To CCAP or not to CCAP, That is the Question

Today’s video ecosystem is divided into three segments—create, distribute and monetize. Examples of the players within these three segments are:

• Create: ESPN, ABC, You Tube, BBC and TVN


• Distribute: cable MSOs, telcos and wireless carriers, Amazon, Tivo, Roku and Netflix


• Monetize: Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Google and Netflix

The video distribution market today is not akin to anything we have seen in the past. I don’t believe there has been a technology or cultural movement with as much change as what we are witnessing today. Why is that? It is because today you have the choice of watching programs live, pulling it from the cloud, watching it at home, viewing on your mobile device, or all of the above.

With consumers demanding more content on more screens, cable operators are seeking a cost-effective strategy for migrating from conventional MPEG-based video delivery to IP video transport. The Converged Cable Access Platform (CCAP) was designed with this goal in mind, and proposes to combine data and video delivery as a first step on the migration path.

CCAP promises the cable operators who are competing in this very quickly changing world a solution that saves space and power, has full redundancy and offers the ability to move to an all-IP world when the time comes. In terms of building blocks, CCAP is really a composition of three technologies—edge QAM, CMTS and PON. The first step to CCAP is a universal dense edge QAM with redundancy. We believe that a PON solution built into the CCAP chassis allows operators to move into an all-IP video distribution sooner, if need be, or to satisfy the business services component. The final piece should be the CMTS portion and upstream DOCSIS component.

During the upcoming ANGA COM show (June 4-6) inCologne,Germany, we will be showcasing our innovative solutions that assist many operators bridge the CCAP gap. Our innovative solutions will be on display stand K29/hall 10.2.

We believe the way ahead to an all-IP solution, coupled with the operators’ decision to preserve as much of the existing plant, is based on each individual operator’s priorities, budgets and market for video. These decisions will drive the answer to the question, “To CCAP or not to CCAP?”