CableLabs® Winter Conference 2008
Features Innovation Showcase,
Product Development Day

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CableLabs conducted its annual winter conference February 10–13 at The Broadmoor Resort and Hotel in Colorado Springs, CO. The conference included general sessions on advanced advertising and business services, two areas seen as ripe for future revenue growth for cable operators.

The conference sessions ran over February 11 and 12, with the 13th devoted to a plenary and three concurrent sessions featuring dialogue and discussion among product development executives from the cable operators and industry suppliers.

Winter conference 2008 also included CableLabs' third Innovation Showcase. Nine companies were provided with 10 minutes in a plenary session setting to discuss and demonstrate their new technologies. In informal polling of the audience at the conclusion of the session, Ruckus Wireless was chosen as the best new idea most likely to succeed in the cable industry. In 2007, SimpleStar and Harmonic received similar acclaim during winter and summer conference, respectively.

Ruckus Wireless President and CEO Selina Lo makes a presentation to the 2008 CableLabs Winter Conference as part of the Innovation Showcase session. Ruckus's demonstration focused on wireless broadband distribution and during informal polling at the conference was deemed best new idea most likely to succeed in the cable industry.

The showcase was preceded by a CableLabs technology roadmap presentation by Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Office David Reed and Chief Technology Officer Ralph Brown.

CableLabs Chief Technology Officer Ralph Brown addresses the audience at the 2008 CableLabs Winter Conference held February 10-13 at The Broadmoor Resort in Colorado Springs, CO. Brown was discussing the CableLabs project roadmap for the near future.

Reed and Chief Scientist Jason Gaedtke moderated the Showcase session.

Conference track sessions began on February 11 with a panel entitled "Next Generation User Interface". Moderator: Gerard Kunkel, Senior Vice President, User Experience, at Comcast Cable, and President of GuideWorks, LLC, a joint venture of Comcast and TV Guide. Speakers: Patrick Donoghue, VP, ITV Product Management, Time Warner Cable; Tony Istvan, Senior Director Advanced Product, Comcast Cable; Shin Lee, General Manager, Technical Planning & Development, CJ CableNet; Ed Shapiro, VP Project Delivery Americas, NDS; and Bill Thomas, CTO, Gemstar TV Guide IPG.

The concurrent session was "PacketCable™ 2.0 Migration Strategies". Moderator: Kevin Johns, Director, PacketCable Architecture, CableLabs. Speakers: Matt Cannon, Manager, Voice and IP Service Engineering, Time Warner Cable; Bruce McLeod, Executive Director, Voice Technology & Engineering, Cox Communications; and Richard Woundy, Senior Vice President, Software & Applications, Comcast Cable.

Included in the next set of sessions was a panel on "Business Class Data Services - The Ethernet Opportunity". Moderator: Glenn Russell, Director, Business Services, Strategic Assessment, CableLabs. Speakers: Jack Burton, Director, Systems Engineering, Cablevision Systems; Paul Dietl, Director, High Capacity and Enterprise Products, Comcast Cable; and Darren Wolner, Senior Product Manager, Time Warner Cable.

At the same time was a session "Infrastructure Considerations for Deploying DOCSIS® Technology", moderated by Lakshmi Raman, Director, Advance Technology, Broadband Networks, CableLabs. Speakers: Matt Bell, Vice President, IP Engineering & Development, Charter Communications; John Dickinson, Sr. Director, Network Strategy & Architecture, Bright House Networks; and Guy Middleton, Architect, IP Services Technology, Rogers Cable.

February 11 concluded with a pair of sessions. One was "Emerging Technologies and Tools for Network Management". Moderator: Eduardo Cardona, Senior OSS Engineer, CableLabs. Speakers: Theresa Goriczynski, Director, Network OSS Application Development and Support, Cox Communications; Neil Raden, Partner and Co-Founder, Smart (Enough) Systems LLC; and Paul Schauer, Distinguished Engineer, Comcast Cable.

The other session was "Outside the (Set-Top) Box - Content Protection in a Home Network". Moderator: Balu Ambady, Principal Architect, CableLabs. Speakers: Jud Cary, Vice President/Deputy General Counsel, CableLabs; Frank Gonzalez, Director, Video Architecture, Cox Communications; Bill Helms, Vice President, Subscriber Equipment, Time Warner Cable; and Bill Warga, Director, Digital Technology & Standards, Comcast Cable.

