12/02/98
Expanding the Reach of IP:
An Exclusive Interview with Tom Jermoluk, CEO, @Home Network
An Update on the Activities of IEEE 802.14 Working Group
Contributed by Robert Russell & Roger Durand
Global Installed Base of Cable Modems to Reach 700K By End of '98
CableLabs Appoints Terayon & Broadcom to Author DOCSIS 1.2
Cisco Introduces Modem Card to Extend its uBRs' Capabilities
HSA Signs ISP Deals with 5 Cable Ops Representing 80,500 Homes
Com21 Commissions Tolly Group to Benchmark Cable Modems
Hybrid & Elsa Introduce DOCSIS Cable Modems
NetGame Introduces Bridge for its Nemo Cable Modem System
German Cable Op to Deploy GI's DOCSIS Modems
SoftNet Sells Two Business Divisions to Focus on Cable ISP Business
Comcast@Work Serving 75 AT&T Telecommuters in New Jersey
UtiliCom to Offer Data Services over Utility in Indiana
RHK Introduces Report on Cable Modem Market in Europe
Hybrid Networks Receives More Data over Cable Patents
Com21 Introduces Direct Sales Channels for its Cable Modems
Expanding the Reach of IP:
An Exclusive Interview with Tom Jermoluk, CEO, @Home Network
Broadband Bob: Please define the business objectives of @Home's venture
(@Home Solutions) to service tier 2 markets and some specific differences
between the @Home & the new companyšs affiliate agreements.
Jermoluk: The objective of this new venture is to be able to provide
services for smaller MSOs who don't necessarily have the operational
capabilities of the larger MSOs to deploy a new service like digital data
delivery. The (venture will) provide (the affiliates') customers with the
same experience that you see in the @Home customer base. However, our new
venture will do more of the work on behalf of the smaller MSOs. This would
include the actual providing of the capital as it relates to headend
equipment, routers, cable modems, marketing and full-support of tier one,
two and three of the product. @Home will take on a number of the
responsibilities that are in our current deal with the larger MSOs that are
done by the MSOs themselves. It will be much more of a turnkey operation
for smaller operators that are interested in having a turnkey integrator
and provider.
Broadband Bob: Will @Home establish a licensing program for 2nd party
turnkey cable ISPs?
Jermoluk: No.
Broadband Bob: Please explain @Home's strategy for introducing IP
telephony services?
Jermoluk: We are working with our cable partners and AT&T to develop a
business model and a technology plan. Our architecture is created with the
ability to offer that service and all of our client/server software is
created with that in mind. We have not yet finalized or announced any
specific arrangements in regards to IP telephony.
Broadband Bob: How could @Home's VoIP opportunities be positively or
negatively influenced by AT&T's aggressive strategy to offer telephony
services using the cable infrastructure?
Jermoluk: (Our opportunities) will be very positively influenced because
(AT&T's strategy) gives us the opportunity to integrate in our IP
capabilities to what they are doing with today's roll-out of part IP and
part circuit-switched (telephony). By leveraging their work to upgrade the
plant, that provides for ubiquitous footprints of hardware equipment that
have the capability of running IP, we willbe able to roll-out a service
much quicker, to a much broader set of users than we have ever conceived of
before. It is definitely a major positive impact for us.
Broadband Bob: Will @Home be made available to competitive providers such
as DSL, wireless and satellite operators?
Jermoluk: Where we have exclusive relationships with our cable partners,
we will only provide our capabilities over their assets in their footprint.
Outside of the footprint of our partners, we are free to use ADSL or
wireless or satellite or any other capabilities.
Broadband Bob: Will @Work be made available to wireless & satellite
providers in the same markets with your cable affiliates?
Jermoluk: Yes.
Broadband Bob: Is @Home in ongoing negotiations with AOL?
Jermoluk: Yes. We have been in discussions with them off and on for a
year and a half now.
Broadband Bob: Other than Internet access and voice and fax over IP, what
are some other revenue opportunities that are being considered?
