A new video is available on Trilithic’s YouTube page. This video features Mark Darragh, Product Manager for Leakage Systems, discussing the new Live Rideout Map feature of LAW. LAW, Leakage Analysis Workshop, is Trilithic’s leakage solution which collects leakage location data, plots the data and marks the leakage source location as push pins on a map.

When coupled with Trilithic’s Seeker GPS system, LAW provides a leakage management system that enables operators to find and fix leaks quickly, minimize tech time, quickly assess network leakage health and gauge the effectiveness of leakage maintenance efforts.

INDIANAPOLIS, IN (January 9, 2012) – Trilithic, the experts in digital Emergency Alert Systems announced they will be presenting and demonstrating their next-gen EAS system in the NWS booth at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas January 10-13.

In alignment with the NOAA’s mission of protecting life and property, Trilithic will demonstrate its EASyCAP™ Emergency Management System. The system demonstration will be in the Las Vegas Convention Center South 3 Hall in NWS Booth # 30478 on Wednesday January 11th at 10:15 am.

EASyCAP™ is an integrated solution that includes everything needed to deliver CAP-IPAWS based audio and visual alerts for broadband cable, Telco IPTV, and direct-to-home satellite television in a one-box solution, including EAS; CAP; local access messages; audio/video peripherals; control over serial and network based devices; and network protocols and interfaces

A next-generation solution, EASyCAP™ handles all of today’s EAS and CAP requirements for both the U.S. and Canada and provides a flexible and expandable platform designed to accommodate requirements and features that may be needed in the future. As CAP standards continue to evolve, Trilithic’s innovative open architecture simplifies the process of making changes and adding new capabilities and features. All software and firmware can be upgraded across the entire network infrastructure.

As the Trilithic EASyPLUS Encoder/Decoder Approaches Retirement, the EASyCAP Emergency Management System Begins Its Life as a Next-Generation EAS Platform

The EASyPLUS Series Encoder/Decoder is approaching end-of-life. The equivalent replacement is the EASyCAP Emergency Management System.

Indianapolis, IN, – Trilithic, a leader in broadband test and measurement solutions, announced the last day to order the EASyPLUS was February 1, 2011. Its end-of-life phase out is due to component obsolescence. No more units will be manufactured; however, products will be available, based upon sales volume and availability, on a first come, first service basis. The EASyPLUS Encoder/Decoder is being replaced by the EASyCAP Emergency Management System, a next-generation EAS platform that offers superior performance, features and flexibility.

Trilithic EASyPLUS Encoder / Decoder End-of-Life Milestones

The last date Trilithic will manufacture EASyPLUS is on October 31, 2011. After this date the product will no longer be produced and Trilithic Engineering will no longer develop any new enhancements for it. The last date to order the product is February 1, 2012. The product is no longer for sale after this date. The last date that Trilithic Engineering may release any software maintenance releases or bug fixes is December 31, 2012. After this date, Trilithic Engineering will no longer develop, repair, maintain, or test the product software.

For equipment that is not covered by a Service Level Agreement, December 31, 2012 is the last date to order a new SLA contract or add equipment and/or software to an existing SLA contract. The last date to extend or renew a service contract is December 31, 2012. The extension or renewal period cannot extend beyond the last date of support.

The last date to receive service and support for EASyPLUS is December 31, 2013. After this date, all support services for the product are unavailable, and it becomes obsolete. However, Trilithic will honor any warranty period that exceeds this date.

Note: The model numbers affected by this announcement are: EASyPLUS Encoder/Decoder (2011032XXX) and EASyPLUS Decoder (2011031XXX)

Introducing the Trilithic EASyCAP Emergency Management System

The EASyCAP is built with the next-generation of hardware and software that promises to deliver significantly greater performance and enhanced features compared to the EASyPLUS. It combines everything needed to deliver CAP-based audio and video alerts, in a one-box solution including, EAS, CAP, local access messages, audio/video peripherals, control over serial and network-based devices, interfaces to management systems, and network protocols and interfaces.

What makes EASyCAP so powerful is that it’s built on a flexible and expandable platform to accommodate future requirements and features. As CAP standards and FEMA requirements continue to evolve, Trilithic’s innovative open architecture simplifies the process of making changes and adding new capabilities and features. All software and firmware can be upgraded across a network connection, utilizing common interfaces such as secure web servers and SNMP, so that common tools users are familiar with can be used rather than installing and operating proprietary software. Detailed information about EASyCAP can be found online at www.trilithicEAS.com.

