The SCTE has been awarded the first of what it said will be many upcoming patents on technologies it develops.

The awarding by the U.S. Patent Office of Patent No. 10,139,845 represents a “new era” for the org, said Mark Dzuban, president and CEO of the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers. The patent is called “System and Method for Energy Consumption Management in Broadband Telecommunications Networks via Adaptive Power Management.”

The patented technology provides a framework for aligning network energy consumption with actual network usage, a key principle of the Adaptive Power System Interface Specification (APSIS). This spec was developed by the SCTE and its global arm, the International Society of Broadband Engeineers, as part of the org’s Energy 2020 program.

However, Dzuban said that the Patent Office is considering applications for four other SCTE patents that weren’t developed within the confines of Energy 2020.

“We’re constantly looking for new ways to help our industry,” he told MCN. This is something you’ll see from us in the future.”

So will the SCTE be collecting royalties on these patents and sharing them with its members? That’s “yet to be determined,” said Dzuban, who noted that the SCTE board will discuss monetization of the patents at a January board meeting. 

The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers it teaming up with Villanova University’s RISE (Resilient Innovation through Sustainable Engineering) Forum to develop an energy assessment tool focused on cable headend and hub facilities.

The project ties into the SCTE/ISBE’s Energy 2020 Program, which has set goals to  achieve double-digit reductions in energy cost and consumption by the end of the decade.

RELATED: SCTE, MSOs Outline ‘Energy 2020’ Goals

While the industry has made progress in reducing power consumption in data center facilities, cable’s edge facilities traditionally have been in an ‘always-on’ state regardless of demand. This latest project will focus on those energy-eating facilities, they said,

“Between 73% and 83% of cable’s overall energy consumption is by hubs, headends and the access network power supplies, powering the active equipment in the HFC network,” said Chris Bastian, senior vice president and CTO of SCTE/ISBE, in a statement. “The Villanova RISE Forum will complement other efforts to tackle that challenge, including the development of standards that are enabling cable system operators to identify consumption patterns more effectively.”

SCTE announced in May that was joining Villanova’s RISE Forum and collaborating with faculty and graduate students. The team overseeing this project plans to present preliminary findings to representatives from the cable industry at the Energy 2020/EMS Plenary on October 18, to be hosted by CableLabs in Colorado.

Comcast said it has completed the installation of a rooftop-mounted solar array at a facility in Oakland that will generate 251 kilowatts of power, enabling the location to reduce its dependency on the electrical grid by 78%.

The installation, part of a multi-year series of sustainability initiatives being implemented by the operator in California, is helping to power Comcast’s will Oakland Field Fulfillment Office (FFO). Comcast said it teamed with The Solar Company on the installation.

Comcast marked the by hosting an event at the facility, at 8470 Pardee Drive, that included special guests such as Annie Campbell Washington, Vice Mayor, City of Oakland; and Dr. Daniel M. Kammen, Director of Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory (RAEL), University of California, Berkeley. Comcast said it also made a donation to the Rising Sun Energy Center Youth Program.

Comcast noted that local efforts such as this tie into nationwide sustainability initiatives as well as Energy 2020, a program led by the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers and industry partners that has identified targets that include a 20% reduction of power consumption on a unit basis, a 25% reduction in energy costs on a unit basis, a 10% reduction of grid dependency and an optimization of technical facility and data center footprints by 20%. 

“Our industry is growing rapidly and scaling bandwidth requires more efficient energy consumption to sustain the massive growth trend,” John Schanz, executive vice president and chief network officer of Comcast and co-chair of Energy 2020, said in a statement.  “Technology, innovation and talent are at the core of everything Comcast does and generating clean energy on site at our Oakland facility is an example of  how we’re using smart technology to help us grow our business.”

Among its other energy-saving focused activities, Comcast  is also installing smart controls in its data centers to manage cooling and energy needs to prevent peak electricity loads or spikes in demand.  Comcast said last year it installed its first fuel cell system to help power a facility in Berlin, Conn., and that it has several other sites in design review. 

The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) and its international arm, the International Society of Broadband Experts (ISBE), said they are tapping the open source community to accelerate adoption of the organization’s Adaptive Power Systems Interface Specification (APSIS), which is designed to reduce power consumption in next-gen network equipment.

