RE: Cable networks RE: best effort has economic problems, maybe OT

[<frank () dticonsulting com>]

> > So what's the cable HFC Achilles heel?

As an observer, only, here.... ;)

  ... for one thing, investment is one of HFC's weaknesses as it relates to 
alternative transmission techniques in the broadband space, as witnessed by 
Rainmaker Technologies' early out. And while Narad's team may tell you that (and 
here I'm now getting this part second hand) they can customize a downstream mesh 
or ring for reliability and failover purposes, the reality is that most of these 
will go in as linear spurs off the local neigborhood block amplifier or 
thereabouts in an unprotected manner. And then there are the intrinsic capacity 
constraints imposed by coaxial's distance-attenuation characteristic, facing a 
ceiling far lower than that of optical fiber.

I've been impressed with some of the other MSO-related endeavors, however, where 
they've implemented native fiber rings - sans coax - for GigE and SONET 
applications to industrial/corporate parks and educational campuses, going head to 
head with the ILEC. Cablevision's Lightpath division comes to mind here, as do 
several of COX' and Comcast's metro entrees. But these, of course, are not based 
on some RF exorcism device. Instead, they are standard fare, comparable to what 
MFN/Abovenet or the local ILEC would install. I suppose that the Narad approach 
works for limited numbers of corporate type accounts on the same segment, maybe 
even more than I could envisage. I couldn't tell you exactly how well it would 
scale.

Frank


On Mon, 31 May 2004 13:47 , 'Christopher J. Wolff' chris () bblabs com> sent:

> All of these are great observations.  So what's the cable HFC Achilles heel?
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: frank () dticonsulting com 
[frank () dticonsulting com','','','')">frank () dticonsulting com] 
> Sent: Monday, May 31, 2004 12:58 PM
> To: nanog () merit edu; ''Christopher J. Wolff''; frank () dticonsulting com
> Subject: Re: [url correction] Cable networks RE: best effort has economic
> problems, maybe OT
>
> Correcting a previous url error on my part. 
>
> Narad's site is at:
>
>                     http://www.naradnetworks.com
>
>
> Sorry 'bout that, folks.
>
> Frank
>
> On Mon, 31 May 2004 11:30 , frank () dticonsulting com> sent:
>
> > Agree, this is a great discussion, akin to a recent Cook Report accounting
> of 
> best 
> > effort considerations. Several startups (now going into year two) have
> addressed 
> > the cable-HF/C constraints you've mentioned. You may be interested in
> perusing 
> > these two:
> >
> > http://www.narad.com
> >
> > Another, Rainmaker Technologies...
> >
> > http://www.rainmakertechnologies.com
> >
> > .... appears to have fallen on hard times while seeking later round
> funding. Not 
> > sure of their disposition at this time, but doing googles on their name
> reveal 
> > some good articles on their approach to using wavelets to improve bit gain
> over 
> > black coax/fiber systems to homes and businesses.
> >
> > Metcalfe has financial backing hooks and input into Narad, and Mark E.
> Laubach of 
> > COM21 fame (ATM over HF/C) heads up (headed up?) Rainmaker's technical
> pursuits.
> > [[As an aside, I'm finding increased interest in corporate parks
> (especially 
> those 
> > that are boondocks-bound) where MSO fiber-based offerings are being
> seriously 
> > considered for WAN access, both of the type discussed above and enterprise-
> > tailored rings coming off local head-ends.]]
> >
> > Frank
> >
> >
> > On Sun, 30 May 2004 08:47 , 'Christopher J. Wolff' chris () bblabs com> sent:
> >
> > > Folks,
> > >
> > > This is a great discussion.  I'm interested in understanding these types
> of
> > > limitations in the context of HFC cable networks.  In my opinion, HDTV
> > > channel bandwidth (30mhz?) , increased demand for voip, and growing demand
> > > for IP connectivity is going to stress the cable network model as well,
> > > forcing cable operators to convert everything to IP before going out
> across
> > > the wire.  Any input is appreciated.
> > >
> > > Regards,
> > > Christopher