Seven cable operators, including Comcast, Cox Communications and Time Warner Cable, and 10 vendors took part in CableLabs’ recent tru2way interoperability event.
The participants were on hand to see and take part in demonstrations that featured the sharing of cable content over a home network in a secure manner. Specifically, Time Warner Cable, Cox and Comcast were able to test their tru2way program guides on set-top boxes that integrated tru2way technology.
The interop was held March 28 to April 1 at CableLabs’ Louisville, Colo., headquarters.
“Comcast is very pleased to see our program guide running on set-top boxes that have integrated the tru2way reference implementation software,” said Steve Reynolds, senior vice president of premises technology at Comcast.
Last year, Comcast picked NDS to be the prime integrator of the cable operator’s tru2way software integration project that uses the CableLabs’ tru2way Reference Implementation (RI).
Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) certified device manufacturers at the interop included Samsung Electronics, Sony Computer Entertainment America and Sony Electronics. DLNA Technology Component suppliers were AccessSystems, AwoX, Irdeto and NDS. Cisco, Motorola and Samsung represented tru2way host device manufacturers.
Interop participants demonstrated the sharing of premium DVR content over a home network in a secure manner using DTCP/IP among multiple tru2way set-top boxes and DLNA devices, such as connected TVs, game consoles and PCs. Participants also demonstrated the use of a DLNA application on a mobile phone to control devices on the home network.
The mobile phone was used to select content from a home network device and to control playing that content on another device, such as a television set. The mobile phone also controlled features such as pause, rewind and fast-forward.
Devices on the home network communicated and shared content using Ethernet, MoCA 1.1 or Wi-Fi technologies. MoCA can support multiple streams of HD video and offers 175 Mbps of throughput.
The tru2way software RI was also included in the multi-vendor interoperability scenarios. The tru2way software was developed by CableLabs with support from the OpenSource community on java.net and integrated into tru2way devices.
“The Home Networking Interoperability events hosted by CableLabs provide a unique opportunity for members. A single environment where multiple device manufacturers can run our latest guides and other applications provides us with great insight for future development,” said Mike Hayashi, executive vice president of architecture, development and engineering at Time Warner Cable.
CableLabs hosted an interop last year that demonstrated DVR content among multiple tru2way set-top boxes and DLNA-certified devices.
“We were very pleased with the tru2way home networking advances on display at this interoperability event,” said Craig Smithpeters, executive director of interactive services engineering at Cox Communications. “There were some engaging demonstrations from a cross-section of companies working together on standards-based technologies.”
Last year, Cox introduced its Plus Package tier, which included tru2way capabilities and a whole-home DVR service.