Note: The EASyPLUS-to-EASyCAP equivalent model numbers are:

EASyPLUS Encoder/Decoder 2011032XXX: EASyCAP C5020 2011618XXX
EASyPLUS Decoder 2011031XXX: EASyCAP EC5020 2011617XXX

What are Linear Distortions?

Linear distortions can be micro-reflections, amplitude ripple, or group delay distortions; All of which could deteriorate the quality of an upstream channel.  Detecting linear distortions can help installers and service techs better identify and locate issues with the cable modem upstream.

How do we find them?

When a cable modem sends a signal back to the CMTS it creates a high-quality, perfect QAM channel.  By the time it reaches the CMTS it is no longer perfect due to attenuation and amplification on the way to the headend.  The CMTS takes the signal that it receives and does an adaptive equalization which sends instructions back to the cable modem.  These instructions tell the cable modem how to update the upstream channel to compensate for some of the distortions in the pathway.  This is called pre-equalization at the modem.

We can look at the pre-equalization to get an idea of the location and severity of distortions in the upstream channel.  The pre-equalization can also be used to get a picture of what the CMTS is receiving at the headend.

Doug Swank, Trilithic Applications Engineer, explains linear distortions and the new 860 DSPi Find-and-Fix option which simplifies detection of these impairments.

Trilithic presented the new EASyCAP EAS emergency management system at this year’s Cable-Tec in Atlanta, GA. While at the show Broadband Technology Report caught up with Adam Jones, Trilithic’s EAS Sales Engineer, to discuss the new one-box EAS solution.

You can learn more about the EASyCAP system at Trilithic’s website.

Trilithic Introduces the First Configurable Portable Instrument Platform That Promises to Transform Plant Maintenance Testing

The DSPi 860 Field analyzer can be configured with options that enhance maintenance productivity and improve troubleshooting speed for plant technicians.

Indianapolis, IN, – Trilithic, a leader in broadband test and measurement solutions, introduces today its new 860 DSPi Field Analyzer, a portable instrument platform that can be upgraded with features to assist plant technicians in performing critical transmission and signal quality tests for maintaining analog, digital, HSD, and VoIP services. Since new features and services can be downloaded via Trilithic’s free update website, the 860 DSPi Portable Analyzer promises to be the industry standard for data communication tools with long life cycles and an economical lifetime ownership cost.

The Challenge: The Escalating Costs of Plant Maintenance
The maintenance of broadband networks is a leading component of a network’s total cost of ownership (TOC). The fault finding of network problems as varied as RF noise, jitter, packet loss, among others, is one thing, but performing these tasks quickly and efficiently is another. A tool to improve troubleshooting speed, such as the DSPi 860 field analyzer, is crucial in controlling the escalating costs of plant maintenance.

Features to Shorten Trouble Calls
The 860 DSPi Field Analyzer takes advantage of flexible, digital signal processing (DSP) technology so it can be easily upgraded with features, or applications in the field, by simply downloading firmware and without changing meters. This portable instrument platform gives you the lowest lifetime costs in the industry. Some of the features include:

• Measuring latency, jitter, packet loss, and other VoIP parameters in seconds.
• Average BER function provides test data up to 10 times faster than other analyzers, so problem sources can be identified faster, shortening trouble calls.
• CableLabs® certified DOCSIS 3.0 modem, enables a full complement of DOCSIS 3.0 tests, including complete statistical information about each of the bonded signals, including individual downstream receive levels and upstream transmit levels, downstream MER, and pre- and post-FEC BER.
• Analyzing VoIP performance from end-to-end and from the subscriber to the CMTS.
• Viewing in-channel spectrum characteristics with the Error Vector Spectrum mode.

Productivity Metrics for Workforce Management
While the 860 DSPi was designed to address the needs of technicians and engineers with extremely versatile measurement capabilities, it integrates with Trilithic’s TDM™ test data management server package to enable managers and others to configure and manage analyzer inventory, store measurement data, generate reports and create custom database queries. This integrated system lets operators track tech performance, control the quality of installations and develop and monitor productivity improvement metrics via a connection to the company billing system.