Under the plan, SCTE/ISBE will work with the OpenDaylight open source community to support the APSIS standard (SCTE 216 2015) by developing code based on the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Energy Management framework.

SCTE/ISBE said they have made an open call for code contributors.

Frank Sandoval, senior director, software engineering, Comcast VIPER Platform Analytics and chair of the APSIS working group within the SCTE/ISBE Standards Program’s Energy Management Subcommittee, and Derek DiGiacomo, senior director, information systems and energy management for SCTE/ISBE, will serve as committers of the Energy Management plug-in project within OpenDaylight.

APSIS is one of more than a dozen standards linked to SCTE Energy 2020, an initiative that has identified targets that include a 20% reduction of power consumption on a unit basis, a 25% reduction in energy costs on a unit basis, a 10% reduction of grid dependency and an optimization of technical facility and data center footprints by 20%. 

Last year, Arris, WES and Concurrent Thinking Ltd. showed proof of concepts of new adaptive power technologies.

“Aligning power consumption with the ebbs and flows of service use can drive down energy use and improve service delivery,” said Sandoval, in a statement. “APSIS enables operators to use the principles of Software Defined Networking and Network Functions Virtualization to dramatically reduce overall power usage while improving reliability and quality of service. This is not only good for the environment, but it also helps lower costs.”

“Achieving our Energy 2020 goal of cost avoidance of $1 billion by the end of the decade requires our industry to mobilize all available technology resources,” added Dave Fellows, co-founder and CTO of Layer3 TV and chief scientist of the Energy 2020 program.  “Partnering with the OpenDaylight community allows us to dramatically expand the quantity and quality of resources that can be devoted to the creation of APSIS-compliant products.”

http://www.multichannel.com/news/technology/dave-fellows-joins-scte-energy-2020-team/390315

The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) said an energy-savings initiative deployed at its headquarters in Exton, Pa., has reduced grid dependency by more than 200,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) and shaved down grid energy costs by more than $18,000.

Using a combo of solar panels, energy-efficient lighting fixtures and fuel cell technologies, SCTE said the deployment demonstrates how MSOs and their suppliers can achieve the key objectives of the its Energy 2020 program.

SCTE said it has generated more than 78,000 kWh of power through its rooftop-mounted solar array, cut grid consumption by more than 100,000 kWh via the replacement of 150 T-12 fluorescent fixtures with LED four-inch linear tubes, and trimmed grid consumption by approximately 25,000 kWh by transitioning exterior lighting from 250-watt high-pressure sodium bulbs to 28-watt LED fixtures.

As outlined in 2014, the overarching goals of Energy 2020 are to reduce energy costs by 25% on a unit basis; cut power consumption by 20% on a unit basis; reduce grid dependency by 10%;  and to optimize technical facilities by 20%.

“A central tenet of the Energy 2020 program is the material impact that the program can have for operators and the communities they serve,” said Mark Dzuban, president and CEO of SCTE and its global brand, the International Society of Broadband Experts (ISBE). “Our initial work shows how even relatively small deployments can dramatically reduce consumption, as well as its associated costs, for the industry.”

“The energy management solutions we’ve deployed at SCTE/ISBE are some of the same elements of the industry’s Energy 2020 strategy,” added Derek DiGiacomo, senior director, information systems and energy management of SCTE/ISBE.  “By working closely with Alpha Technologies, CommScope and other leading vendors on these projects, we have been able to create a base of knowledge which we can share with others in the industry.”

It appears that Layer3 TV’s field techs will be riding in style while also doing something positive for the environment. 

Amplifying its policies around power savings and energy efficiency, Layer3 TV, the Denver-based “next generation” cable operator, confirmed that it has added the BMW i3, an electric-powered vehicle, to its service fleet.

Pictured is a BMW i3 outfitted with Layer3 TV’s branding that was parked late last week near the company’s new Denver headquarters. A spy on the street there passed the image along to Multichannel News.

Layer3 TV said the vehicle is the first installment of the company’s Field Operations Organization (FOO). It’s not clear how many BMW i3’s will eventually become part of Layer3 TV’s fleet, but an industry source indicated that there could be a larger engagement afoot between the emerging pay TV operator and the car maker. Layer3 TV isn’t commenting on its relationship with BMW.

