SCTE, Villanova to Forge Energy-Assessment Tool

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.

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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.