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Video on demand enables a cable operator to enhance revenues and increase competitiveness. The BigBand Networks VOD (Video on Demand) platform leverages the strengths of the BigBand BEQ™6000 (Broadband Edge QAM) to provide flexible and economical edge processing of switched content while significantly improving solution total cost of ownership. BigBand VOD supports the full range of video on demand services including MOD (movies on demand), SVOD (subscription video on demand), free-on-demand, networked PVR and long form advertising, in either SD or HD format.

• Provides flexible and economical edge processing of switched content while significantly improving solution total cost of ownership
• Supports VOD services such as MOD, SVOD, FOD networked PVR and LFA supported in SD and HD
• Space efficient termination of 48 QAM channels in a 1.5 RU chassis enables hundreds of concurrent VOD streams
• Modular platform holding up to six hot-swappable QAM/RF output cards, allowing capacity to be incrementally scaled as the subscriber base and VOD library expands
• Upconversion granularity of 2:1 or 4:1 supports any size service group and overcomes limits imposed by non-contiguous spectrum availability
• SNMP management provides local and remote communications between platforms and supports different VOD server topologies
• Economical GigE IP distribution of digital programming from headend to hub locations, with DWDM and CWDM options available
• Fully compatible with pre-encryption and session-based bulk encryptors to protect valuable VOD content
  

The innovative design of the BigBand BEQ allows a compact 1.5 RU chassis to terminate up to 48 QAM channels, the equivalent of two full Gigabit Ethernet payloads, capable of supporting hundreds of concurrent VOD streams. The modular platform, which holds six hot-swappable output cards, each with four QAMs, enables capacity to be added incrementally as subscribers and VOD content increase. An upconversion ratio of 2:1 or 4:1 provide the granularity needed for any service group size and overcomes limits imposed by noncontiguous spectrum availability, bolstered by the ability to independently adjust port frequency over a large range.

BigBand VOD provides a cable operator with the freedom to choose network topology. In some scenarios a centralized server topology will provide best returns; in others a distributed topology will be more suitable; in some cases, a hybrid of the two is preferable. BigBand’s VOD platform supports any server topology without major changes to network configuration or large capital expenditure outlays. SNMP provides seamless communication between BEQ platforms, enabling auto-discovery of both QAM cards and network topology, shortening timeto-revenue. An easy-to-use GUI (Graphical User Interface) speeds configuration of large networks of BEQ, allowing an operator to manage multiple locations from a single site and deployments to scale to hundreds of chassis. Fully interoperable with all major servers, the platform sources content locally and remotely in the same unit.

BigBand VOD includes a variety of features to support high service reliability and content protection. In the core, diverse fiber routing, with 50 ms or less switchover times in the case of a fiber cut or other service-affecting event, ensures high network availability. At the edge, the BigBand BEQ features service-level fault detection and protection switching, with 2+2 redundant GigE ports accomplishing rapid switchover when a network event occurs. Maximum resiliency can also be accomplished by striping service groups across the platform. Pre-encryption and session-based encryption via bulk encryptors ensures content security, particularly crucial for the most highly valued VOD content such as first-run movies. Subscriber billing information is likewise protected.

The versatile BigBand BEQ chassis is also designed to universally support switched digital video, broadcast video and VOD. Use of an advanced ERM (Edge Resource Manager) allows independent configuration of each narrowcast service group, eliminating the need to factor in overhead for each service’s “worst case” service group utilization planning bandwidth assignments. The platform also extends the VOD concept of personalized session allocation to live programming leveraging BigBand switched digital video.

BigBand VOD supports centralized and distributed processing of VOD content