SCTE/ISBE has created a Proactive Network Maintenance (PNM) Working Group within its Standards Program in alignment with CableLabs. The group’s aim is to standardize PNM solutions and provide operational practices, guidelines, and training in collaboration with industry PNM initiatives for monitoring network health.

“CableLabs has been developing and testing new PNM technologies and use cases,” Chris Bastian, SVP and CTO of SCTE/ISBE, comments. “Our new PNM Working Group will expedite the introduction of these new PNM solutions that improve employee and customer experiences, as well as the performance, functionality, and economics of all types of MSO access and in-home networks.”

Part of the Society’s Standards Program’s Network Operations Subcommittee, the working group’s efforts toward standardization for operations and in the field will include a holistic PNM solution that focuses across all types of access and in-home networks, including DOCSIS, wireless, optical, and in-home wired, such as MoCA^. It will also work toward consistent guidelines and tools across all networks, and a common framework and architecture that accelerates operational use of PNM metrics.

“Preventive maintenance has been a guiding principle for a long time in cable, but consistently enacting a proactive culture requires more than tools and technology,” Curtis Knittle, VP of wired technologies at CableLabs, says. “The creation of the SCTE/ISBE Proactive Network Maintenance (PNM) Working Group brings together the research and tools developed by CableLabs and the operational experience of MSOs to ensure that art and science converge in a way that can translate to useful practices.”

Comcast Fellow and Distinguished Engineer Larry Wolcott was appointed chair. The first meeting of the PNM Working Group will be May 9.