Sessions on February 12 began with a concurrent pair of sessions, including "Converged Services - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly"? Moderator: Ralph Brown, CableLabs CTO. Speakers: Michael Chen, Director, Cross Platform Applications, Comcast Cable; Mark Kaish, Vice President, Voice Strategy & Product Management, Cox Communications; and Doug Semon, Vice President, Subscriber Technology Development and Standards, Time Warner Cable.

A simultaneous session was "Security Panel - Competitive Security". Moderator: Oscar Marcia, Vice President, Security, CableLabs. Speakers: Matt Carothers, Senior Security Engineer, Cox Communications; Bob Kulakowski, Chief Technology Officer, Verimatrix, Inc.; and Doug Simmons, Director of Technical Architecture, Burton Group.

The next set of sessions featured "Resource Management for DOCSIS and Video". Moderator: Alberto Campos, Principal Architect, Broadband Technologies, CableLabs. Speakers: Ben Bekele, Solutions Marketing Manager, Cisco Systems; Saifur Rahman, Distinguished Engineer, Comcast Cable; and Cor Zwart, Director, Next Generation Technology, UPC Broadband.

Also in the set was "IPTV Technology: Fear Not!" Moderator: Dhawal Moghe, Senior Architect, CableLabs. Speakers: John Coppola, Director, Access Technology and Engineering, Cox Communications; Mark Francisco, Fellow, Comcast; George Hart, Director Technology Integration, Rogers Communications, Inc.; and John Pickens, Chief Technical Strategist, Video Content Networking, Cisco Systems.

Following the conclusion of this set of sessions, Arthur Orduña, Senior Vice President of Product & Policy, Bright House Networks, moderated a general session "Advanced Advertising: It's More than Technology". Speakers: Jim Heneghan, Senior Vice President, Charter Media; David Porter, Vice President, Marketing and New Media, Cox Media; Warren Schlichting, Senior Vice President, New Business Development, Comcast Corporation; and Paul Woidke, Vice President, Technology, Comcast Spotlight.

Warren Schlichting, Senior Vice President, New Business Development, Comcast Corporation, responds to a question during the 2008 Winter Conference general session on advanced advertising. Pictured on the panel, from left: Paul Woidke, Vice President, Technology, Comcast Spotlight; David Porter, Vice President, Marketing and New Media, Cox Media; Schlichting, Jim Heneghan, Senior Vice President, Charter Media; and moderator Arthur Orduña, Senior Vice President of Product & Policy, Bright House Networks.

After lunch, another area of potential revenue growth was discussed in a general session. This one was "The Business Services Opportunity", moderated by CableLabs' Glenn Russell. Speakers: Mark Bowser, Vice President of Cox Business, Cox Communications; Dave Pistacchio, Executive Vice President & General Manager; Optimum Lightpath; and William Stemper, President, Comcast Business Services, Comcast Cable.

Afternoon concurrent tracks included a session on backbones entitled "One-bone, C-bone or T-Bone: The Evolution of IP Backbones", moderated by Jean-François Mulé, Vice President, IP Technologies and Services, CableLabs. Speakers: Ron da Silva, Senior Director, Network Engineering, Architecture & Technology, Time Warner Cable; Randy Kinsey, Executive Director, Network Engineering & Architecture, Cox Communications; Kevin McElearney, Vice President, National Network Engineering, Comcast Cable; and Joseph Selvage, Vice President, IP Networks, Mediacom.

Time Warner Cable; Norm Paquette, Director, Cross Product Development, Rogers Cable; and Jim Poder, Principal Engineer, Comcast Cable.

The last set of sessions on February 12 featured "Experiences with IPv6 Planning and Deployment", moderated by Deepak Kharbanda, Senior Engineer, IP Networking, CableLabs. Speakers: Srini Avirneni, Distinguished Engineer, Comcast Cable; James Connolly, Director of Network, Architecture and Design, UPC Broadband; and Robert McWhorter, Network Engineering Manager, BendBroadband.

