VOD systems manufacturer Concurrent Computer Corp. and Scientific-Atlanta are working together to test the interoperability of S-A’s Prisma gigabit Ethernet optical transport technology and Concurrent’s MediaHawk Video Server.
These tests conclude that the optical transport system and iMux IP-to-ASI gateway can successfully operate with the video server, which will help operators lower the cost of transporting VOD content around their cable networks and between headends. The system utilizes existing deployed QAM and MPEG-2 transport from the headend to the home.
IP transport offers greater scalability and considerably lower operational cost than standard delivery networks. It allows flexible switching by giving each video stream a unique IP address, allowing operators to more easily and cost-effectively distribute video streams within the network from any server.
S-A’s optical transport system delivers 10 times the video streams of traditional Ethernet offerings. Its speed and bandwidth enables content delivery costs as low as $18 per stream, which could allow cable operators to benefit from a much faster return on investment. The iMux IP-to-ASI gateway bridges the IP-based optical fiber network with the existing QAM-based HFC distribution network and receives up to160 IP-encapsulated MPEG-2 single program transport streams, de-encapsulate them and re-multiplex them into four MPEG-2 multi-program transport streams.