The 17th Diamond Technology Reviews carries on Broadband Technology Report’s tradition of recognizing innovation in broadband communications, video transmission, and related technologies. While we entered this year’s program with the hope that we’d be “back to normal” after last year’s experiences with the pandemic, the fact that 2021 will again see us celebrate honorees as part of the SCTE Cable-Tec Expo Virtual Experience instead gives us a bit of déjà vu.
Regardless of the ups and downs of the past year, we are again impressed with the level of ingenuity exemplified in this year’s high-scoring entries. As is the case every year, we invited vendors serving the broadband cable industry to submit information about products that have been released or upgraded since last year's SCTE Cable-Tec Expo (October 2020).
Each entry was assigned to at least three of our expert volunteer judges. To help ensure fairness, similar products from different vendors were reviewed by the same group of panelists. Judges based scores/comments on written material provided by vendors, as well as their own experience with or knowledge of the specific technologies. Review panelists were informed that scores/comments would remain anonymous.
Specifically, judges used the following scale to determine Diamond scores:
- 1-2: Not a useful product
- 3.0: Useful product, yet commodity
- 3.5: Solid product with viable attributes that set it apart
- 4.0-4.5: Excellent product with technical features and performance that provide clear and substantial benefits
- 5: Superb product that sets new standard for performance and/or breaks new ground
Each entry’s scores were averaged and rounded to the nearest full or half Diamond. Note that products are grouped by score (with the highest Diamonds ranking first), and then in alphabetical order.
Scores of 3.5 or above are considered superlative and reflect a very positive opinion from the panel. Only products receiving a 3.5 or above are included in this article.
This year’s program saw several products designed to aid cable system operators with the transition to 10G capabilities. Some of these focused on HFC infrastructure and others focused on all-fiber networking. And, of course, the evolution in the physical plant creates a need for new test instruments and capabilities, as a large swath of this year’s honorees illustrates.
"Cable MSOs continue to strive to keep pace with increasing capacity demands and competition in a challenging environment," commented Broadband Technology Report Editorial Director Stephen Hardy, who again served as program director this year. “This year’s honorees should help operators achieve these goals.”
The Diamond Technology Review judging panel again stepped up to evaluate a wide range of technologies. “The expertise our judges bring each year is essential to the Diamond Technology Reviews, and we remain grateful for their contributions to our program,” Hardy concluded.
2021 DIAMOND JUDGES PANEL
Program Director: Stephen Hardy, Editorial Director, Broadband Technology Report
Fuad Alnajjar, Director, Product Development and Emerging Tech, Mediacom
Jack Burton, Principal, Broadband Success Partners
Tee Harton, Sr. Director, RF Engineering, Cox Communications
Robert Kuse, Senior Director - Access Engineering, Cox Communications
Mike Latino, VP, Service Infrastructure, Cox Communications
Mark Woodworth, Engineering Architect, Comcast
Active Network Hardware
EnerSys Energy Systems XRT Extended Run Time Cabinets
Technetix XGT Gigabit Modular Outdoor Multitaps
Back Office
Cabling and Accessories
AFL Apex Sealed Splice Closures
Amphenol Broadband Solutions FlexTrax
Wirewerks Fiber+Power Solutions
CCAP Systems
Harmonic CableOS Cloud-Native Core Platform
Field Test Instruments
AFL Field-Replaceable Port Saver OTDR Connectors
AFL FlexScan® TS100 FTTH PON Troubleshooter
AFL FlowScout PON Optical Power Meter
EXFO FIP-500 Fiber Inspection Scope
VIAVI Solutions Advanced WiFi Option, ONX-220
VIAVI Solutions Nano OSA Module
VIAVI Solutions OneAdvisor-800
VIAVI Solutions Seeker X Leakage System
FTTH/Optical Access Platforms
CommScope NOVUX FTTX Ecosystem
Monitoring & Analysis
Effigis Geo-Solutions XT Leakage Detection Solution
Incognito Software Systems Monetization and Analytics Platform
Plume Consumer Experience Management Platform
VIAVI Solutions NITRO Business Intelligence Fiber Insight Analytics for ONMSi Remote Fiber Test and Monitoring
VIAVI Solutions ONMSi Flash Fiber Monitoring for Addressing Network Route Flapping
VIAVI Solutions StrataSync Fiber and Cable Dashboard Analytics for VIAVI OTDRs and ONX Cable Meters
Optical Transport/Carrier Ethernet
ProLabs Very High Temperature (VHT) SFP+ 10G 80-km Transceivers
VIAVI Solutions ONT 800G FLEX XPM Module
Video Distribution Solutions
Broadpeak Open Dynamic Elastic CDN
Video Processing Solutions
CommScope VIP7100 UHD IP Streamer
Synamedia Media Edge Gateway ATSC 3.0 Receiver