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January 2001 Issue

Pulse: New Lab Reduces Service Rollout Times
By , Senior Editor

Operators deploying Emperative’s self-provisioning software can reduce service rollout headaches by first testing the software with hardware in the company’s new broadband service provisioning lab.

"Service providers are in the business of making money from their networks, and they need to offer services," says Abraham Gutman, Emperative’s chief executive officer. "It’s not just speed, it’s the ability to get the most out of data connections."

Hardware vendors and cable operators work together in the lab to coordinate and test interoperability with Emperative’s provisioning software. By proactively undertaking these tasks, operators can decrease overall service rollout time.

Engineers at the lab will develop so-called ilets—intelligent interfaces that reach out to the network and operations environment. These ilets perform a number of functions, such as configuring devices and servers, managing error and latency conditions and linking with third-party operations support system (OSS) applications. Operators can test a host of products in the lab, including cable modems, set-top boxes, cable modem termination systems (CMTSs) and digital subscriber line access multiplexers (DSLAMs).

Emperative’s software supports standard communications interfaces, such as CORBA, RMI, Sockets, HTTP and Telnet. Typically, when a company wants to see how a product will work, it will bring the device into the lab for testing. However, some cable operators may want to carry out preemptive measures by first testing how a system will work in the lab before deploying it in a geographic region.

"The reason we created the lab in Boulder is to give our customers, the service providers and box manufacturers, an environment where they can deploy their box or try new services... in a real environment to interoperate with whatever (products) they already have," says Gutman. "They will be able to design products and see how best to scale them."

Vendors are able to co-develop and test ilets from ProvEn for their hardware or software. They can demonstrate breakthroughs to their customers at the lab’s demonstration facility located in Emperative’s development office in Boulder, Colo.

ProvEn is a provisioning engine designed to enable end user self-activation and self-management of broadband services. It sits behind the service provider’s Web portal and enables rapid subscriber enrollment through a real-time, fully automated provisioning process. Because provisioning errors and order rework are decreased, operating costs also are reduced, says Emperative’s Craig Weich, vice president, product management.

The Yankee Group estimates that operations, maintenance and provisioning in the current network architecture account for over 35 percent of capital expenditures.

Emperative’s partners include Portal, RiverDelta Networks, Terayon Communication Systems, and Lucent Technologies.

"The lab is a good idea," says Matthew Carbonara, product marketing manager for Terayon. "Most of our customers are interested in best of breed solutions. A lab that brings multivendor equipment together is valuable."

Terayon currently is working in the lab with one yet unannounced customer, and the company is looking at other opportunities to do business with Emperative, Carbonara says.

"We think they are a strong player in provisioning," he says.

 Back to January 2001 Issue

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