Motorola, Lucent commit to IP voice over HFC

Motorola and Lucent Technologies said last week at the Cable '99 show in Chicago that they will work together to develop and market Internet protocol telephony and high-speed data solutions to cable operators.

The announcements signal a commitment from both companies - as well as much of the vendor community - that cable voice traffic is headed for IP networks.

The deal also gives Motorola a partner in a field that is fast becoming filled with switching heavyweights including Nortel (through its Arris joint venture) and Tellabs.

"The future of cable voice is clearly IP, and we will provide telco-class telephony for that market," said Bruce Stone, senior vice president and general manager of Motorola's multimedia group.

"IP is the route we're going," agreed Rosemarie Nye, operations vice president of Lucent's cable communications group. "We won't go back to circuit switching in development of cable systems."

The proposed cable solution will employ Lucent's PathStar access server with Motorola's cable headend and an element manager to be jointly developed by the two companies. It will also incorporate PhoneLink, a new in-home multiservice terminal adapter from Motorola's multimedia group that combines cable modem functionality with the ability to send voice over the data network.

"We are cooperating to provide an end-to-end IP phone solution for cable, with joint architecture, joint development and joint marketing," said Dick Day, vice president of Motorola's multimedia markets division. "We've been integrating them for two or three months now, but the two systems were compatible right off the bat."

The PathStar access server functions as a high-speed switch, an IP-based telephony system with processor for call routing, signaling and billing, and a gateway for converting packetized voice into traditional public network signals. Together with another, larger new access server, the R/E 7, PathStar represents Lucent's future commitment to IP voice.

PathStar is suited for green field cable systems and small deployments of about 50 to 100 homes per mile. The R/E 7 is optimized for providing voice over IP for systems with higher densities.

The access server will link the IP and public networks to a Motorola cable modem termination system, which will act as interface to an operator's hybrid fiber/coax network. At the subscriber end, residential service will come from Motorola's PhoneLink.

"PhoneLink will provide 'always-on' access to IP telephony and Internet service over a single box," said Robert Molnar, Motorola's vice president for telephony. "It puts up to four phone lines over existing in-home wire. You don't have to tear up homes to offer subscribers new phone lines, which will appeal to operators."