Ikanos’ Rapid Rate Adaptation Technology Ensures “Always On” Reliability for IPTV and Triple Play Services

Ikanos Communications, Inc., a leading provider of advanced broadband solutions for the digital home, introduced its Rapid Rate Adaptation (RRA) technology, which is designed to optimize the user experience of IPTV and triple play by minimizing noise-induced service interruptions. Sudden, large noise changes on the DSL line can potentially cause dropped connections and interruptions of service. RRA minimizes such link drops by rapidly and dynamically adapting data rates to accommodate the additional noise without dropping the connection, thus improving service availability and the user experience.

“Over the next three years IPTV subscribers will grow at an annual CAGR of 73% reaching 80.3 million by 2011. Carriers cannot afford interruptions to their triple play services,” said Steve Rago, principal analyst of Broadband and Digital Home at iSuppli. “RRA is an enabling technology that can help to minimize service interruptions and, when coupled with other noise mitigation techniques, is the key to delivering robust ‘always on’ advanced broadband services.”

Ikanos’ RRA technology allows service providers to maintain link connectivity, even when signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) margin drops below normal operating levels. The technology enables transceivers to monitor line conditions and dynamically adapt the data rate without interrupting service for retraining, as long as there is adequate bandwidth to absorb the impact of the noise. Ikanos’ solution also uses on-chip QoS capabilities to enhance RRA by prioritizing traffic and quickly communicating the status of the link to other layers in the network.
“Ikanos’ RRA technology provides us with a significant competitive differentiator,” said Hiromitsu Awai, general manager of technical marketing at Sumitomo Electric Networks, Inc. “When sudden, large noise profiles appear on the DSL line, most DSL links are broken, thus interrupting service. RRA ensures that premium services such as triple play and interactive broadband over VDSL2 are not interrupted in such noisy conditions, which results in a significantly improved user experience. RRA is therefore enormously beneficial for carriers that are planning to offer triple play services and compete with cable providers.”

“In today’s highly competitive market, service providers strive to deliver exemplary video services to ensure customer satisfaction and prevent churn,” said Kumar Sivakumar, Ikanos Communications’ senior vice president and general manager. “By significantly reducing service interruptions, Ikanos’ innovative VDSL2 RRA technology is expected to promote more widespread deployment of IPTV and triple play services worldwide.”

Ikanos Communications