Harris Seals Imagine Deal
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Harris Broadcast last week wrapped up its acquisition of Imagine Communications, a digital video encoding and processing vendor that specializes in adaptive bit rate technology for TV Everywhere, over-the-top video and other multiscreen video applications.
Financial terms were not disclosed, but when the deal was announced on Dec. 4, Harris Broadcast CEO Charlie Vogt estimated that the acquisition would boost his company’s addressable market by more than $300 million while accelerating Harris Broadcast’s adaptive bit rate product roadmap. Imagine counts the top 10 U.S. cable operators and Canada’s Cogeco among its customers.
With the deal done, the addition of Imagine’s people and technology will place Harris Broadcast in more direct competition with vendors such as RGB Networks, Elemental Technologies, Envivio and Harmonic.
iControl, Alarm.com Mend Fences
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — Alarm.com and iControl Networks, two home-security and automation vendors that are teaming up with cable operators, announced last Tuesday (Jan. 14) that they have settled all patent-infringement lawsuits between the two companies.
Financial terms were not disclosed, but the settlement allows Alarm.com and iControl to retain all ownership and rights to their respective patents while expanding their patent portfolios via “certain cross-licensing agreements.”
In a suit filed last summer, iControl alleged that Alarm.com was infringing on six of its patents, including those that defined methods for implementing alarms and notifi cations, event monitoring and managing premises networking equipment.
iControl’s MSO partners include Comcast, Cox Communications, Time Warner Cable and Rogers Communications, among others. Alarm.com attended The Cable Show last June, where it pitched small and midsized MSOs on distribution partnerships.
Aurora Gets It On With EPON
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Aurora Networks is the latest vendor to secure CableLabs qualification for Ethernet Passive Optical Network equipment that uses DOCSIS-style provisioning.
Aurora Networks recently obtained DOCSIS provisioning of EPON (DPoE) 1.0 qualification for both a DPoE System and a DPoE Optical Network Unit. In deployment scenarios, the DPoE System is analogous to the cable-modem termination system (CMTS) in the DOCSIS world, while the Optical Network Unit (ONU) behaves as the modem at the customer premises.
Qualification means Aurora’s gear is interoperable with other equipment that has been qualified by CableLabs for DPoE 1.0. Last year, CableLabs awarded similar stamps to CommScope, Huawei, Sumitomo Electric and ZTE for their respective DPoE systems. CableLabs has also qualified DPoE ONUs from CTDI, Finisar, Huawei and Sumitomo.
