The first products to be certified compliant with PacketCable 2.0 are embedded digital voice adapters (E-DVAs) from Ambit and Thomson.
E-DVAs are devices that integrate a DOCSIS cable modem and a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)-based phone client. The availability of certified E-DVAs will become useful as cable operators begin to exploit the capabilities of PacketCable 2.0 to provide services that cross platforms (voice, video, data) and transport networks (HFC, PSTN, wireline, wireless).
Thus the certifications are important first steps toward the development of innovative, cable-based services.
CableLabs certified the E-DVAs from Ambit and Thomson during the organization’s recently completed Certification Wave 65. The PacketCable 2.0 core service architecture is based on common standards technologies such as the IP Multimedia System (IMS) and SIP.
“This success marks a milestone for our industry’s efforts to offer consumers new services,” said Tony Werner, CTO and executive vice president at Comcast. “I expect that we will see more advances in multimedia offerings as our industry continues to deliver more choice and convenience to our customers.”
In addition to the two E-DVAs, Ambit and Thomson each achieved certification for a PacketCable 1.5 embedded multimedia terminal adapter (E-MTA) that implements DOCSIS 3.0. There also were seven DOCSIS 3.0 cable modems certified from the following manufacturers: two from Ambit, two from Cisco and one each from Netgear, SMC Networks and Thomson. Two DOCSIS 2.0 cable modems were certified, one each from Cisco and Motorola.