Jermoluk: There will be a number of interactive services on the television
that will be a big area for us such as hyperlinked advertising, e-mail,
multimedia e-mail, data enhanced video, sources of new programming, and
home shopping kiosk capabilities. Another includes e-commerce
opportunities on our online service (that will be made more available) as
we move to a more vertical [structure]. We will make more deals like we
have made with Bloomberg, MTV, and BuyDirect.
Broadband Bob: Are these revenue opportunities solely for @Home or will
@Home share revenues from these new sources with its cable affiliates?
Jermoluk: All of the TV activities are joint-activities with the MSOs and
some of the ventures that we get into in our Internet service are partnered
with MSOs and some of them are just ours. With the TV, almost everything
we do there will be partnered with the MSOs.
Broadband Bob: What will be the major differences in offering @Home to a
set-top box rather than a stand-alone cable modem?
Jermoluk: On the set-top box, we are much more interested in simple,
one-button interactivity. On the PC, it is more of a lean forward,
interactive experience where you have a keyboard and you are surfing or
doing heavyweight applications. On the TV, we want to enhance the viewing
experience by the addition of simple, interactive experiences. We strive
for a consistency of user-interface and API for our content and advertising
partners, but a much simpler experience for a class of users that aren't
necessarily PC users today.
Broadband Bob: What kind of feedback is @Home receiving from its
affiliates regarding their intentions to quickly migrate to DOCSIS 1.0?
Jermoluk: Unanimous. Every new rollout that we have planned is
anticipated to be a DOCSIS rollout.
Broadband Bob: Are you finding that some of the MSOs will wait for DOCSIS
1.1 rather than deploy 1.0?
Jermoluk: Everybody would like to get there, but I am not seeing the wait.
The current installations of the proprietary modems that we already have
out there continue. I think they will install the (DOCSIS) headend and
take whatever DOCSIS products we can get in whichever time frame that we
can get them.
Broadband Bob: From @Home's perspective, does retail in '99 help or hurt
the industry?
Jermoluk: Big-time help. The challenge today is to clearly [resolve] the
labor-intensive, installation bottleneck that exists and our opportunity
jointly is to move through the retail channel and get the capital off the
balance sheets of the MSOs as well as to up the penetration significantly
by alleviating the single biggest bottleneck in the rollout.
Broadband Bob: What are @Home's objectives for expanding its international
presence in '99 and how would you characterize @Home's opportunities
outside of North America?
Jermoluk: In '99, international (expansion) is definitely a focus for us.
We have started a company in Benelux, where we are very actively and
rapidly hiring people and taking investments. Intel put $20 million into
that venture. We would expect in '99 to be rolling out into several major
countries including potentially places like UK, Japan, and Germany. We
expect it to be a significant incremental revenue producer for us over the
next five years.
Broadband Bob: What announcement will @Home make at the Western Show?
Matt Wolfrom: We will announce the acquisition of a technology company,
Full Force Systems, Inc.
Jermoluk: We bought a company that has been working in the area of
software and set-tops to add to our efforts for the OpenCable side. They
have a tremendous amount of experience with the GI and S-A products. It
will be a great addition to the team.
Matt Wolfrom: We have an @Work Remote deal with Comcast serving AT&T Labs.
Jermoluk: The @Work Remote deal is important for us. In '99, we expect
for @Work to be much more focused on the development of products across the
HFC plant. This will be a new revenue opportunity for @Work over that
period of time.
Matt Wolfrom: We also have the new company, and possibly some other
announcements that may or may not be ready to be made public in time for
the show.
Jermoluk: We will be taking investments from various strategic partners
that provide cable headends, routers, proxy servers, cable modems, and
software and computer systems. We will be partnering with companies that
will choose to roll this out in a turnkey fashion. We will be partnering
with those that want to make the commitment with @Home to wire all of
America including the small 10,000 home MSOs as well as the million home or
greater MSOs. @Home wants to make sure that everyone has access to
broadband capabilities through this venture, but in a way that still brings
great incremental value to the smaller MSO, who might not have the
capabilities themselves, but want to play.
