Arris has introduced what it calls the first retail voice gateway equipped with RDK-B technology, a version of the Reference Design Kit (RDK) tailored for broadband devices, to be approved for use on Comcast’s network.

Arris said the RDK-B capability provides a common way to manage functions such as home networking interfaces, including WiFi, device management, and diagnostics.

The Reference Design Kit, a preintegrated software platform, is also used in certain video set-tops and gateways (RDK-V). The project is being managed by Comcast, Liberty Global and Charter Communications (via its acquisition of Time Warner Cable).

RELATED: RDK Breaks Away From The Set-Top Box

Arris’s new product, the SURFboard SVG2482AC Voice Gateway, is a DOCSIS 3.0 device (24x8 channel bonding configuration) equipped with four Gigabit Ethernet ports, two telephony ports, and 3x3 802.11ac WiFi radios. Arris is also selling an optional battery for backup so the gateway can place and receive voice calls during power outages.

Arris is selling the SVG2482AC at Amazon and via its own online store for $249.99

Arris competes in the DOCSIS retail modem and gateway market with companies such as Netgear, Linksys, TP-Link and Zoom Telephonics, which has rights to the Motorola brand.

Jeff Heynen, consulting director and senior research analyst in SNL Kagan’s Media & Communications unit, has recently estimated that retail sales make up 10% to 15% of the total DOCSIS CPE market.

RELATED: Retail Modem Market Small, but Active (subscription required)

Cable modem and gateway maker Hitron Americas Technology said it is pitching in for RDK-B, the broadband-focused flavor of the Reference Design Kit (RDK), the preintegrated software stack for IP-capable video and broadband devices being managed by Comcast, Liberty Global and Charter Communications.

Get complete coverage of Cable-Tec Expo 2016

Hitron, which will show off an Intel-powered DOCSIS 3.1 device at next week’s SCTE/ISBE Cable-Tec Expo show in Philadelphia, said it’s joining the RDK community as an Advanced Support Program (ASP) partner and its Platinum Media Sponsorship Program (MSP).

“With upcoming DOCSIS 3.1 gateway deployments, we will also see the proliferation of RDK-B powered CPE,” Todd Babic, the vendor’s chief sales and marketing officer, said in a statement.

RDK-B complements RDK-V, which is focused on video devices.

Get more #INTX2016 news.

RDK Management, the joint venture of Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Liberty Global, said it has made progress with deployments and the number of companies in the U.S. and abroad that have signed on licensees for the preintegrated software platform for IP-capable set-tops and, more recently, broadband gateways.

Of the platform’s flavors, RDK-V provides a common method to manage various video functions on set-top boxes such as tuning, IP video, third party DRM, and media streaming/DLNA, and RDK-B provides common methods to manage complex broadband functions such as home-networking interfaces, including WiFi and Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA), wide area networking, local area networking, device management and diagnostics, as well as smart home/Internet of Things and multicast video.

Per the J.V., more than 15 million devices are now running the RDK, a number that has tripled since last year’s INTX confab in Chicago. Among distributors, Comcast is using the RDK to power X1, its next-gen video platform. Last month, Comcastestimated that nearly 35% of its 22.4 million video subs are now on X1, and that it added 1.1 million X1 subs to the mix in Q1, a 53% increase on net adds versus the year-ago quarter.

As another recent example, Cox Communications is also using the RDK for a new Contour multiscreen service that relies on X1. RDK-backer Liberty Global is using the platform in the current version of its Horizon TV service.

RDK Management also announced that licensees of the platform have grown to more than 275 across MVPDs, consumer electronics manufacturers, chipmakers, software developers and systems integrators.  More than 25 cable, satellite and telco service operators in North America, Europe, Latin  America and Asia are among those licensees.

“2016 is going to be a great year for the RDK community,” said Steve Heeb, president and general manager of RDK Management, said in a statement. “On the video front, more operators across North America and Europe are developing and deploying products using an RDK-based software solution for STB’s, RDK-V (video). On the broadband front, we have recently made a new RDK software solution available for broadband gateways called RDK-B (broadband), which is in use by leading SoC and CPE suppliers, and making its way onto software roadmaps of operators around the globe.”

