NCTA: Stargus optimizes cable IP network management

NEW ORLEANS--

Stargus today introduced the CableEdge family of data collection and analysis products designed to work with cable’s DOCSIS infrastructure and IP services.

The platform, and its initial application, Optimizer, which Stargus demonstrated at the National Cable TV show here, will be in general availability in the second quarter.

“The number of devices we need to look at is exponentially higher than a traditional network management system,” said Rafe Leeman, Stargus’ vice president of product management, because the Optimizer looks at “the routers and switches further upstream, the failure of which would cause multiple thousands of customers to be out.”

The Optimizer uses hooks built into cable’s high-speed DOCSIS data specifications to monitor the data network by identifying and correlating faults.

“The area we’re focused on is the physical connection from the [cable modem termination system] to the DOCSIS modems,” Leeman said. “Is the signal quality good? Is there any interference that’s coming in that’s causing the signal to be corrupted and the bits not to be able to make it through because the HFC [hybrid fiber/coax] plant has an issue?”

The product’s second responsibility is monitoring traffic congestion. To do this, Stargus has developed metrics that represent signal degradation “so we can quickly find where the worst areas of the network are from a traffic and plant point of view,” Leeman said. In addition to monitoring network status, the wealth of information allows Stargus to make recommendations to system operators who can then adjust DOCSIS settings and increase the capacity of their networks.

Operators, Leeman said, have generally been conservative in setting up data networks and are “leaving a tremendous amount of capacity on the floor.” With increased information about plant condition, they can support more aggressive DOCSIS settings and “double or quadruple the capacity of a particular interface without losing data.”