Is It CCAP, or Is It Not?

Is a CCAP product really CCAP? Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) VP of Cable Solutions Gil Katz would have operators ask this as they walk around the SCTE Cable-Tec Expo show floor next month. "There are a lot of misleading messages in the industry about vendors saying, 'We have CCAP,' and CCAP it is not," Katz said.CCAP stands for Converged Cable Access Platform, and convergence, or lack thereof, could be a telling sign. A CCAP product must support video delivery and provide a data solution. If it can't, it is either an edge QAM or a CMTS, but it is not CCAP, Katz said. "If you don't have a convergence story, don't call it CCAP because it is not."And, the tale should not be one solely of DOCSIS. "If you come with a solution today that doesn't address future needs in the context of IP, then it is not interesting," Katz said.Harmonic is poised to launch what it terms a "true" CCAP product at Expo. While the company is not revealing specifics, Katz did offer some breadcrumbs. For starters, he mentioned that CCAP is leveraging recent developments in Fast DAC (digital to analog conversion) technology. "Harmonic is using it in its HectoQAM," Katz said. "Obviously, we will use the technology for our future CCAP product."He noted that the definition of CCAP includes more than 1,000 requirements, with a certain critical subset important to everyone, including space requirements, port density, number of QAM streams per port, and power consumption per port. "All of those features are critical and very important practically," Katz said, noting that Harmonic has identified eight to 10 features it deems necessary to be truly CCAP compliant."By no means do we limit the features to eight to 10, but believe these are the key requirements ... when we will have each feature we will have to use and our customers to discuss," he said. "We will make sure they will get what they need when they need it."Katz stressed the importance of maintaining dialogue with MSOs. "Don't try to fix everything at once," he said. "Fix (their) current problem. That means engagement with MSOs. It is subjective and not measureable. But it is basic. If you don't have engagement, give up."He cited an example of a vendor announcing it will have a product with 32 QAM streams per port available in 2014. "Let's talk about the need of the MSO," Katz said. "Will 32 QAMs cut it (by 2014)? Already today there is a need for 32 QAMs. In two years, they could need 40 or 48 QAMs depending on narrowcast services."CCAP defines 64 narrrowcast QAMs per port, and a lot of time was spent in committee finding a balance between investment and need, Katz said. "This number came after a lot of discussion. If you don't have it, you are not addressing convergence needs."Yet an additional nuance is flexibility. MSOs operate with slightly different ecosystems and have their own timing sequence for upgrades and change. One might have just invested on the data side, but needs to grow video. Another might have maxed out its CMTS. Neither wants to abandon its investment, so it is up to the vendor to help them protect it while at the same time moving forward, Katz said."It is flexibility and the ability to scale the (CCAP) platform to address what they need, when they need it. That is key," Katz said.Monta Monaco Hernon is a free-lance writer. She can be reached at [email protected].