ARRIS and Cisco showcase cable industry readiness for Remote PHY with interoperability demos at SCTE Cable-Tec Expo

SUWANEE, Ga., AND SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct.18, 2017 – Global cable operators have been lab-testing and field-trialing new ways to operate and increase capacity for their hybrid fiber coax (HFC) access networks. This is a shift from the traditional centralized architecture to a distributed access architecture, defined by CableLabs^® , where more functions are performed in the network. One option that has taken hold is Remote PHY.

PHY is the ‘physical layer’ that transmits and receives data between the access terminal or router and the access network. Remote PHY refers to the technique of moving the PHY circuit layer out of a device like a converged cable access platform (CCAP), and putting it into the fiber node at the end of the network.

Remote PHY allows for a reduction of power, cooling and hub site sizing, providing significant total cost of ownership (TCO) benefits to cable operators. Silicon manufacturers, technology vendors and global cable operators have endorsed the Remote PHY architecture and are working toward a common goal for distributed access architecture (DAA).

At the annual SCTE Cable-Tec Expo this week, ARRIS and Cisco will demonstrate interoperability with each other’s Remote PHY (RPHY) solutions, including CCAP core technology and PHY nodes. Demos will include:

• The ARRIS E6000^® CCAP Core supporting Cisco^® Smart PHY Node
• The Cisco cBR-8 CCAP Core supporting the ARRIS RPHY Node

“Remote PHY delivers on the Distributed Access Architecture (DAA) promise to provide Next-Generation broadband services with improved performance and efficiency while providing a path to virtualization,” said Dan Whalen, President, Network & Cloud, ARRIS. “ARRIS and Cisco’s Remote PHY interoperability means that our service provider customers can more quickly realize the benefits of the latest IP architecture.”

“The global enthusiasm for DAA is overwhelming,” said Sean Welch, Vice President and General Manager, Cable Access, Service Provider Business, Cisco. “DAA supports the emerging needs of our customers to achieve scale, performance, and flexibility. "With Cisco and ARRIS interoperability and an open ecosystem of node vendors for Remote PHY, we are marking a milestone in achieving our goals to help cable operators evolve their cable access networks to an IP-based architecture that scales to support new entertainment experiences at multi-Gig speeds.”

“Remote PHY shows great promise for a standardized distributed access architecture that can support today’s capacity needs and help create the automated and virtualized access networks of the future,” said Dr. Jorge Salinger, Vice President, Access Architecture, Comcast Cable.

Visit ARRIS at booth #1595 and Cisco at booth #987 for Remote PHY interoperability demonstrations at the Denver Convention Center, October 18-20.