Fall Technical Forum to Feature Broad Array of Innovation
By Chris Bastian
Welcome to the Expo 2022 preview edition of Broadband Library. We are all so glad that Expo is back in person this year, after being virtual the past two years due to the pandemic. Expo being virtual had its virtues, as it was the safest way to deliver all the groundbreaking content, while people were still avoiding mass gatherings by working from home. However, we all want to get back together, network and gain hands-on experience with technology in real life. For me personally, the work travel schedule started back up earlier this year, and everywhere I go people are just so happy to meet face-to-face, to not only absorb the conference sessions and exhibits, but to also have the hallway conversations and meals together. Humans are such a social lot, and progress is made out of these seemingly random sync ups and conversations.
The Expo week of September 19th in Philadelphia is going to be jam-packed. The Fall Technical Forum, presentation of the latest technology advances and trends, begins Monday evening with eight concurrent sessions. The Forum continues through Thursday morning across eight timeslots.
This year, the Expo program committee organized the technical papers into 13 tracks: Ten of the tracks are returning from last year’s Expo with all new content. Added for 2022 are two brand new tracks — “Software Development, Automation and Tooling” and “DevOps and Agile”— and a dedicated “Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning” has been added to the lineup in response to popular demand.
With 127 speakers across 57 sessions, it is challenging to summarize all the technical content in about 1,000 words. Here are six sessions I’d watch out for:
On Monday evening, check out “On the Edge of Cloudification,” which will investigate what drivers are pushing cable to the edge and how the integration of the public cloud with existing infrastructure can optimize the edge. First, DriveNets’ Idris Jafarov will explore the evolution of the edge and why cloudification of an integrated access network may be the answer to help scale capacity and services. Then Jim Huang, of Amazon Web Services Telco Business Unit, will present a solution reference architecture that maps the flexible MAC architecture (FMA) to the cloud, providing a path for migrating existing FMA systems.
On Tuesday morning, catch “Video Services Get Smarter with AI.” Artificial intelligence can benefit all portions of video service, content processing, data privacy and video encoding. The question becomes how best to maximize operating efficiency, throughput, and quality, regardless of request volume variability. Applying machine learning (ML), Srilal Weera, of Charter Communications, is going to reveal all you want to know about ‘Explainable AI’ (XAI), as well as algorithmic enhancements for data privacy issues. The session will check out lower-complexity AI metrics with CommScope’s Jan De Cock, who will explore how high accuracy is possible with minimal cost, all toward improved video quality monitoring.
Then on Tuesday afternoon, sit in on “The Human Side of IoT.” This session will explore the technology behind Wi-Fi Sensing and why it holds immense promise for elder care and aging-in-place (AIP), and will be presented by CableLabs’ Josh Redmore. Duke Tech Solutions’ Sudheer Dharanikota will present an analysis of the home networking components needed for AIP and telehealth applications and the multi-trillion-dollar opportunity that is Telecom for Wellness (T4W). Also, Adina Halter of Comcast will share a case study in machine learning which demonstrates how offering voice control for non-standard speakers can open the opportunity for all customers to experience voice-enabled home entertainment.
The program will continue Wednesday morning, and I’d recommend “Digging for Gold: Protecting Your Critical Network Data.” Your teams need actionable information in order to optimize the network, but how do you make sense out of the terabytes of data you collect? EnerSys’ Dustin Boyette will enlighten us on the value of collecting big data for managing critical facilities and the measures that are needed to operationalize. Comcast’s Matt Wichman will then suggest an approach to fuse together network design and telemetry documentation and shine a light on where designs need to be updated.
On Wednesday afternoon, tune into “Navigating the 10G Journey.” What we’re doing today is bringing 10G to life. But how exactly? In this session, we’ll discuss the three Ws of 10G … what, when and why. With a triumvirate of experts — CableLabs’ Karthik Sundaresen, Volpe Firm’s Brady Volpe, and CommScope’s John Ulm — the session will explore a view towards adding network capacity and operating a virtual CMTS in this expanding environment.
The Fall Technical Forum concludes on Thursday morning. I’d suggest attending “New Strategies to Address Threats to Operator Networks.” Cable operators face multiple threats against both their production and enterprise networks. Theft of service, compromise of customer privacy, account take overs, and brand damage now present daily challenges. Given recent cyber security events, ransom motivated attacks along with nation state actions threaten operators much more than in the past. In this session, the authors will discuss approaches operators are evolving to deal with these threats. Comcast’s Mike Gala will offer a unique look into best practices for design, implementation, and operation for a 10G network. And Christopher Zarcone, also of Comcast, will share lessons learned about Zero Trust Architecture and strategies for success.
The above six sessions are just a sampler, but descriptions for all 57 sessions are available at expo.scte.org. I encourage you to download the Expo app when it becomes available prior to joining us in Philadelphia, so that you can plan out your activities before you arrive on site. Search the app store for “Cable Tec Expo.”
There is also plenty to do in Philadelphia in your spare time, from world-class museums, to getting in some exercise. I recommend the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Museum of the American Revolution, and Franklin Court (the site where Ben Franklin lived until 1790). For running and biking enthusiasts there is the Schuylkill River Trail (a 30-mile segment stretches out to Valley Forge). All of these sites are within walking distance from the Pennsylvania Convention Center.
I can’t wait for the opening of Cable-Tec Expo 2022 to welcome you all to Philadelphia, my hometown!
Chris Bastian
Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, SCTE® a subsidiary of CableLabs®
Chris Bastian is senior vice president and chief technology officer for the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE®), a subsidiary of CableLabs®. With three decades of leadership in advanced cable and network security technologies, Chris is responsible for all areas of technology and engineering to ensure that SCTE maintains a leadership role in standardizing and operationalizing advanced technology, including the SCTE Standards Program and the SCTE Engineering Committee — as well as groundbreaking efforts such as SCTE’s Energy 20/20 program.