The concurrent session was titled "Internet Video - Filling the Internet Pipes with Moving Pictures", moderated by Terry Shaw, Director, Network Systems, CableLabs. Speakers: Daniel Stoller, Vice President, Strategy & Development, Time Warner Cable; Mark Taylor, Senior Vice President, Strategy & Business Development, Content Markets, Level3 Communications; and Peter Yu, Product Manager, Comcast Interactive Media.

February 13 sessions were open to industry suppliers and the half day was designed to foster dialogue between cable operators and the vendors with an emphasis on product development.

The general session "Let's Talk Product" was moderated by Arthur Orduña, Senior Vice President of Product & Policy, Bright House Networks. Speakers: Himesh Bhise, General Manager of High-Speed Internet, Charter Communications; Mark Hess, Senior Vice President, Product Development - Video, Comcast Cable; Mark Kaish, Vice President, Voice Strategy & Product Management, Cox Communications; and Mike Lee, Chief Strategy Officer, Rogers Communications.

Following the general session were three concurrent panels - one on data, one voice and one on video.

"Data: Traditional HSD and Wireless" was moderated by Seth Hogan, Vice President, Data Strategy & Product Management, Cox Communications. Speakers: Charter's Bhise; Rick Mandler, VP, Digital Advertising Sales & New Media; ABC TV Network; and Peter Percosan, Executive Director, Texas Instruments.

"Voice: Wireline and Wireless and Where Are the Integrated Products", moderated by Tom White, Vice President - Marketing, Comcast Digital Voice. Speakers: Keith Davis, Director, Wireless & Enhanced Voice Marketing, Cox Communications; Katie Graham, Director, Wireless Business Development, Comcast Cable; Solomon Israel, Senior Director, Systems Integration and Multimedia Solutions, Ericsson, Inc.; and Brad Sparks, Director, Business Development, North American Cable, Thomson.

"Video: Extending the Core Service" was moderated by Rogers Communications Mike Lee. Speakers: Jeff Chen, Senior Vice President of Advanced Technology, Bright House Networks; Comcast's Mark Hess; Steve Necessary, VP of Video Strategy & Product Management, Cox Communications; and Maria Rothschild, Sr. Director, Video Product Management, Charter Communications.

There was an exhibit area section of the conference with demonstrations from the following companies:

Advanced Digital Broadcast, Inc.; ADZILLA; Affinegy; Alcatel-Lucent; Allot Communications; Alticast; Ambit Microsystems; AMD; Anagran, Inc.; ARRIS; ARRIS (formerly C-COR); AudioCodes; Aurora Networks; Auspice Corporation; BigBand Networks; Bosch Security Systems, Inc.; Broadcom Corporation; BroadSoft/Acme Packet/Camiant; Camiant; CGI; Cinea, Inc. (a Dolby Company) ; Cisco Systems; Clique Communications; Conax/Evolution Broadband; CSG Systems; D-Link Systems, Inc.; Digeo; Digital Multimedia Technologies (DMT); Ditech Networks; DPHI, Inc. / DataPlay ; Eaton Electrical, Inc.; Ensequence; Entropic Communications; Ericsson/Tandberg Television; F-Secure Inc.; Front Porch, Inc.; GE Security & iControl; GridNetworks, Inc.; Harmonic Inc.; IBM; ICTV; Imagine Communications; Incognito Software; InGrid, Inc.; Integra5; IP Fabrics; IPgallery; Irdeto; Jabber, Inc./Avaya/HP; JacobsRimell; LaserShield and NextAlarm.com; Level 3 Communications; LiquidxStream; MetaSwitch; Motorola, Inc.; Move Networks; Mu Security, Inc.; Nagravision; NetNumber, Inc.; NeuStar; Next Generation Broadband; NextPoint; Nominum; Nortel; Openet; Pace Micro Technology; Panasonic; PerfTech, Inc.; Promptlink Communications; Pure Networks; Ruckus Wireless; Samsung Electronics; Sandvine; Schlage (IR Security Technologies); Scopus Video Networks; SeaChange International; Sigma Designs; Sigma Systems; SMC Networks, Inc.; Softel-USA; Solekai Systems; Sonus Networks; Tendril Networks, Inc.; Teradata Corporation; thePlatform ; Trilithic; UniSoft Corp/S&T Ltd.; VeriSign, Inc.; Vidiom Systems; Vyyo; Westell Technologies, Inc.; and Widevine Technologies, Inc.

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