A Converged Cable Access Platform (CCAP), defined only a few years ago, was intended to enable efficiencies such as higher channel densities and deliver operational savings such as a simplified RF splitting-combining network and unified network management. Convergence in delivery of MPEG video and DOCSIS services was the main driving idea behind CCAP. Today, CCAP convergence has become a mainstream reality as multiple vendors provide fully featured integrated CCAP systems supporting DOCSIS and MPEG video. Next, the industry will be re-focusing its development efforts on a new challenge - the Remote PHY (R-PHY) - an architecture where the PHY components can be separated from service delivery engines. The R-PHY architecture was conceived with considerable flexibility. It enables numerous deployment scenarios including pairing of Remote PHY Devices (RPDs) with one or multiple, physical or virtualized core service delivery systems. In this environment, the traditional approach to CCAP convergence must be a reexamined. The paper examines the technical and operational aspects of CCAP convergence starting with the analysis of the rationale for I-CCAP convergence. The authors explain how the original rationale can be optimally fulfilled in R-PHY architecture. The paper reviews typical I-CCAP deployment scheme, new deployment scenarios enabled by R-PHY, R-PHY operational impact on service scaling, high availability and OSS systems. Finally, the paper provides recommendations for CCAP and post-CCAP planning and discusses which deployment scenarios are best suited to converged or diverged service delivery. In summary, the paper debates the impact of R-PHY architecture, how the R-PHY technology establishes new trends and redefines the traditional meaning of CCAP convergence, and suggests the tactical approaches that best serve the needs of cable operators and their customers.
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