@Home
http://www.home.net
An Update on the Activities of IEEE 802.14 Working Group
Contributed by Robert Russell & Roger Durand
Much activity has happened within the 802.14 Working Group since our last
publish update in March of this year (press release available through the
IEEE). Since that time the full Working Group of 130 members has finalized
the MAC and PHY protocol specifications and passed the Working Group Ballot
allowing the draft to be forwarded as a standard to the Computer Society at
large for their approval. Since most of the Architecture, Interface
Specifications and State Machines had already been approved, most of the
activity leading up to this point has been on editing the text
representation, reviewing the thoroughness, creating a MIB and a PICS
Performa as well as resolving some minor differences of approach to
variable length services. This Standard should provide a solid foundation
upon which future revision can be tailored to represent a convergence of
802.14 šs predominately ATM structure with other current activities
incorporating variable length fragmentation, IP QoS and priorities.
The bulk of the work in the IEEE 802.14 Working Group, however, has come
from the efforts of a Study Group within the Working Group to define an
advanced physical layer specification to be used with both the IEEE 802.14
and the DOCSIS protocols The follow is an update from the 802.14 Study
Group Chairman, Roger Durand on the formation of the Study Group, their
work plan and the accomplishments out of the November Plenary meeting.
*From the IEEE 802.14 HI-PHY Study Group Chairman Roger Durand
First let me take this opportunity to thank everyone who has committed
their time and efforts to helping this committee achieve all that we have
in such a short period of time. Your respectfulness in debate, your
cooperative nature and your individual expertise has brought great credit
upon this committee and the industry at large. Each and every one of you
has added great value to this industry. Thank you.
>From the beginning of the cable modem standards and specification process
many advanced modulation and physical layer techniques were offered to
increase the effective throughput of data traffic and to mitigate different
noise interference that might exist in the upstream spectrum of typical
coaxial cable networks. The first generation of these cable modems chose a
robust single carrier QAM modulation technique that grew out of existing
technology. Advancements to this single carrier approach or incorporation
of multi-carrier or spread spectrum approaches were to be considered in
subsequent generations provided they would maintain backward compatibility.
To this end cooperation between the different standards committees was
arranged to provide a single forum for the debate and presentations of how
to establish an advanced physical layer specification in the IEEE 802.14
HI-PHY Study Group.
This work in the committee was authorized by the IEEE Computer Society
through approval of a Project Authorization Request (PAR) in November 1997.
The PAR required "enhanced capacity" and "improved efficiency" in the
presence of both "narrow band interferes and burst noise". The PAR also
clearly called out "required" backward compatibility with the existing
physical layer, specifically the
DOCSIS/IEEE 802.14 single carrier QAM technique. In keeping with the
collaborative effort the 802.14 Study Group presented the Work Plan to the
SCTE-DSS for their input and approval. Specifically this Work plan called
out the following milestones:
*Establish the Evaluation criteria and channel Model by July 98.
*Review White papers and Abstracts on submissions between May and June of 98.
*Complete Proposals due at the July 98 Plenary.
*Begin convergence in the Sept 98 Interim meeting,
*Reach consensus on a HI-PHY outline no later then March 99 Plenary.
*Draft the specification in the three to six months after convergence.
*Distribute draft specification to all liaison groups and sponsoring
corporations no later than Nov 99
*Ballot 1st draft on standard six to nine months after convergence.
*Publish Standard early in year 2000
This posed a very challenging schedule for the proposal advocates and was
agreed upon by the SCTE-DSS to be challenging enough to meet the needs of
our industry. The committee itself has consisted of between 40 and 60
members representing MSOs, Vendors, Research facilities and academic
interest many of whom were recognized leaders in modulation techniques,
physical layer timing, data transfer protocols and ASIC design . Also
principle to the committeešs progress was maintaining a cooperative effort
and a mutually agreed upon schedule of events. These all contributed to
the committeešs ability to make rapid progress from the very beginning.
