Casa Systems said it will be the first vendor to deliver full Converged Cable Access Platform (CCAP) functionality, with a new high-density module for its C10G cable modem termination system.
The DS8x96 module, which the vendor will demo at the Cable Show, delivers 96 channels per port including 32 channels of narrowcast and 64 channels of broadcast -- for a total of 768 channels per module. With support for up to 11 primary DS8x96 modules and one protection module in a C10G, the Casa CMTS can deliver more than 8,000 narrowcast and broadcast QAMs in a 13-rack-unit chassis.
"Casa Systems was the first company to release a full DOCSIS 3.0 CMTS to the market and we are doing it again as the first company to release a full CCAP system," Casa founder and CEO Jerry Guo said.
Casa is demonstrating integrated-CCAP functionality, including the delivery of MPEG video, IPTV, and DOCSIS over a single port on its DS8x96 module. Current C10G customers can migrate to CCAP by adding the DS8x96 module without changing any other hardware on the platform, according to Casa.
The DS8x96 is currently in lab trials and Casa is shooting to ship the product in the second half of 2012, said Mark Sumner, vice president of marketing and business development.
CableLabs' CCAP -- pronounced "see cap" -- integrates the functions of broadcast and narrowcast QAMs and DOCSIS 3.0 interfaces to gain operational efficiencies. The specification synthesizes previous headend-consolidation projects that were under way at Comcast and Time Warner Cable.
"CCAP mapped well to our architecture," Sumner said. Casa is delivering an integrated CCAP platform out of the gate, he noted, whereas other vendors such as Cisco Systems and Motorola Mobility initially are taking a modular CCAP approach with external edge QAM
"I think everybody wants to go to the integrated approach, because it's a simpler and smaller device -- it's easier to manage," Sumner said.
Casa is still developing software to support broadcast video QAMs, and is building a new 13-RU chassis (slightly bigger than the 12 RU currently) for the C10G that will ship in July or August.
The DS8x96 cards each will support a 40 Gigabit per second internal interface. On the outbound side, Casa is developing a card with eight 10-Gbps interfaces on it and another card with two 100-Gbps interfaces.
"CCAP is in its infancy, but our understanding is we're quite a bit ahead of everyone else," Sumner said. "If someone wants to add CCAP all you have to do is upgrade the software."
Also at the Cable Show, Casa will have on display the C1G CMTS, designed for smaller headends. The 1-RU DOCSIS 3.0 system provides up to eight channels down and eight channels up, with redundant power supplies.
Andover, Mass.-based Casa still lays claim to having the industry's only CMTS with full DOCSIS 3.0 and PacketCable 1.5 certification from CableLabs.
