BigBand Announces DOCSIS 3.0 IP Video Integrations with Cable-Modem, Chipset and DRM Companies

Digital video networking specialist, BigBand Networks, will today announce that it has completed a number of technology integrations which it claims will "advance the delivery and availability of IP video, securely and to multiple devices." The company says its IP delivery products, including its recently announced vIP PASS solution, have been integrated with solutions from leading providers of chipsets, off-the-shelf DOCSIS 3.0-compatible cable-modems and digital rights management systems. These integrations, according to the company, are designed to provide an open, secure and reliable end-to-end vIP PASS solution for delivery of IPTV, which capitalizes on existing infrastructure to deliver video services to a broad range of customer devices and screens.

On the DRM front, BigBand says, vIP PASS has been integrated with Widevine's multiplatform, multiformat DRM and video optimization solutions for secure, high-quality delivery of premium content; and on the CPE side, it has been integrated with a range of DOCSIS 3.0 cable modems and gateway technologies, including solutions from Netgear, Mplus Technology, Hitron Technologies, SerComm, and with chipsets from Texas Instruments and other major manufacturers.

According to BigBand, vIP PASS is compatible with, and does not modify, any DOCSIS 3.0 modem software. As a result of the integration of vIP PASS with major DOCSIS 3.0 chipsets, the company says, most DOCSIS 3.0 modems can now support the solution. vIP PASS is part of BigBand's recently announced Converged Video Exchange (CVEx), which is billed by the company as an intelligent video control plane that provides a unified means for delivering and managing video services across networks and devices. "IPTV is not about the technology, rather it's about the underlying promise of being able to easily move video to multiple destinations securely and cost-effectively, be it TV services to the PC or PC content to the TV or mobile devices," John Holobinko, BigBand's VP of marketing, said in a prepared statement. "We're pleased to work with leading technology companies to forge an open systems approach to DOCSIS 3.0-based IP video delivery that is seamless, protected and compatible with the latest cable modem technology that cable operators will deploy into millions of homes."

According to BigBand, vIP PASS is designed to reduce the network complexity involved in delivering IP video services, by leveraging the same cable network architecture, software systems and network-based tools that are used to deliver and manage today's cable video services. It supports the delivery of IP video services to a wide range of IP-enabled CE devices, the company claims, and, by delivering IP video in DOCSIS format, allows service providers to deliver video streams to IP devices without the need to transmit through a CMTS. It thus offers a more cost-efficient means for deploying IPTV today, whether through managed services or over-the-top, the company claims.