After considering multiple initial proposals, debate and convergence
narrowed the considerations to OFDM as presented by Jeffery Solum from ADC
Telecommunications, VCMT as presented by Rod Gross from Ultracom, FA-TDMA
as presented by Jonathan Min Ph.D. from Broadcom and S-CDMA as presented by
Mike Grimwood from Terayon. The ensuing meetings resulted in the
redefinition of the different proposal, reporting and debate of performance
results against the Evaluation Criteria and the effects of the Channel
Model on each of the proposal.
By the end of the September 1999 Interim three proposals remained in
contention with sufficient debate and counter proposals having been made to
set the stage for a decision to be made. The November meeting culminated
these past months of work, debate, refinement and evaluations into two hard
days of intense debate by committee to reach consensus for either one of
the three proposals or some form of convergence. In the end the committee
agreed to "get the best of both worlds" from convergence of two of the
modulation technique by creating a new type of hybrid PHY that incorporated
the strengths of both FA-TDMA and S-CDMA. Although theoretically possible
and defined, the challenges now before the committee is to establishing the
specifics on how to accomplish this. Work has already begun on creating a
new work plan, further coordination with the SCTE-DSS and soliciting input
from other industry leaders, research facilities and network operators to
ensure that the specification is both on time and on target. The
preliminary goals are to have a defined architecture and structure by
January 1999, the first draft of the standard in March with the 1st voted
letter ballot of the Study Group and liaisons being completed before the
July 1999 Plenary. This would enable a Sponsor Group ballot to the Computer
Society at large by the ensuing November 1999 plenary for publication of
the Standard in early 2000.
For more information about the Study Group efforts, the IEEE 802 Project,
or to find meeting information you can browse our web sites at www.ieee.org
Project 802, or the working groups web site at http://www.walkingdog.com,
or contact either of us at mailto:rdurand@cabletron.com 603/337-4227 for HI
PHY or mailto:chairman@walkingdog.com
706/645-3925.
Roger Durand
IEEE802.14 HI PHY Committee Chairman
Robert Russell
IEEE 802.14 Working Group Chairman
Global Installed Base of Cable Modems to Reach 700K By End of chairman@walkingdog.com'98
Gecko Research & Publishing reports that the global installed base of cable
modems will reach 700,000 units by the end of the year. In North America,
the installed base will rise to 435,000 units, with most of the
installations driven by affiliates of @Home and RoadRunner/MediaOne
Express. Most installations outside of North America are taking place in
Europe and the Pacific Rim, with extensive service deployments in the
Netherlands, Belgium, France and Australia.
According to third quarter financial reports and separate MSO
announcements, Time Warner has 73,000 RoadRunner subs, MediaOne has 55,000
subs, Shaw has 55,000 subs, Cox has 46,000 subs, Comcast has 41,000 subs,
TCI has 22,000 subs, Videotron has 8,000 subs, and Cablevision has 8,000
subs. Over the last quarter, the installed base grew at a pace of 1,700
new installs per day.
The pace is likely to increase dramatically over the next year as operators
that have held back for standardized technology introduce new DOCSIS-driven
services. Existing services will fuel more installs as service areas are
expanded and markets mature. In '99, the migration to retail will also
help drive the market. Next year, retail will be introduced initially on a
local level via three party agreements negotiated between the vendors, the
operators, and the retailers. Later in '99, retail will become more
regional. Other distribution channels will also emerge. PC vendor, direct
and Internet sales will be responsible for moving modems, while the MSOs
extend availability and work out the agreement details with national
retailers.
Gecko projects that the global installed base will grow to 2.25 million by
Y2K with data over cable services reaching more than 48 million homes. By
2001, service charges in the U.S. will likely drop to an average of $17.95
per month, for the lowest level of service. However, upper tier subs and
premiums will drive the average take per sub in the U.S. to $29.95 per
month.
