Intel joins SCTE to help develop new energy and operations standards

The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) has announced that Intel has joined the SCTE Standards Program and will be active in the development of new energy and operations standards for the cable industry.

Intel is expected to be involved in work on a variety of standards currently under development, including an Adaptive Power System Interface Specification (APSIS) that will provide for an end-to-end energy control system for network operators, as well as standards for benchmarking of energy and density in hardware and predictive alarming that can identify and prevent impending failure of hardware and associated systems.

The SCTE’s APSIS standard will be based on the concept of transaction-based energy consumption, where variable energy consumption needs based on network traffic and transactions within the network will be used. The goal is to manage traditional HVAC as well as telecommunications equipment using a common control protocol and system interface specification to enable energy management based on a variety of external and internal influences.

“The same types of Moore’s Law and Koomey’s Law efficiencies that have increased performance and battery life in the mobile and computing industries are possible in cable,” said Marty Davidson, vice president, engineering and network operations for SCTE and head of the SCTE Standards Program. “As operators increasingly deploy enterprise-class, off-the-shelf network appliances within their networks, the contributions of silicon vendors will be increasingly important. We look forward to working with Intel on the creation of the standards that will ensure the universal, reliable and efficient delivery of cable services in the future.”

Ran Senderovitz, general manager for Intel’s Service Provider Division, said by working together directly with the industry, Intel can help shape a new generation of intelligent network equipment that can result in significant power efficiencies for operators and programmers.

“We are capitalizing on technological advancements that will ensure reliable and available power for our networks as we deploy new services,” said John Schanz, chief network officer and executive vice president for Comcast Cable.

As an SCTE standards member, Intel will be positioned to provide support for the creation and implementation of specifications for increased energy efficiency within cable networks and operational facilities.