Introduction to Euro-PacketCable
tComLabsEuro-PacketCable
Euro-PacketCable is the open standard for Telephony over Cable. In its initial version, it standardises the Voice over IP services of a single zone network belonging to one operator and the interfaces to the PSTN network, either in a "full" softswitch architecture or an IPAT architecture with a V5.2 interface to a traditional class-5 switch. Euro-PacketCable is based on PacketCable developed by CableLabs® for North America. The deviations between the European and US version are due to the differences in the traditional telecommunication systems deployed in Europe vs. the US. These are mainly related to the use of V5.2 (IPAT architecture), the differences in SS7 implementation, the POTS interfaces and supported CLASS features. To accommodate the differences, Euro-PacketCable uses different digital certificates and SNMP MIBs.
Euro-PacketCable Multimedia
Euro-PacketCable Multimedia is a specification that describes a general-purpose platform designed to support a wide range of IP-based, QoS demanding multimedia services such as live video, audio streaming, videoconferencing, VOD, gaming or SIP telephony. It's based on the US version PacketCableTM Multimedia developed by CableLabs®. The only deviation between the European and US version is that the European version sits on top of Euro-DOCSIS instead of DOCSIS® and has additional stability requirements. Although it uses similar protocols as in Euro-PacketCable, the voice related aspects of that standard are not a requirement to deploy Euro-PacketCable Multimedia on the network. Euro-PacketCable Multimedia sits alongside of Euro-PacketCable and cable operators are guaranteed interoperability and compatibility when deploying both standards in parallel.
Certification
Compliant components for Euro-PacketCable networks are certified/qualified by the Euro-PacketCable Certification Board based on testing done by tComLabs.