INDIANAPOLIS (November 14, 2011) – Trilithic, an industry leader in broadband test and measurement solutions, announced today a new test suite option for its 860 DSPi Field Analyzer. The LD-1 Linear Distortion Suite enables technicians to track down and efficiently troubleshoot linear distortions that can seriously degrade the digital signals running on modern cable networks.

The new LD-1 Suite solves many of the common issues technicians often face when encountering linear distortion-related problems, such as manually looking for bad passives, split cables and loose or corroded hardware. Paired with the Frequency Domain Reflectometer (FDR), this new find-and-fix option quickly and accurately determines the distance to all types of cable faults that cause microreflections and in-channel linear distortions. Using this test suite, technicians can identify and analyze the distortions, pinpoint the location of the defect causing the problem, and restore two-way service immediately.

Some of the benefits of the LD-1 Suite for the 860 DSPi include: more efficient troubleshooting without the need to swap out hardware or inspect miles of plant; enabling the technician to work independently, without the need to wait for further information from a server application or return maintenance system; and immediate restoration of two-way service at subscriber expectations, with the minimum mean time to repair (MTTR).

The LD-1 Linear Distortion Suite is available to install on all current 860 DSPi devices with a DOCSIS 2 or DOCSIS 3 8×4 modem. To see a demonstration of the 860 DSPi Field Analyzer and LD-1 Suite, visit booth #554 at the SCTE Cable-Tec Expo in Atlanta. For more information about the LD-1 Suite, visit instruments.trilithic.com or call (800) 344-2412.

There will be a National (EAN) Emergency Action Notification test occurring at 2:00 EST, on Nov. 9th.  It is very important that all EASyCAST/BNP installations review their EAS settings.  Since SCTE-18 protocol drives the BNP, the EASyCAST must have its EAN event code set to Priority 14, and NOT Priority 15.  If 15 is used, this will cause an inadvertent “force-tune”, which does not exist in the DTV market.

Please update your EASyCAST software to v 8.05.  This code release includes FEMA’s TEST verbiage as part of the EAN to be used.  See graphics below for location and use of this button.

Trilithic’s EASyCAP Encoder/Decoder offers an integrated solution for CAP-based alerts

CAP Compliance Made EASy

A next-generation EAS platform, the new EASyCAP encoder/decoder is an integrated solution that includes everything system operators need to deliver CAP-based audio and video alerts.  The one-box solution offers EAS, CAP, local access messages, audio/video peripherals, control over serial and network-based devices, interfaces to management systems, and network protocols and interfaces.

The new EASyCAP encoder/decoder can receive all of the required alert messages, including local access messages for franchise agreements, and can control all of the devices necessary to deliver the messages to system subscribers.

A Scalable Solution for Evolving Requirements

This next-generation solution not only handles all of today’s EAS requirements, but provides a flexible and expandable platform designed to accommodate requirements and new features that may be introduced over the next several years.  As CAP standards and FEMA requirements continue to evolve, Trilithic’s innovative open architecture simplifies the process of making changes and adding new capabilities and features.  All software and firmware can be upgraded across the network connection.  The EASyCAP platform utilizes common interfaces such as secure web servers and SNMP, so that operators can use familiar tools rather than installing and operating proprietary software.

Please Note that since this video was produced, the deadline has been moved to June 30, 2012.

EAS alert providers recognize the significance of the date that FEMA adopted the new CAP, or Common Alerting Protocol, standard for delivering next-generation EAS alerts.

And for video providers, it’s also the deadline to have CAP-compliant equipment ready to deliver alerts from the new Integrated Public Alert and Warning System, or IPAWS.

Trilithic offers you several digital solutions to make IPAWS-CAP compliance easier and more convenient for you.  If you already have EASySeries encoder/decoders, we recommend you upgrade your software/firmware to v 8.03 to ensure you are CAP compliant.

We’ve also laid out three easy, scalable solutions for CAP compliance in the Tech Tips and What’s New posts: New EASyCAP stand-alone software, an EASyCAP software/server package and the new EASyCAP encoder/decoder.  The software/server package supports multiple encoder/decoder units, and the EASyCAP encoder/decoder offers a comprehensive one-box solution.  Either way, you’ll find a simple way to achieve CAP compliance and enhance your EAS capabilities at the same time.