“It’s well known that our X1 set-tops rely on the RDK-V software solution,” added Sree Kotay, executive vice president and chief software architect, Comcast Cable. “What is less known is just how far we have come with RDK-B over the past year. We already have the RDK-B software solution enabled in broadband gateways in subscribers’ homes today, and RDK-B will serve as the underlying software on our broadband devices going forward.” 

“Liberty Global has deployed an RDK-V solution to power our Horizon service, and those deployments continue to scale across our global footprint,” said Bill Warga, Vice President of Technology at Liberty Global.  “We also recognized that broadband devices, similar to STBs, would greatly benefit from having more software commonality, standardization, and openness. We are very strong proponents of RDK-B, and we look forward to working with the RDK community to drive its adoption even further.”

“Progressive operators are investing in a new class of home networking equipment capable of supporting higher speeds, more end-user devices, and array of new services,” said Keith Wehmeyer, general manager for the cable business Line of Intel’s Connected Home Division. “We look forward to working with operators and equipment manufacturers implementing the RDK and have integrated the RDK-B solution onto Intel  Puma chipsets to address the next generation needs of broadband operators.”

Looking ahead, RDK Management plans to host a Tech Summit for licensees in Louisville, Colo., from July 19-21, a has teed up the RDK European Summit for operators in Amsterdam in tandem with IBC from September 8-12.

Arris said it has begun to deploy a new DOCSIS 3.0-powered gateway with Comcast that supports 802.11ac WiFi, IP video and integrated home automation and security, and represents a component of the MSO’s new “XB3” service.

The Arris TG1682 can bond 24 downstream channels (enough to support bursts of up to 960 Mbps in North American DOCSIS systems that use 6MHz-wide channels), two analog voice lines, a four-port Gigabit router, MoCA 2.0, and and a dual-band 802.11ac WiFi access point.

The deployment announcement comes almost a year after Comcast and Arris said they would collaborate on a trial of a broadband-enabled version of the Reference Design Kit (RDK) running on the Arris TG1682. The RDK, a preintegrated software stack originally developed for video set-tops and gateways, is being extended (via a project commonly referred to as “RDK-B”) to support DOCSIS-based broadband modems and all-service gateways.

"We are committed to providing our customers with the best, fastest in-home Wifi experience, and the XB3 is a powerful tool for delivering on that commitment," Ken Klaer, SVP of premises technologies at Comcast, said in a statement. "ARRIS has been a valuable partner in our effort to continually evolve the high-speed data experience for our customers."

"We are pleased to work with Comcast to launch the TG1682 as part of their XB3 service," added Larry Robinson, president, customer premises equipment at Arris.

"We are committed to continue introducing additional advanced broadband devices based on this new software ecosystem to make our customers more competitive. We will continue to invest in these solutions during this very exciting and dynamic time in the industry."

Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts used the INTX stage Tuesday to offer a glimpse at a DOCSIS 3.1-powered, multi-purpose gateway that will enable the MSO to deliver gigabit speeds via its widely deployed HFC network.

“Developed by our teams here in Philadelphia and Silicon Valley, the DOCSIS 3.1 modem goes into production this year and will be available to customers in early 2016,” Tony Werner, Comcast’s EVP and CTO, noted in this blog post that provides more info about the device. “When combined with a DOCSIS 3.1-enabled network, the Gigabit Home Gateway is capable of delivering speeds greater than 1 gigabit per second (1 Gbps).”

Because it runs on the HFC network the Gigabit Home Gateway will enable the operator to bring gigabit speeds “to virtually all Xfinity customers once the DOCSIS 3.1 networking standard is deployed nationally,” Werner added.

Comcast is also using fiber-to-the-home in a targeted fashion to offer Gigabit Pro, a residential broadband service that supports symmetrical speeds of 2 Gbps and become available to 18 million homes by year-end.

According to Werner, the new D3.1-powered gateway will also feature gigabit WiFi, support IP video, and integrate home automation and security capabilities. It’s also the first Comcast device to integrate home networking control and monitoring software that the operator acquired in 2014 via its purchase of PowerCloud Systems. It’s also equipped with RDK B, a new flavor of the Reference Design Kit, a preintegrated software stack, that can be applied all-purpose gateways.

