OnePath Networks Inc. demonstrated an indoor home termination point that can eliminate the need for a standalone cable modem at the PC. Meanwhile, Broadcom Corp. pushed up into systems definition and demonstrated two reference designs for implementing residential gateway functions as indoor or outdoor unified termination units. The outdoor device is among Broadcom's first efforts in ruggedized equipment, said cable TV product line manager Brian Sprague.

OnePath (Princeton, N.J.) has designed its SmartSplitter system to work with a multidwelling unit infrastructure for apartments or courtyard-style condominiums. For single-family homes, the company touts a passive optical network system as more cost-effective.

The key to the iPath multidwelling product line, said OnePath chief executive officer David Stehlin, is that all single-chip Docsis cable modem functions are located in the outdoor termination unit using a Broadcom Docsis (data over cable system interface spec) modem. The indoor SmartSplitter then segments Ethernet-framed packet traffic to a 10 Base T Ethernet jack, while passing analog TV traffic to a coaxial cable jack. The network retains the traditional head-end node of a hybrid fiber/coaxial system but adds a media-access hub on each floor of an apartment building (or in the central courtyard of a garden-style apartment complex).

While DSL access multiplexer manufacturers have largely led cable TV suppliers in developing products for multidwelling units, the infrastructure in residential neighborhoods tends to favor multisystem operators over telcos, Stehlin noted. It thus was imperative to offer that industry a multidwelling unit solution, he said.

In most configurations, Stehlin said, the iPath system can offer much higher data rates than DSL alternatives, with a peak capability of symmetrical 10-Mbit/second service and the ability to tier shaped quality-of-service constraints at 64 kbits, 256 kbits, 2 Mbits or 10 Mbits/s.

The passive optical network system that OnePath offers for single-family dwellings resembles a consumer version of the business-oriented passive optical nets from Quantum Bridge Communications Inc. Both networks will be upgraded to offer packet telephony service, although Stehlin said iPath could represent a higher-volume opportunity for OnePath, at least for urban areas.

Indoor/outdoor designs

Broadcom (Irvine, Calif.), meanwhile, has developed two residential-gateway reference designs for systems that incorporate packet telephony. The BCM93352V is an outdoor unit with up to four primary lines of voice-over-Internet Protocol service. The BCM93352VCM is a two-line, lower-cost indoor unit aimed primarily at OEMs doing business in Europe.

John Gleiter, product manager for packet telephony at Broadcom, said the primary concern in North America is meeting AT&T standards for outdoor gateways. Thus, for the domestic market, the company offers a ruggedized reference unit that can handle four phone lines. In Europe, the goal is to deploy service as quickly and cheaply as possible, so the indoor unit tends to be more popular.

The outdoor system integrates a switchable power supply so that phone service can be powered from the cable network itself or from an uninterruptible power supply. The indoor unit is not used for primary phone service, so lifeline-service power options are not provided. But Broadcom will develop customized reference designs for carriers with unique requirements in the network, Gleiter emphasized. And power-management features in the Docsis 1.1 chip set allow tight control of the clock rates of both the main controller and DSP, minimizing power dissipation in both versions of the gateway.

Both Broadcom reference designs from include HomePNA 2.0 controllers so that the gateway can serve as the hub for a home phoneline network. The designs also include Docsis 1.1 and CablexChange voice-over-IP software.