Arris has announced the general availability of AgileMax, the backbone of a “hybrid” passive optical network architecture that uses DOCSIS technologies that are common on HFC networks.

Arris demonstrated AgileMax (see image) at last fall's SCTE Cable-Tec Expo in Denver, presenting a product that takes aim at RF over Glass (RFoG), a standard that lets MSOs deliver RF-based services, including video, to the home over an FTTP network but ties in an MSO’s legacy backoffice and provisioning systems.

AgileMax's big selling point is how it eliminates Optical Beat Interference (OBI), an impairment that has prevented the scaled rollout of RFoG technology when multiple modems try to communicate over trhe same fiber at the same time. Arris has claimed that the introduction of DOCSIS 3.1 will exacerbate the issue.

Arris announced last year that trials of AgileMax to start in the fourth quarter of 2014, with full rollouts anticipated  in 2015.

As for that hybrid designation, AgileMax and HPON are CMTS, ONU, and cable modem agnostic, according to Arris.