BROADCASTS.com

Published: Nov. 14, 2006, 1:29 a.m.

Intro Mike:

\n\n\n\n\n

On\nNovember 6, 2006, BroadLogic Network Technologies, a San Jose chip\nmanufacturer, announced The World's First Massively Parallel, Multi-Channel\nVideo Processor, a terapixel-speed video processing chip that will allow\ncable providers to recover bandwidth that can then be used to deliver more high\ndefinition channels, video on demand and high bandwidth data services without\nmajor network upgrades.

\n\n\n\n\n

\xa0

\n\n\n\n\n

Mike: Gordon, before we discuss the\nBoradlogic product, can you give us an idea of how current cable delivery\nsystems work?

\n\n\n\n\n

\xa0

\n\n\n\n\n

Traditional\ncable delivery systems work by allocating 6MHz of analog bandwidth for each\nchannel. Most cable providers offer approximately 80 channels that consume (6\nMHz/channel x 80 channels) 480 MHz of bandwidth. Typical cable networks provide\nonly 750 MHz of bandwidth and with 480 MHz used for video, there is not much\nleft for other services.

\n\n\n\n\n

\xa0

\n\n\n\n\n

Let's\nthink about this a little bit more - one channel consumes 6 MHz of bandwidth but\nit takes 480 MHz of bandwidth to deliver that single channel to your TV while\n"wasting" (480 MHz - 6 Mhz) 474 MHz of bandwidth. Not very\nefficient even if you have a few TV's going in your house watching different\nchannels at the same time.\xa0 In summary and according to an article at\nLight Reading\nand linked in the show notes:

\n\n\n\n\n

\xa0

\n\n\n\n\n

Each\nanalog channel consumes 6 MHz of capacity (or roughly 1/125th of the total\ncapacity of an upgraded cable plant). Re-claiming that channel slot frees up\nenough capacity to launch 2 more channels in HDTV (each of which consumes\nabout 2.4 MHz), or ten more digital Standard Definition (SD) channels (each of\nwhich consumes about 0.6 MHz), another ten QAMs, each capable of delivering an\nadditional VOD stream, or more broadband [Internet] capacity.

\n\n\n\n\n

\xa0

\n\n\n\n\n

Many of the hundreds of digital broadcast TV channels\na cable operator delivers are not being watched at any given time. It is a\nnetwork inefficiency that can be remedied by simply switching off those\nchannels that are not being watched. By reclaiming much of this analog\nspectrum, splitting fiber nodes, and employing switched broadcast video (SBV)\ntechniques, there is lots of room for cable to expand service offerings,\nincluding HDTV and VOD.

\n\n\n\n\n

\xa0

\n\n\n\n\n

SBV\nhas attracted major interest to this point and involves the delivery of all 80\nor so channels in digital format \xc3\xa2\xef\xbf\xbd\xef\xbf\xbd it works but requires every attached TV in\nthe house to be connected through a set-top box with each box having its own\nremote controller - we have 6 connected TVs in my home now so 6 boxes plus 6\nmore controllers - expensive and we have enough time keeping track of a single\nremote.

\n\n\n\n\n

\xa0

\n\n\n\n\n

Light Reading says Comcast Corp. has an aggressive plan to cut\nthe average number of analog channels it carries in half over the next five\nyears, from 70 to 35. That means moving some three dozen basic cable networks\nfrom analog to digital-only carriage.

\n\n\n\n\n

This is where things get interesting:

\n\n\n\n\n

Until\ndigital penetration reaches 100% being left off the analog tier means reduced\ndistribution. And that means lower affiliate fees, and lower advertising\nrevenue.

\n\n\n\n\n

It's gonna be slow because subscribers will\nnot want to pay for the extra boxes, will not have room for them on their\nshelves, etc.

\n\n\n\n\n

This means the programmers will fight this tooth and\nnail. Ironically, it is SBV that may well help prove their case is built on a\nhouse of cards. Cable TV programming networks sell themselves to advertisers\nbased on their total distribution footprint - say 40, 60, or 80 million homes.\nThe metric is bogus, as only a small fraction of homes are viewing it. With\nSBV, MSOs will have all the statistical details on who is watching, and\neventually, so will advertisers.

\n\n\n\n\n

Mike: So last week along comes Broadlogic,\nwhat does this product do?

\n\n\n\n\n

\xa0

\n\n\n\n\n

According\nto Broadlogic website:

\n\n\n\n\n

\xa0

\n\n\n\n\n

The\nBL80000 TeraPIX chip is capable of decoding dozens of digital video streams and\ngenerating a full analog and digital service tier, including an 80-plus analog\nchannel lineup, that any number of cable-ready devices (TVs, DVRs, PCs with\ntuner cards, etc.) can view, plus up to 160SD or 50HD programs.

\n\n\n\n\n

\xa0

\n\n\n\n\n

The\nTeraPIX processor powers a new type of Residential Gateway, installed outside\nor just inside a residence, which allows the network to be all-digital, while\nsubscribers continue to receive the cable-ready analog video, digital video,\nhigh speed data and voice services they crave. Conventional set-top boxes\noutput one channel at a time and thus feed only one TV. Cable MSOs can use this\ntechnology to take their networks all digital, thus tripling their digital\ncapacity at a time when rising content and competitive requirements demand it.