According to BMW data on the i3, it was recognized as one of Kelley Blue Book’s ten top “Green Cars,” can travel 81 miles per charge, or up to 150 miles with a “range extender.” Per the car maker, buyers are eligible for a tax credit of up to $7,500. The baseline i3 carries a starting MSRP of $42,400, while the vehicle with the range extender starts at $46,250.  

Layer3 TV’s selection of the BMW i3 factors into the company’s broader commitment to the environment and sustainability.

Company co-founder and CTO David Fellows recently joined the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers’ Energy 2020 initiative in the role of “chief scientist.” Fellows, a cable industry vet late of Comcast, AT&T Broadband and Scientific Atlanta, noted that the time that a goal of Layer3 TV is to be “the greenest cable company in the world.” Eric Kuhn, Layer3 TV’s head of marketing, meanwhile, is on the council of Earth Justice, a non-profit environmentally-focused law organization.

Details about Layer3 TV’s fleet vehicle selection comes as the company makes progress on the deployment front. It has launched, on schedule, limited user trials in several markets. Layer3 TV, however, has not identified the locations of those trials nor discussed in great detail its grander go-to-market strategy.

However, Layer3 TV, which has raised about $80 million via two rounds of funding, did drop some hints in a recent FCC filing indicating that it will operate as an MVPD. A Pace-made IP set-top for Layer3 TV has also passed through the FCC.

New Orleans -- Participants in the SCTE’s Energy 2020 program, which aims to substantially reduce energy consumption, cost and grid dependency by the year 2020, packed the room here Thursday at Cable-Tec Expo to check in on the progress of the year-old effort.

Astronaut John Herrington joined Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers president and CEO Mark Dzuban, Comcast executive vice president and chief network officer John Schanz, and Liberty Global EVP and chief technology officer Balan Nair to kick off the discussion, in part to underscore the universal importance of energy conservation.

Dzuban summed it up this way: “Energy 2020,” he said. “is the future.”

Herrington, who’s done three space walks, including one in 2002 involving a stream of ions to serve as the grounding strap “so that I wasn’t,” said that Energy 2020 resembles space missions, especially from a partnership perspective. “We had 16 worldwide partners when we built the space station - it was a collaborative effort of people who worked in many cases for competing companies, but the mission was the mission," he said. 

Liberty Global spends $180 million annually on energy, said Nair, at a rate of six to 12 cents per kilowatt hour, which will rise to the 20 cent range by 2020. “Business as usual is not looking very good on that trajectory,” he said. “As an industry, we really need to come together and figure this out. That’s Energy 2020.”

As a quick reminder, here are the overarching goals of Energy 2020:

-Reduce Energy Costs by 25% on a Unit Basis;

-Reduce Power Consumption by 20% on a Unit Basis;

-Reduce Grid Dependency by 10%; and

-Optimize Technical Facilities by 20%.

Session highlights:

-      Components in the outside plant, and particularly power supplies, represent close to 80% of on operator’s total power expenditure, said Joe Jensen, EVP and CTO of Block Communications (which owns Buckeye CableSystem).

-       A financial model and template with six variations for network type – hybrid fiber coax (HFC), RFoG (RF over Glass), and the PONs  (passive optical networks) -- is well underway for all operators to use, to assess their current consumption levels, and adapt, said Gary Mitchinson, head of access engineering for Liberty Global.

-       Nearly a dozen short and long term options exist to lower power consumption in outside plant actives, said Dave Fellows, CTO and co-Founder of Layer3 TV, a startup “next-generation” cable operator, and Rob Howald, VP of network architecture for Comcast. Among them: Relaxing amplifier specs for areas like hum modulation, which matters less in an all-digital world; shutting down high frequency modulators under light traffic load; and taking advantage of peak-to-average power reduction when DOCSIS 3.1-based gear arrives.

Dan Cooper, vice president of critical infrastructure at Time Warner Cable, later outlined SCTE 2020’s accomplishments, noting that 15 standards and practices have been published or are now “in-flight., and progress in establishing the industry’s energy baseline metrics.

Energy 2020 has also managed to significantly expand its buy-in from partners. In January, the initiative counted 95 members across 30 companies, and has since expanded to 299 members spanning 70 companies.

The premise of the initiative that  became Energy 2020 was established by the industry in 2009, that “energy should never be an obstacle to our industry’s growth or competitiveness”

“There is a lot more to do,” Schanz added. “It’s why we call it Energy 2020.”