Gecko Research & Publishing
http://www.hfc.net
CableLabs Appoints Terayon & Broadcom to Author DOCSIS 1.2
Last month, CableLabs announced that it had appointed Terayon and Broadcom
to author a detailed technical proposal and specification for advanced PHY
support for DOCSIS 1.2, a third generation standard. In order to
participate, Terayon and Broadcom have agreed to contribute their
applicable technology to the DOCSIS royalty-free pool.
The announcement came a day after the IEEE 802.14's HI-PHY group voted to
include a combination of Broadcom's TDMA and Terayon's S-CDMA in its own
data over cable standard.
The leadership of the IEEE 802.14 committee had been led to believe that it
would be appointed as a group to author the advanced PHY support for DOCSIS
1.2. However, instead, CableLabs selected the two vendors directly
responsible for the technology at issue, most likely providing the duo with
the freedom to develop a proposal that would not bind them to a solution
consistent with its 802.14-accepted technology. Instead of buying the
band's song, CableLabs has simply hired their drummer.
CableLabs reports that the 1.2 standard is expected to be published in the
first quarter of '99, with market availability commencing in the first
quarter of Y2K. The schedule seems odd, considering that 1.0 modems have
not been certified yet (by press-time) and the 1.1 standard has not been
completed. Furthermore, the advanced PHY support is for a new technology
that combines TDMA and S-CDMA. It is unlikely the technologies will be
mixed as easily as gin and tonic.
The timeline announcement, itself, also seems to be inappropriate. MCNS
and the vendor community have already been criticized for delaying
deployments by emphasizing the benefits of DOCSIS 1.1 over 1.0.
Terayon gains the most from the appointment by achieving DOCSIS support for
its S-CDMA spread spectrum technology. The company will leverage the
accomplishment as it pursues propagation of S-CDMA use over multiple
network infrastructures.
UltraCom is the big loser. The technology developer, opting not to become
a network vendor, based its company's success on MCNS' adoption of its
upstream modulation scheme, called Variable Constellation Multitone (VCMT).
The company lacked the financial resources to sufficiently wage a campaign
within the standards bodies.
CableLabs
http://www.cablelabs.com
MCNS
http://www.cablemodem.com
Terayon
http://www.terayon.com
Broadcom
http://www.broadcom.com
Ultracom
http://www.ultracominc.com
Cisco Introduces Modem Card to Extend its uBRs' Capabilities
Cisco has announced the development of high-density modems for its uBR
DOCSIS CMTS'. The MC16 modem cards will enable operators to scale its CMTS
to support up to 24 upstream channels or 100,000 homes passed via a single
chassis. The products will also provide extensions for telephony, secure
VPNs, and streaming media applications.
According to Cisco, the modem cards will support a mix of DOCSIS 1.0 & 1.1,
and telco return cable modems on a single channel.
The MC16s will be made available this month at $30,250 (for uBR 7223 & 7246).
Cisco
http://www.cisco.com
HSA Signs ISP Deals with 5 Cable Ops Representing 80,500 Homes
High Speed Access [HSA], a turnkey cable ISP has announced that it has
signed deals with five cable operators to offer data services over their
systems. HSA will offer services over Covington Cable TV's systems in
Oxford, Porterdale, and Newton County, Georgia; Ultrasonic's systems in
Chula Vista and National City, California; Irvine Community Television's
system in Irvine, Kentucky; Western Cable Communications' system in
Plainfield, Illinois; and Vista Broadband Communications' system in Smyrna,
Georgia. Combined, the new agreements represent 80,500 homes passed.
Launch dates for these markets have been scheduled for early 1999. HSA
will deploy Com21's proprietary cable modem system.
HSA has revenue-sharing agreements with more than 50 U.S. cable operators
representing more than 1.5 million homes passed. It closely trails
MediaCity for total homes passed in the tier 2 cable ISP market.
