By Michael Field, System Architect, and Ran Oz, Chief Technology Officer, BigBand Networks, Inc.
More choice is a proven winner in cable television. In recent years, cable operators have made strides in providing more channels by extending the useful frequency range, and through digital compression. Powerful competitors such as direct broadcast and digital subscriber line service to the Internet continue to push for still more choice.
How can the cable operator continue to
provide more choice to the customer while maximizing the returns on their investment in existing plant? One compelling way is by taking a page out of the data communications networking book and using switching technology to deliver the right mixture of services to each of the fiber nodes of their network.
This paper explores the way that switching technology allows the introduction of advanced services and thousands of new television channels.