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Daily news and top headlines for broadband communications engineering and design professionals
In Perspective - Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes ...
May 31, 2010 8:35 pm | by Brian Santo, Editor-in-Chief | CommentsThe Cable Show, once upon a time devoted almost exclusively to programming concerns, is now equally about the technology, leading to the occasional grumble that the show has been overrun by vendors.
Memory Lane - Sour note
May 31, 2010 8:30 pm | by Stewart Schley Media & technology writer, Denver, Colo. | CommentsNobody knew it then, but 1999 would turn out to be the music industry’s own swan song – a last beautiful note before the deluge began. Not coincidentally, 1999 was the year a new entrant hit the music scene: Napster.
Ciciora’s Corner - Rants
May 31, 2010 8:25 pm | by Walt S. Ciciora Expert on cable and consumer electronics issues | CommentsWell, the day has finally come. The cable system I am on is going all-digital, and so I have to have a cable settop box. To ease the pain, the cable company is offering two set-tops at no charge for two years. Fine. But I have eight TVs and a number of VCRs and video monitors.
Open Mic - Broadband providers ramp up speeds
May 31, 2010 8:20 pm | by Mike Paxton, Principal analyst with the Digital Entertainment Group at In-Stat | CommentsThe recent release of the FCC's National Broadband Plan shined a spotlight on bandwidth, a topic that continues to be somewhat obscure to many consumers.
Engineering-Wise - Fasten your seat belts
May 31, 2010 8:15 pm | by Mark Dzuban President and CEO of the SCTE | CommentsDecades later, my father’s training is still paying off. There’s not as much time for circuit boards these days, and the neighbors frown on V-1 rocket engines mounted to picnic tables, but the concept of getting a project to perform well is paramount.
Capital Currents - The new FCC 'video device' inquiry
May 31, 2010 8:10 pm | by Jeffrey Krauss President of Telecommunications and Technology Policy | CommentsCircuit City didn’t like the idea that cable set-top boxes were leased rather than sold to home subscribers, and it wanted a piece of that market. As the FCC’s notice of inquiry recites, the retail market never developed a device designed to protect the security of premium programming.
Web Extra - June 2010
May 31, 2010 8:00 pm | CommentsThis month's feature Web Extra: "Broadband CPE reliability can save millions"... We’re now posting daily news items and blogs on Facebook... Stewart Schley conducted a half-dozen interviews on the show floor at The Cable Show... And our current webinars.
Broadband CPE reliability can save millions
May 31, 2010 8:00 pm | by Bob Eng, senior director of Touchstone product management at Arris | CommentsProduct reliability is measured by mean time between failure (MTBF). MTBF can be calculated from component reliability predictions or measured over time in a large field population.
Video Showcase from The Cable Show 2010
May 18, 2010 8:00 pm | CommentsCED Magazine's Video Showcase from The Cable Show 2010
CED’s 2010 CTO Roundtable Discussion
April 30, 2010 8:45 pm | by Brian Santo, Editor-in-Chief | CommentsCommunications service providers are all headed toward a future in which subscribers are given greater access to more content and richer applications, accessible from wherever they happen to be and in possession of just about any device. But there are a lot of customers out there, representing an enormous array of service needs to be fulfilled.
Focus Sharpens on Multi-Screen Video Delivery
April 30, 2010 8:40 pm | by Mike Robuck, Senior Editor | CommentsWith apologies to Mary Ann and Ginger, and the Professor if you are so inclined, there’s more to three-screen viewing than watching “Gilligan’s Island” repeats on your TV, PC and mobile device.
DOCSIS - Upstream Cable Echoes Come In Two Flavors
April 30, 2010 8:35 pm | by Thomas Williams, Senior Staff Broadband Systems Engineer at Arris; Alberto Campos of Cablelabs; Bruce Currivan of Broadcom; and Charles Moore of Motorola | CommentsCable lines typically have many small echoes, so-called micro-reflections, that will disrupt digital transmissions if not canceled. This is particularly true for high-speed upstream signals having a higher order modulation, such as 64 QAM, or having wider bandwidth, such as 6.4 MHz.
Network Management - Start Reconfiguring Your Network For IPv6
April 30, 2010 8:30 pm | by Brian Santo, Editor-in-Chief | CommentsAre you willing to run out of Internet addresses for new customers? No? Then that must mean you’re already in the process of reconfiguring your network to support IPv6.
In Perspective - Quality of Experience
April 30, 2010 8:25 pm | by Brian Santo, Editor-in-Chief | CommentsOK, OK … foam food never really caught on, and Crocs sure died out fast. But 3-D seems to be right up there.
MemoryLane - On a Scroll
April 30, 2010 8:20 pm | by Stewart Schley Media & technology writer, Denver, Colo. | CommentsOne thing was certain, though: You needed to know what was on. Thus, the idea for TV Guide – a national magazine about TV that was produced from a merger of regional guides in Chicago, Philadelphia and New York City.