HSA
http://www.hsacorp.net
Com21 Commissions Tolly Group to Benchmark Cable Modems
Com21 has announced that it has commissioned the Tolly Group to conduct
benchmark testing of DOCSIS cable modems. The cable modem vendor has
invited fellow vendors to participate in a round of performance tests that
commenced on December 1 at the Western Show in Anaheim. The tests will
continue through January of '99.
Benchmark testing of cable modems would be useful to cable operators and
end-users. However, the timing of Com21's announcement suggests that the
arrangement is simply a marketing ploy. First, vendors have been given
little time to respond to the invitation to participate. It is unlikely
that, in the midst of feverishly preparing for the Western Show, vendors
can quickly prepare and gain approval to play. Secondly, the testing
promises to be a useless gauge for determining the quality of a vendor's
system. Vendors have been focusing on interoperability rather than
performance, as they rush to get certified. Furthermore, the 1.0 modems
will have a 6-month life-span in the market.
Expect little to no participation in the Com21/Tolly effort, considering
that there would be little to gain and potentially much to lose when
bringing a best effort product to a competition.
Com21
http://www.com21.com
Hybrid & Elsa Introduce DOCSIS Cable Modems
Two cable modem vendors have introduced DOCSIS modems. First, Elsa, a
German manufacturer, has announced that it has developed an "extremely
compact" DOCSIS-compliant cable modem to be commercially available in mid
1999.
Hybrid Networks has also introduced a DOCSIS-compliant cable modem and
CMTS. The modem, to be included in its Series 3000 product line, will
utilize an advanced MAC scheduler to provide QoS. An advanced chip design
will provide support for remote software upgrades. Hybrid claims the
modem's performance will be boosted through the use of a patented adaptive
ACK suppression algorithm.
The DOCSIS modem is scheduled for availability in mid 1999.
Hybrid has also introduced a new router for its proprietary cable modem
system. The CyberMaster One will integrate downstream and upstream
channels and system management in a single chassis.
Hybrid Networks
http://www.hybrid.com
Elsa
http://www.elsa.com
NetGame Introduces Bridge for its Nemo Cable Modem System
NetGame Cable has introduced a new bridge for its proprietary Nemo cable
modem system designed to optimally manage data in distribution node
architectures. The product also includes a remote network management system.
NetGame's cable modem system, which will run over cable and telco return
wireless and satellite networks, provides QoS, data rate support up to 10
Mbps.
In a separate announcement, NetGame reports that Dattel is deploying the
vendor's system in Prague. SIT is serving as the systems integrator.
NetGame Cable
http://www.ngcable.com
German Cable Op to Deploy GI's DOCSIS Modems
Leschinsky & Schneider, a German cable operator, has announced that it will
deploy General Instrument's DOCSIS solution over its system in eastern
Germany. GI will initially ship 100 cable modems this month to the op.
L&S passes 12,900 homes.
General Instrument
http://www.gi.com
Surfboard
http://www.surfboard.com
SoftNet Sells Two Business Divisions to Focus on Cable ISP Business
SoftNet has announced that it has signed separate letters of intent to sell
its telecom and document management businesses, allowing the company to
operate solely as a turnkey cable ISP. After the offload, SoftNet will
have 90 employees dedicated to its ISP Channel business (formerly known as
MediaCity World).
The news strongly suggests that SoftNet is unloading baggage in preparation
for a merger or acquisition. Through the ISP Channel, the company has
contracted with dozens of cable operators to accumulate more than 1.8
million homes passed. With a recent private placement of $30 million, the
company is in the process of beefing up its facilities and staff to
accommodate the onslaught of new business it is attracting.
ISP Channel
http://www.ispchannel.com
Comcast@Work Serving 75 AT&T Telecommuters in New Jersey
@Home has announced that Comcast will provide @Work service to 75
telecommuting employees of AT&T Labs in New Jersey. Known as @Work Remote,
the telecommuting support is a new feature of the service (over HFC networks).