\n\n\n\n\n

\xa0

\n\n\n\n\n

Mike: It sounds like the Broadlogic chip\nmay be a much more cost effective solution - can you give more detail?

\n\n\n\n\n

\xa0

\n\n\n\n\n

More\naccording to Broadlogic website:

\n\n\n\n\n

\xa0

\n\n\n\n\n

The\nBroadLogic TeraPIX video processor works by decoding bandwidth-conserving\ndigital video signals delivered by a cable operator, and generating 80-plus\nhigh-quality channels of television. Cable operators get their extra bandwidth,\nand consumers get the channel lineups they're used to without having to get\nmore set-tops, run more coax, or lose more remotes.

\n\n\n\n\n

\xa0

\n\n\n\n\n

The\nTeraPIX processor enables solutions that support virtually all existing analog\nand digital consumer devices. For example, if a subscriber has a DVR set-top\nfrom their cable operator, the digital signals are passed through TeraPIX to\nthe DVR.

\n\n\n\n\n

The price of an individual chip is around $300 when\npurchased in bulk (1000 or greater numbers) \xa0and cable companies are\nsaying this could be a cost effective way to increase network bandwidth.

\n\n\n\n\n

The technology is moving at such an incredible pace\nand it is easy to see more bandwidth and more applications and, from an\nacademic perspective, the ability to provide more and more quality IP\ndelivered content to our students at a distance. Very exciting stuff and -\nwhat's next??

\n\n\n\n\n

Mike: Let's change the subject a bit - I\nknow you took a train ride last week and performed an interesting "experiment".\nCan you fill us in with some details?

\n\n\n\n\n

\xa0

\n\n\n\n\n

On Tuesday I had an excellent visit with the Borough\nof Manhattan Community College Video Arts and Technology Program (http://www.bmcc.cuny.edu/speech/VAT/VAT.html\n) faculty and administrators. BMCC has an NSF project grant titled "Creatiing\nCareer Pathways for Women and Minorities in Digital Video Technology" , an exciting project with an HDTV focus. We're looking forward to lots of good\nresults from the VAT group at BMCC.

\n\n\n\n\n

Instead of driving I took the AMTRAK train down to New York City from Springfield,\n MA. I had my notebook computer\nwith me and on the way home, as I was doing some work, I decided to let\nNetStumbler ( http://netstumbler.com/\n) run in the background. NetStumbler is a Windows application that allows you\nto detect 802.11b, 802.11a and 802.11g Wireless Local Area Network Access\nPoints (WLAN AP's). In addition to Netstumbler, there is MacStumbler for\nMacintosh computers, and Kismet for machines running Linux.

\n\n\n\n\n

Many people use Netstumbler for wardriving that\ninvolves driving a car around with a wireless enabled laptop or PDA and logging\nwireless Wi-Fi networks. According to the Netstumbler website wardriving was\nfirst started in the San Francisco\narea by the Bay Area Wireless Users Group (BAWUG) and is similar to using a\nscanner for radio. Many wardrivers will use GPS devices to find the exact\nlocation of the network found and log it on a website. In fact, if you have a\nGPS device attached to your computer Netstumbler will automatically log the\nlatitude and longitude settings for future reference. There are several active\ndatabases on the web that maintain lists of open hotspots - one of them is\nmaintained and accessed via the Netstumbler site.

\n\n\n\n\n

In the train I started up Netstumbler on my PC at the\nNew Rochelle, NY\nstop and just let it run until I got to Springfield,\n MA with some interesting results.\nNetstumbler logs, among other things, the access point MAC address, SSID and\nwhether or not the AP is running any kind of encryption. An un-encryped access\npoint is one that is wide open for access. Between New\n Rochelle and Springfield\nI logged 1441 access points, many unencryped and wide open for public access.\nSSIDs were sometimes very descriptive and I found open access points from at\nleast one large insurance company, one law firm and the 36th floor conference\nroom of an unknown company. I also got a kick out of some of the creative SSID\nnames people are using.

\n\n\n\n\n

Hundreds of the access points still had the Vendor\nSSID with linksys, NETGEAR and default [note: SSID default\nis commonly used by no-name routers sold by the big box retailers] popping up\non my screen as we rocked along the tracks at 60 mph. Hundreds were setup for\nopen access - I could not actually log in to any because we were moving to fast\nbut I'm convinced I could walk the tracks from New Rochelle to Springfield and\nmaintain free wireless access by piggy-backing on these networks.

\n\n\n\n\n

I don't want to get into a debate on what's legal and\nwhat is not - my concern is seeing so many open access points with many likely\nconnected directly into corporate networks. I thought we had this security\nproblem licked but it appears many are still buying these things and just plugging\nthem in.

\n\n\n\n\n

Anyone want to carry a load of batteries?

\n\n\n\n\n

References:\n

\n\n\n\n\n

Netstumbler Website: http://www.netstumbler.com

\n\n\n\n\n

BROADLOGIC UNCLOAKS CABLE\xc3\xa2\xef\xbf\xbd\xef\xbf\xbdS SECRET WEAPON; Nov 6,\n2006; http://broadlogic.com/11062006press.htm\n

\n\n\n\n\nLight\nReading: http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=106730