Buckeye CableSystem has opted for Motorola’s Apex300 edge QAM to help provision its VOD and switched digital video services (SDV).
According to the press release, the Apex3000 will also put Buckeye on a migration path to the industry’s converged cable access platform (CCAP) down the road. The end game for CCAP is combining cable modem termination systems (CMTSs) and edge QAMs en route to delivering IP video to subscribers while also reducing energy consumption and rack space.
Comcast has been the main driver to date on CCAP and currently has pilot deployments in the field ahead of actual CCAP rollouts later this year. Most Tier 2 and Tier 3 cable operators will be behind CCAP deployments by the likes of Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Cox Communications.
“Merging video and data QAMs still looks like an item for the future,” Buckeye CableSystem CTO Joe Jensen said in an email this morning. “We analyzed the product options last fall and didn’t find one product that completely addressed both areas. The plan is to re-look at this topic later this year.”
In the short term, the Apex3000 provides Buckeye with a dense platform to support its VOD and SDV services, the latter of which was first employed by Buckeye in the first quarter of 2010. On the CMTS side, Buckeye has both Arris and Cisco products deployed
“At Buckeye, we are committed to providing our users with a wide range of content – from on demand to broadcast. Motorola’s Apex3000 allows us to do so reliably, quickly and cost-effectively,” said Jim Brown, VP of Engineering for Buckeye CableSystem. “We are confident the Motorola Apex3000 will support our growing needs now and into the future.”
The Apex300 supports 384 QAM channels per rack unit or a total of 1536 QAM channels per four rack-unit chassis. With up to 48 QAM channels per RF port, the Apex3000 provides plenty headroom for future capacity growth. Service providers are able to choose the number of channels and ports that fit their needs, which Motorola said translated to lower costs and increased energy savings for them.
The edge QAM platform reduces power per QAM by 72 percent and features 12 10GigE ports — eight primary ports and four back-up — which allows operators to ingest enough content to fill every QAM channel with unique narrowcast content if needed.
“With consumers demanding more top-quality content on more screens, an increasing number of service providers are looking to CCAP to combine data and video delivery as a first step in the migration path,” said Joe Cozzolino, senior vice president and general manager, network infrastructure solutions, Motorola Mobility. “With the Apex3000, we are bringing our customers one step closer to achieving a future-proof and robust CCAP architecture, while providing cost savings and ease of mind in the present.”