Comcast
http://www.comcast.com
@Work
http://www.home.net/work
UtiliCom to Offer Data Services over Utility in Indiana
UtiliCom, a 2nd party turnkey voice, video and data over utility network
(HFC converted) provider, has announced that it will introduce services
over Southern Indiana Gas and Electric (SIGE). SIGE represents the first
Limited Liability Corporation to provide UtiliCom's integrated
communications services.
The data over cable equipment to be utilized was not disclosed. However,
UtiliCom has reported that it will be using Saville Systems' technology for
billing.
Utilicom
http://www.utilicom.com
RHK Introduces Report on Cable Modem Market in Europe
Ryan, Hankin & Kent (RHK) has released two new volumes of data over cable
research focusing on the European market. The volumes provide market and
technology analysis, forecasts and country profiles with a strong emphasis
on activity in UK, Germany, Belgium, and Netherlands. The two latest
volumes, in its ongoing series of reports, cover 440 pages of market data.
Earlier volumes introduced this year include a report on the North American
market, which includes a business case and forecast. The second volume,
released last September provides a detailed account of the market in France.
Generally, RHK provides reports through a program that includes four
volumes of research, telephonic consulting and a subscription to its
newsletter. Though exact costs were not disclosed, access to the set of
reports will most likely run in excess of $20,000.
In its latest volumes, RHK reports that over the five-year period spanning
from 1998 to 2003, the market opportunity for data over cable vendors and
systems integrators is $1 billion. Over the same period, new subscriber
revenues in European markets will reach $4.7 billion. According to the
firm, by 2003, a cumulative total of 7 million cable modems will be
deployed in Europe.
RHK is also reporting that Com21 is currently the market-leading supplier
of cable modems in Europe.
Ryan, Hankin, and Kent
http://www.rhk.com
Hybrid Networks Receives More Data over Cable Patents
Hybrid Networks has announced today that the U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office granted the company two new patents encompassing 188 claims for
technology development which relate to Hybrid's asymmetrical two-way QPSK
and one-way high-speed cable and wireless modem systems that include
headends, cable modems and management software. Hybrid has now been
awarded 4 patents with 304 claims in total.
The two new patents are U.S. Patent 5,818,845, which was granted for
Hybrid's headend system for channel allocation and prioritized polling
schemes, and U.S. Patent 5,828,655, which was granted for quality-based
channel switching on the upstream that enhances operation of the upstream.
Both patents include claims that relate to core technology in their
proprietary Series 2000 and DOCSIS-compliant Series 3000 headends and cable
modems.
Hybrid will continue to offer licensing of its patented technology.
The company has filed a lawsuit against Com21 and its manufacturer,
Celistica for patent infringements. The case, which is expected to take
forever, is in the early stages of legal proceedings.
While many vendors have criticized Hybrid for pursuing legal action for
technology that should not have been awarded patents, the criticism should
fall on the U.S. Patent office rather than on the vendor. Despite the
patent office's incompetence, Hybrid should not be viewed as irrational for
attempting to protect the legal rights it has been granted. The company
should be applauded for having the ability to convince the patent office
that the technology enabling the delivery of data over cable networks can
be considered intellectual property.
Hybrid Networks
http://www.hybrid.com
Com21 Introduces Direct Sales Channels for its Cable Modems
Com21 has introduced two new sales channels enabling the company to sell
its modems directly to the end-user. Through InstantPurchase, operators
will be able to transfer sales calls to a toll-free number allowing new
subscribers to purchase modems directly from Com21. With InstantNet, Com21
will provide operators with an e-commerce solution that will allow
end-users to buy modems from the operators' web sites.
Com21
http://www.com21.com
© Copyright 2000 Gecko Research & Publishing
The Broadband Bob Report is a weekly take of the latest news regarding data over cable, 2-way HFC networks and related applications and services.
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