CableLabs® Hosts one-Day PacketCable Conference

bout 100 people from approximately 50 supplying companies and CableLabs® member companies attended a one-day conference on July 30 in Denver to update voice and video over Internet protocol (IP) equipment suppliers with the current status of the cable industry's PacketCable initiative.

The cable television industry has been working closely with a group of equipment vendors over the past seven months to create the foundation for the PacketCable advanced services architecture. This conference provided a comprehensive progress report on PacketCable.

Dr. David Reed, vice president of strategic assessment for CableLabs, and PacketCable project leader, said that he hopes to build upon the success of the Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) cable modem effort.

"The cable industry is seeking to cooperate with leading vendors in a fashion similar to that charted in DOCSIS in order to achieve the design of interoperable platforms for delivering advanced telecommunications services over high-speed cable data networks," Reed said.

PacketCable is a CableLabs-managed initiative established to foster interoperability - by developing key feature and interface specifications - among cable-specific, voice and video-over-IP solutions. The specifications are intended to foster a competitive environment whereby multiple vendors can supply PacketCable equipment to a cable operator without sacrificing interoperability or service integrity.

The conference agenda included an overview by Reed followed by a panel discussing service and deployment objectives. Panelists were Steve Craddock, vice president of new media development with Comcast; Luisa Murcia, vice president of technical development at TCI.NET and chairperson of the PacketCable technical working group; and Jeff Turner, director of IP telephony with MediaOne.

Dr. Terry Shaw, project director of network systems for CableLabs, briefed the vendors on the CableNET® initiative. Maria Stachelek, project manager, software systems and architecture, discussed the CableLabs interoperability lab for PacketCable. That was followed by a panel on the PacketCable specification process, which included CableLabs PacketCable staff members Frank Christofferson, project manager, software systems; Ed Miller, project manager, data networking; and David Bukovinsky, project director, software architecture.

CableLabs senior internet editor, Lyne Yohe, and database administrator, Eady Broscheit, presented an overview of LiveLink, the electronic document management system that CableLabs is now employing for its major projects.

The afternoon began with a panel on the PacketCable specification overview document. Speakers were Miller, Bukovinsky, Christofferson, and Tom Moore, vice president of integrated services architecture with CableLabs. The day concluded with a panel discussion of progress on quality of service. Panelists were Moore, Bruce Davie of Cisco, and Burcak Beser of 3Com.

More detailed information regarding PacketCable is available on the PacketCable web-site at www.packetcable.com. Equipment vendors interested in participating in the PacketCable initiative and who have not yet applied for non-disclosure agreement (NDA) status may do so online through the web-site. For further information on the NDA, contact Kathy Mitts at CableLabs, 303-661-9100.