CableLabs® Announces
PacketCable™ Certifications

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CableLabs® announced recently that it has awarded PacketCable™ qualification status to a PacketCable 1.1 cable modem termination system (CMTS) from Cisco Systems and PacketCable™ certification status to an embedded multimedia terminal adapter (E-MTA) from Motorola as a result of its recently concluded Certification Wave 31.

PacketCable is a CableLabs-led initiative to define a common platform to deliver advanced real-time communication services, such as voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP), over two-way cable plant. Built on top of the industry’s DOCSIS® 1.1 (Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification) cable modem infrastructure, PacketCable networks use IP technology as the basis for a multimedia architecture. A DOCSIS 1.1 network with PacketCable extensions enables cable operators to deliver data and voice traffic efficiently and economically using a single high-speed, quality-of-service (QoS)-enabled broadband architecture.

The PacketCable initiative has followed a similar process to that employed in the successful DOCSIS program. Manufacturers that receive CableLabs certification or qualification for their E-MTA, cable modem termination system (CMTS), Call Management Server (CMS), Media Gateway Controller (MGC), or media gateway (MG), have successfully completed an extensive series of interoperability tests supported by CableLabs’ membership. These PacketCable devices were tested for interoperability in combination with other PacketCable components.

CableLabs® Certified™ or CableLabs Qualified means that the device has passed a series of tests for compliance with the indicated version of PacketCable and has thus demonstrated interoperable functionality with other "CableLabs certified/qualified" devices. "CableLabs Certified" is awarded to devices that will be used in a residence or business. "CableLabs Qualified" is awarded to devices that are used in a cable operator's network. Many of these devices provide other functions or are designed to comply with other specifications, in each case tailored by the manufacturer to meet the growing needs of consumers or cable operators in an evolving communication/entertainment sector. While CableLabs encourages such innovation and diversity, the phrase CableLabs certified/qualified should not be understood as an endorsement of these other attributes (or that the product is certified to other specifications or versions), which are solely the responsibility of the company making the additional claims.

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