Cable-Tec Expo is quickly approaching, and as the cable world descends on New Orleans at the end of this month, CableLabs is readying a pre-show "show" that will give particularly the vendor community a special opportunity (away from press and public) to delve into the technology advancements the organization has in the works. The new CableLabs Envision Vendor Forum will take place on Sept. 30 at the convention center. Approximately 200 attendees, under project NDA, are expected to attend the event, which CableLabs says will be of interest to developers, engineers, system administrators, systems architects, technical decision makers, product engineers and marketers, from industries including cable, healthcare and education.
Kevin Hart, EVP, chief product and technology officer, Cox Communications, will keynote the event; Phil McKinney, CableLabs president and CEO, will speak at the opening ceremony, and a whole slate of CableLabs experts will present throughout the day. The list includes Belal Hamzeh, SVP and CTO; Jon Schnoor, lead architect; Debbie Fitzgeral, director of technology policy; Jason Rupe, principal architect; Randy Levensalor, lead architect; and Curtis Knittle, VP of wired technologies.
This year Envision will focus on 10G. From the wired side, attendees can expect to hear updates about technologies like Distributed Access Architecture, Full Duplex Coherent Optics, Passive Optical Network, Proactive Network Maintenance, and DOCSIS 4.0. But the CableLabs experts will not only provide info about tech development, they will also offer a narrative that ties various projects together and will demonstrate how all these technologies will work in conjunction to future-proof wired technologies.
From a wireless perspective, CableLabs' story will center on how 10G will enable mobile and wireless networks. Attendees will hear how technologies like network convergence and low-latency mobile haul are ensuring that hybrid fiber/coax networks will stay ready and capable of supporting wireless needs now and into the future.
As in past years, CableLabs and Kyrio will host a booth together at Expo (1101). Whereas Envision will target vendors under NDA, the booth will be oriented for a public audience. Demos will provide updates on public-focused projects, with information that is publicly available to press, cable operators, and industry vendors.
Expo technical workshops will run from Sept. 30 to October 3, while the show floor will be open from Oct. 1-3.