Innovation
CableLabs Deepens Engagement With RDK-B to Accelerate Innovation
Key Points
- CableLabs’ collaboration with the RDK-B community help accelerate the path from standards to deployment for the open-source broadband platform.
- Our first major upstream contribution to the platform is the open-source implementation of Wi-Fi Easy Connect — also known as the Device Provisioning Protocol — which brings Zero-Touch Onboarding to broadband gateways.
CableLabs engineers and technologists are actively contributing to the Reference Design Kit for Broadband (RDK-B), an open-source software platform deployed by many CableLabs member companies to power connected home experiences. RDK-B forms the foundation for key residential gateway features, including set-top box (STB) integration, IoT device management and managed Wi-Fi in both single-family homes and multi-dwelling units (MDUs).
As a vendor-neutral, open-source software stack, RDK-B offers operators flexibility, transparency and control over their broadband infrastructure — values that align closely with CableLabs’ mission to drive interoperable innovation at scale.
Elevating Mesh Networking with EasyMesh
In 2024, the RDK-B community launched a major initiative to integrate support for Wi-Fi Alliance’s Wi-Fi CERTIFIED EasyMesh™ standard — prompting CableLabs to get directly involved. As longstanding contributors to the Wi-Fi EasyMesh specification, CableLabs is uniquely positioned to enhance RDK-B’s implementation and help ensure seamless, vendor-agnostic mesh networking experiences for operators and their subscribers.
Wi-Fi EasyMesh represents a significant evolution in home networking. Unlike proprietary mesh solutions, Wi-Fi EasyMesh is an open standard, enabling multi-vendor interoperability among access points, extenders and controllers. This is particularly important for operators looking to break free from vertically integrated, locked-in ecosystems that limit flexibility and slow innovation.
By standardizing mesh behavior — including topology formation, channel management and band steering — Wi-Fi EasyMesh gives operators a common framework to manage and optimize Wi-Fi networks across diverse hardware. It also opens the door for competitive procurement, reduced vendor dependency and consistent user experiences across device brands and firmware versions.
Advancing Wi-Fi Easy Connect and Seamless Onboarding
CableLabs’ first major upstream contribution to RDK-B was the industry’s first fully open-source implementation of the Wi-Fi Alliance’s Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Easy Connect™ protocol, also known as the Device Provisioning Protocol (DPP). This milestone brings support for Zero-Touch Onboarding (ZTO) to RDK-B, enabling secure, user-friendly network enrollment via QR code — without requiring users to know or input Wi-Fi credentials.
DPP is particularly well-suited to modern mesh deployments, where adding new devices (e.g., access points, IoT endpoints, controllers) needs to be fast, secure and reliable. With Wi-Fi Easy Connect now part of the RDK-B Wi-Fi EasyMesh stack, operators can deliver a smoother out-of-the-box experience for end users while enhancing network security through modern cryptographic provisioning methods. Again, CableLabs is uniquely positioned to contribute Wi-Fi Easy Connect functionality due to our continuing leadership and contributions to the specification during its development in Wi-Fi Alliance.
CableLabs publicly showcased the integration at RDK Summit 2025 in London, where I gave a featured technical talk highlighting the importance of seamless and secure onboarding in connected home environments. Simultaneously, my colleague Ben Carlson hosted a live demonstration booth, offering hands-on insight into CableLabs’ open-source contributions and their impact on RDK-B’s capabilities.
Strategic Synergy Between CableLabs and RDK-B
The collaboration between CableLabs and the RDK-B community represents a natural synergy. Both ecosystems are built around the values of interoperability, openness and scalable innovation. RDK-B provides a robust deployment vehicle, and CableLabs brings a deep well of standards leadership, cross-industry coordination and forward-looking technology development.
By contributing directly to RDK-B, CableLabs can help ensure that its latest innovations — many of which are defined in collaboration with operators, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and global standards bodies — are production-ready and deployable across member networks. The result is a faster path from spec to field deployment, enabling member companies to move with greater agility and confidence.
RDK-B also benefits from CableLabs’ neutrality and long-term vision. Our work with Wi-Fi EasyMesh, Wi-Fi Easy Connect and the broader Wi-Fi ecosystem is guided by industry consensus and technical rigor, helping RDK-B implementations remain future-proof and aligned with operator priorities.
RDK-B as a Strategic Distribution Platform
Because RDK-B serves as the networking software platform for many CableLabs members, it offers a compelling vehicle for delivering and scaling future innovations across the broadband ecosystem. Beyond Wi-Fi EasyMesh and Wi-Fi Easy Connect, CableLabs is actively exploring opportunities to leverage RDK-B for deployment of:
- Low Latency, Low Loss, Scalable Throughput (L4S)
- Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Data Elements™ for advanced telemetry
- Enhanced security and diagnostics capabilities
- Multi-access and hybrid access techniques
- Additional next-generation technologies in development
By aligning closely with the RDK-B community and contributing robust, standards-based enhancements, CableLabs is helping ensure that our members have access to a secure, flexible and future-ready broadband platform — one that evolves in tandem with the needs of modern connected households.
Together, RDK-B and CableLabs are building the foundation for the next generation of broadband. If you use the RDK-B platform, be on the lookout for these and other new features.