CableLabs is holding court this week at the Rosen Shingle Creek in Orlando, where it's holding its annual Winter Conference.

Here’s a snapshot of what participating vendors are demonstrating to CableLabs and its contingent of MSO members:

-Casa Systems said it’s demoing upstream speeds of 400 Mbps-plus via its C40G, a more compact DOCSIS 3.1-capable converged cable access platform, that’s also outfitted with a 16x8 upstream module. That demo, it said, comes on the heels of a D3.1-powered demo of its C100G pumping out downstream speeds of more than 4.5 Gbps at the SCTE Cable Tec-Expo in New Orleans last fall.

-MaxLinear and Celeno Communications have teamed on a MoCA/WiFi extender reference design aimed at enabling whole-home gigabit WiFi. At the event, they’re demoing the design, which features Celeno’s Quicksilver CL2440 802.11ac Wave 2 4x4 Multi User MIMO Wi-Fi chip and MaxLinear’s low power EN2810 MoCA 2.0 SoC.

-AirTies Wireless Networks is showing its in-home WiFi solution that coordinates and optimizes performance across access points and addresses “bad apple’ WiFi performance issues that can degrade active devices on the home network.

-Video streaming company MediaMelon is showcasing MediaMelon QBR, a platform, it claims, can reduce bandwidth requirements by 35% using existing adaptive bitrate techniques without disrupting the underlying workflow. That will come in handy, it said, as operators deliver 4K fare and look to reduce storage costs. MediaMelon said its platforms are compatible with major streaming formats, including HTTP Live Streaming (HLS), MPEG-DASH, HTTP Smooth Streaming (HSS) and HTTP Dynamic Streaming (HDS).

-Big data specialist Guavus is demoing Service Reflex 3, an analytics application that enables service providers to improve service quality and enhance customer experience by ingesting, fusing and contextualizing network impacting events with subscriber data in real time.

-SMK Electronics is using the event to introduce two next-gen remote control product families – Evolution and Voice Navigator. Evolution, available in both 47-key and 9-16-key models, can use the service provider’s choice of IR, RF, Bluetooth, ZigBee, RF4CE or WiFi Direct wireless technologies, while the sleeker Voice Navigator, which supports up to 20 keys, utilizes Bluetooth Low Energy to bring voice command apps to pay TV applications.

-Greenlee Communications is showcasing AirScout, a WiFi test and measurement device that relies on multi-client hardware that communicates with a master client that gives an accurate reading of the WiFi environment. The tool, the company said, can reduce truck rolls and repeat service calls while also helping technicians better manage their workflow. 

Adaptive bit rate streaming is used widely to keep the video flowing as bandwidth levels fluctuate, but a new technology from MediaMelon aims to reduce bandwidth requirements further while also boosting the quality of video playback.

MediaMelon claims that its Quality Bit Rate (QBR) technology, a component of its Qubit platform, can reduce bit rate requirements by 30% to 45% while also eliminating video artifacts using techniques such as rapid scene analysis and perceptual quality mapping and advanced buffer management.

According to the company, its QBR system, for example, has the smarts to dial bit rates and resolutions up or down and place bits in a buffer based on the complexity and action of a given video scene, versus traditional ABR, which selects bit-rate and resolution profiles primarily on the available bandwidth.

“MediaMelon’s QBR technology intelligently goes beyond current adaptive bitrate schemes to significantly improve quality and bitrate performance — providing a dramatic advantage that content owners and video service providers can employ to enhance the viewing experience while utilizing streaming infrastructure more effectively,” Subramanian said, in a statement.

Those improvements could make for more bandwidth-efficient HD streams, and pave the way to do the same as more 4K/Ultra HD content becomes available and is delivered over-the-top or via a service provider’s managed IP video service network.

MediaMelon is offering it as a managed service, noting that it can work into video service workflows via APIs and fit inside encoders, video players, online video platforms and content distribution networks.

One of the initial takers is Deluxe OnDemand, which showed QBR in action as part of a demo at the INTX show in Chicago and recently announced deals with Charter Communications and Shaw Communications.

In addition to improving bitrate and storage requirements for on-demand fare, MediaMelon’s QBR technology can also be applied to live video streaming, company CEO Kumar Subramanian said.

MediaMelon said its products are compatible with all major streaming formats including HTTP Live Streaming (HLS), MPEG-DASH, HTTP Smooth Streaming (HSS) and HTTP Dynamic Streaming (HDS).