CableLabs Interop Demonstrated Modem Interoperability at Cable '98
ableLabs® sponsored a public interoperability demonstration
of high-speed standards-based cable modem equipment during the annual convention
of the National Cable Television Association (NCTA). The convention, called
Cable '98, was held in Atlanta from May 3 to 6. The companies involved in
the demonstration are active members of the cable industry's Data Over Cable
Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) process managed by CableLabs.
The interoperability demo was called CableLabs Interop. There have been seven rounds of cable modem interoperability tests conducted at CableLabs and this was the second public display - the first was conducted at the Western Show last December. CableLabs Interop will display products from different vendors successfully interoperating with each other.
The interoperable cable modem effort, also known as DOCSIS (Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification) began about 2-1/2 years ago when the cable industry expressed its strong interest in having interoperable, non-proprietary cable modems, modem headend equipment and silicon available from multiple vendors. A rigorous specification writing effort resulted in a series of draft specifications for different interfaces in a cable system delivering data. Key components of this draft specification were submitted to the North American cable industry standard-setting body, the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE), and then to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). Both bodies have now adopted DOCSIS as standards.
The purpose of these interoperability tests is to advance the ability of participating vendors to meet all of the technical requirements for their modem and headend equipments' conformance to the DOCSIS standard. The Cable '98 interoperability testing kicks off the industry's certification process and it is expected that vendors will initiate the certification process in the next few months.
The companies that were involved in the demonstration are active members of the cable industry's Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) process managed by CableLabs. The companies demonstrating cable modem headend equipment with cable modems were: 3COM; Bay Networks, Inc.; Broadcom Corp.; Cisco Systems, Inc.; and Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc. Those companies demonstrating cable modems only were: General Instrument; Hayes Microcomputer Products; Intel Corp.; Motorola; Samsung Electronics; and Thomson Consumer Electronics.
