Cisco@SCTE Expo 2013: Seven Papers and a Breakfast

It wouldn’t be an SCTE Cable-Tec Expo without a stellar lineup of technical papers and workshops – even better because each one happens twice, to alleviate trade show schedules.

This year’s program features seven papers and presentations by my engineering colleagues, and a breakfast. Food first: Please join us at 6:30A on Tuesday for a Light Reading breakfast session titled “Monetizing Wi-Fi,” featuring Jared Headley, Senior Director of SP Mobility for Cisco. Here’s a link for more info.

In papers and presentations, here’s what Cisco’s technologists are contributing to the 2013 SCTE Cable-Tec Expo:

A deep-dive on DOCSIS 3.1 and “downstream convergence layers,” researched and written by John Chapman, SCTE Cable ‘Hall of Famer’, Cisco Fellow and CTO of its Cable Access Business Unit. It’s part of the Pre-conference DOCSIS 3.1 Symposium, which runs all day (10A-4:15P) on Monday, October 21. (In room 309, if you’re going.) John’s a DOCSIS pioneer, and always worth seeing, especially if you harbor any curiosity about how MAC-layer data will get onto the PHY layer – and lots of other 3.1 detail.

The amount of video distributed over IP is growing fast. John Horrobin focuses on this phenomenon in a session, titled “Implementing End-to-End IP Video Solutions,” drawing from lessons learned in field deployments to compare multicast to unicast and switched techniques. His paper and presentation, titled “Pioneering IP Video in Cable Networks,” also explores current events in the combining network, and how it will evolve in step with CCAP deployments. Gateways with 16 and 24 tuners, that can deliver signals to connected devices over Ethernet, MoCA and Wi-Fi, are also detailed. John’s on at 1:15-2:30 on Monday, 10/21, and again on Thursday from 2:30-3:45.

The decades-old old engineering challenge – how much to store, vs. how much to stream – is among the topics of “Finding the Silver Lining in Cloud-based DVR.” Cox VP of Strategic Architecture John Civiletto will lead the panel, which features Stephanie Mitchko-Beale, Cablevision’s SVP of Video Infrastructure Software and the 2013 recipient of the SCTE/WICT Woman of the Year/Technology award. Oh yes – and our own David Lively, Director of Cisco’s Cloud/SDN Incubation Team, who will discuss his work in a paper and presentation called “Infrastructure Considerations for Cloud DVR.” This one runs Monday 2:45-4 and Thursday 2:30-3:45.

The ceaseless rise in traffic over broadband networks is producing multiple forms of congestion, among them “bufferbloat.” Jay Herbert, Systems Engineer for Cisco, presents an excellent overview of unicast, multicast and MPLS protocols, and how they can best be used in cable networks, in the workshop titled “Trim the Network Fat – A Healthy Recipe for Understanding and Improving your Cable Ecosystem.” It runs on Wednesday from 9:30-10:45, and again on Thursday from 4 to 5:15.

The transition from IPv4 to IPv6 is still in motion, and this year’s Expo features a workshop focused on how to keep workforce and consumers educated about it. In “IPv6 Is Here – Where Are You?”, Jeff Riddel, Cable Architect for Cisco, will discuss best practices in IPv6 deployments. He’s on from 11-12:15 on Wednesday, and again on Thursday from 5-5:15.

New developments in remote PHY are the focus of “Remote PHY: Close to our Heart,” and John Chapman pulls double-duty – which really means triple duty, counting his DOCSIS 3.1 deep dive in the pre-conference symposium – for this one. He’ll deliver his paper, titled “DOCSIS Remote PHY (MHAv2)” on Tuesday from 1-2:15 and Thursday form 2:30-3:45.

The modulation and error correction improvements that come with DOCSIS 3.1 also present a need for new monitoring tools. Ron Hranac, an undisputed legend at any SCTE Expo (count the ribbons), will present “UHF Signal Leakage and Ingress: Understanding the Liability and Risk” on Tuesday from 4-5:15 and on Wednesday from 2:30-3:45.

It’s great that each workshop is repeated, but if you’re like me, you’ll still miss a few. The good news: The SCTE Proceedings are usually available in print, CD, and online. See you in Atlanta- Cisco’s southern home city!