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2 018DIAMOND TECHNOLOGYREVIEWS•
Diamond Technology Reviews 2018
BTR’s Diamond Technology Reviews, now
in its 14th year, is a technology recognition program in which vendors serving
the broadband cable industry are invited to submit information about products
that have been released or upgraded since
last year’s SCTE Cable-Tec Expo (held in
October 2017).
Each entry was assigned to at least
three of our expert volunteer judges. To
help ensure fairness, similar products
from diferent vendors were reviewed by
the same group of panelists. Judges based
scores/comments on written material provided by vendors, as well as their own
experience with or knowledge of the specifc technologies. Review panelists were
informed that scores/comments would
remain anonymous.
Specifcally, judges used the following
scale to determine Diamond scores:
0-1: Not a useful product
1.5-2: Useful product, yet commodity
2. 5-3.5: Solid product with viable attributes that set it apart
4: Excellent product with technical features and performance that provide clear
and substantial benefts
5: Superb product that sets new standard for performance and provides ground-breaking and new technical milestones
Each entry’s scores were averaged and
rounded to the nearest full or half
Diamond. Note that products are grouped
by score (with the highest Diamonds ranking frst), and then in alphabetical order.
Scores of 3. 5 or above are considered
superlative and refect a very positive opinion from the panel. Only products receiving
a 3. 5 or above are included in this article.
“We tasked our judges to evaluate each
entry based on its innovation and overall
usefulness to cable operators,” commented Broadband Technology Report Editorial
Director Stephen Hardy, who served as program director this year. “Our judges took
these instructions very seriously this year.
And while some entries fell short of this bar,
several entries made excellent impressions.”
Not surprisingly, several of the entries
this year focused on fber deep and
Distributed Access Architecture. But we
also saw advanced technology in the test
and measurement arena, in video process-
ing and customer premises equipment.
Preparing cable operators for virtualization
and software-defned networking/network
functions virtualization (SDN/NFV) was a
common theme.
“Broadband Technology Report thanks
the judges for their hard work and diligence
in evaluating so many entries. Tis year’s
Diamond Technology Reviews entries indicate that cable operators should fnd several good options to meet their needs as they
continue to evolve their networks,” Hardy
concluded.
© 2018 Broadband Technology Report, A Penn Well Publication
THE SHOW
CABLE-TEC EXPO ’ 18
PRODUCT NEWS
2018 DIAMOND JUDGES PANEL
PROGRAM DIRECTOR: Stephen Hardy, Editorial
Director, Broadband Technology Report
Fuad Alnajjar, Director, Product Development and
Emerging Tech, Mediacom
Jeff Finkelstein, Executive Director of Advanced
Access Architectures, Cox Communications
Mike Latino, VP, Service Infrastructure, Cox
Bob Lee, Telecommunications Consultant
John Lynn, Director of HFC, Altice USA
Joel Prine, Director, Network Architecture, Cable One
Ken Williams, Senior Director, HFC Engineering, PRG
Larry Wolcott, Fellow and Distinguished Engineer,
Comcast
Ken Wright, Independent Consultant, Wright Solutions
DIAMOND TECHNOLOGY REVIEWS........................................................................................ 1
EXPO ‘18: TRENDS TO WATCH................................................................................................ 16
WORKSHOP OVERVIEW ........................................................................................................... 18
FLOOR MAP ................................................................................................................................. 20
EXHIBITORS LIST ....................................................................................................................... 23