More than 220 companies, including a group of 25 made up of cable operators, telcos and satellite TV service providers, have licensed the Reference Design Kit (RDK), the preintegrated software stack for IP-capable set-top boxes, video gateways and, soon, broadband devices.

RDK Management, the joint venture of Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Liberty Global, announced the updated figures Monday (April 27) ahead of next week’s INTX: The Internet & Television Expo in Chicago.

RDK Management said community membership and operator licensees have grown about 60% over the past 12 months. More than 5 million devices with RDK have been deployed so far. The bulk of that total has come way of Comcast and its X1 platform .

RDK licensees include a mix of CE manufacturers, chipmakers, software developers, system integrators and pay TV operators. Of the latter group, Comcast, TWC, Liberty Global, Rogers Communications, Kabel Deutschland, and J:COM are among the known MSOs to license the RDK. RDK Management said providers from North America, Europe, Latin America, and Asia have all inked licenses.

Expanding beyond the initial video-centric set-top box solution (RDK-V), companies backing RDK are developing a version for broadband devices called RDK-B.  RDK-B is currently being developed by “key” operators, SoC companies and OEM companies, with an anticipated release in the second half of 2015, RDK Management said

“The RDK provides a modern software platform on which pay TV providers worldwide can provide new video services to customers,” Steve Heeb, president and GM of RDK Management, said in a statement. “he community is starting to take advantage of the benefits of having source code access for their STB software, and the RDK continues to gain traction around the globe – as will be showcased prominently at INTX 2015.”

Multichannel News will feature a Q&A with Heeb in the April 4 issue, along with a snapshot of RDK-powered demos expected to appear on the INTX show floor.  

Some of the RDK member companies exhibiting at next week’s show include:

• ActiveVideo (soon to be part of an Arris/Charter Communications joint venture)
• Arris Group
• Alticast
• Cisco
• Cognizant
• Comcast
• Ericsson
• Espial Group
• Humax Americas
• Intel
• Metrological
• Pace  (in the process of merging with Arris)
• Samsung
• S3 Group
• SeaChange International
• Symphony Teleca
• Technicolor
• ThinkAnalytics
• UXP Systems
• ValueLabs
• Visible World
• Wipro

DENVER – SCTE Cable-Tec Expo – The Reference Design Kit (RDK), a preintegrated software stack originally developed for video set-tops and client devices, is making progress on a new front that will add DOCSIS -powered modems and all-service gateways to the product mix.

Progress of that broadband-encompassing work – commonly referred to as “RDK-B” – is evident here at this weeks’ show, inching the cable industry closer to the creation of a common software layer that can be applied not just to set-tops, but to a multitude of consumer premises equipment product types. The additional broadband component will stitch together a uniform software stack that can help operators and their vendor partners simplify and accelerate product development.

On the product front, Comcast and Arris announced Wednesday that they will collaborate on a trial of a broadband-enabled version of the RDK running on the new Arris Touchstone TG1682 DOCSIS 3.0 Voice Gateway in the fourth quarter of 2014. General availability is slated for the first quarter of 2015.

In some ways, the emergence of RDK-B demonstrates the value of the RDK platform’s openness, to the point that vendors will end up using code that is contributed by competing suppliers. In the case of the Arris gateway that Comcast is about to trial, it will be outfitted with CPE routing software that Cisco Systems contributed to the RDK community on an open-source basis back in April 2014.

The emergence of RDK-B and the use of contributed code is “playing out some of the value proposition of the RDK,” Matt Zelesko, senior vice president, Converged Technology Group, at Time Warner Cable, said here Wednesday on a panel dedicated to RDK developments.

Creating a software stack that relies on common components will eliminate the troublesome task of having to conduct tests and trials of duplicative stacks that are all trying to do the same thing, Zelesko added.

While RDK-B solves some problems, it won’t solve them all. RDK, in general, “is not a panacea to all device problems; it’s not a magical cure-all for managing CPE in this new age,” Zelesko said, noting that it does leave operators with the flexibility to innovate in other areas, including the user interface.

Expanded coverage of the panel, which included an RDK deployment update from TWC, Comcast and Liberty Global, will be featured in the Thursday edition of the Multichannel News SCTE Cable-Tec Expo daily. For more news and announcements from this week’s show, please visit our Expo micro-site.