CableLabs® Streamlines Testing in System Evaluation Group
The reorganization responds to the growing number of products which are integrating functionality—such as DOCSIS®-enabled set-top boxes and residential gateways with CableHome®, DOCSIS, and PacketCable™ capabilities—to meet the cable industry's business needs. "Our members are asking the manufacturing community to produce highly integrated products that require coordination across all technical initiatives," said CableLabs President and CEO Dr. Richard R. Green.
Green added: "And, true to form, our industry's suppliers are meeting that challenge in very innovative ways. We have responded by assuring that these suppliers will have a single point of contact for whatever evaluation or testing is requested for their products. This will accelerate our ability to get products through testing and into the marketplace where they belong."
"Moving to an integrated test program puts CableLabs on the path that we are walking with integrated devices coming from the manufacturers," said Dave Fellows, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of Comcast and Chairman of the CableLabs Technical Advisory Committee. "This will make for a more natural fit for our industry's very important certification and qualification programs," he added.
Said Jay Rolls, Vice President of Telephony and Data Engineering at Cox Communications and Chairman of the DOCSIS Certification Board: "Although we're quite pleased with the excellent work that's been accomplished by CableLabs in this area, we welcome and endorse any improvements that will support expeditiously placing additional integrated devices into the hands of our customers."
Heading this group is Craig Chamberlain who was promoted to a new post, Vice President of System Evaluation. Chamberlain had been Director of Certification for Broadband Access at CableLabs. He is now responsible for testing across CableHome, DOCSIS, Digital Program Insertion (DPI), PacketCable, and OpenCable™ initiatives.
"Our group will conduct certification testing, including practice runs and wave rehearsals, we will run the Interoperability and Development Labs, we will manage the laboratories and the CableLabs headend, we will coordinate all certification programs, and we will provide support for CableLabs demonstration events," Chamberlain said. "We are already experiencing operating efficiencies through integration of testing efforts in our first certification wave which began January 17," he added.
The group will have six unit heads: Mark Meyer, Director of Interops; Maria Stachelek, Director of Program Management; Mark Guzinski, Director of Lab Facilities; Jesus Lopez, Program Director of Certification for Data; Robin Sam Ku, Manager of Certification for Multimedia; and Craig Richardson, Manager of Certification for Video.