) mean that they are “inaccurate.” verse sweep in a fully loaded upstream?:
Your sweep equipment manufacturer can
What effect does combining upstream re- How accurate is the Broadcom SNR mea- provide recommendations about sweep
turns on a DWDM link have on upstream sure compared to a spectrum analyzer? equipment configuration for use in a con-
signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and CWEs? A CMTS burst receiver chip's reported gested upstream spectrum. Many op-
This would first depend on whether the re- "upstream SNR" actually is MER. It is NOT erators leave small gaps between each
turn is analog or digital. Digital returns are the same thing as CNR that you would upstream to enable a sweep point to
usually unaffected by DWDM technology measure with a spectrum analyzer. CNR be inserted. You NEVER want to insert
unless “normal” optical impairments are does affect the reported MER, but many sweep pulses and/or sweep telemetry
present (e.g., low light due to muxing, etc.). other factors do, too. carriers anywhere within the occupied
If not aligned correctly the amount of analog bandwidth of any upstream carrier! One
upstreams combined can affect upstream Which equipment can help technicians vendor recommends that cable operators
SNR (MER) or CWE. see linear distortions? allow a 500 kHz guard-band between
Most CWE or MER problems that An upstream-capable QAM analyzer or carriers for sweep insertion points if pos-
have been encountered with upstream similar digital signal analyzer is useful for sible in order to avoid interfering with up-
optics are due to other such normal opti- determining the presence of linear distor- stream carriers.
cal impairments as low or excessive light tions. The screenshots used during the At worst case, the guard band can be
levels, low or excessive RF levels, over- CT/JDSU Webcast were from JDSU's a minimum of 100 kHz; however, when-
driving an upstream erbium doped fibre PathTrak WebView 2.5, scheduled for re- ever inserting sweep pulses within 100
amplifier (EDFA) or laser clipping. One of lease later this summer. kHz guard bands, it is recommended that
the major contributors to low upstream the sweep pulses and telemetry insertion
SNR (MER), are misaligned optics on the Is measuring the micro-reflection on levels are reduced by approximately 6 dB
return path. a CMTS one way of locating linear to 10 dB to avoid any interference with up-
distortion? stream carriers.
How does TI’s SNR differ from Broad- When "upstream SNR" (MER) is degrad-
com’s SNR reporting? ed but CNR is good, that may be an in- (Editor’s note: To listen to the entire “Advanced
Texas Instruments burst receivers report dication of the presence of linear distor- Upstream Troubleshooting” Webcast and to
unequalized MER, while Broadcom burst tions. Specialized test equipment is the download the slide deck, go to www.cable360.
receivers report equalized MER. best way to characterize the severity of net/ct/webcasts/2010_05_27/)
linear distortions.
july2010 27
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Reality Check By Katherine Waldron
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