US cable-industry research, development and standards organization, CableLabs, has signed an agreement with its Japanese counterpart, Japan CableLabs, that seeks to align the development of cable technology in the US and Japan. Under the terms of the agreement, Japan CableLabs gains access to such CableLabs specifications as DOCSIS, OpenCable, and PacketCable, as well as to CableLabs' test plans; in addition, it will have access to draft specifications for these projects, including proposed engineering changes--thus allowing for Japanese adaptations to be included in the specifications while they are being developed. The agreement also calls for Japan CableLabs to be able to participate in CableLabs' vendor meetings and other project meetings. The organizations have agreed to cooperate specifically on developing specifications for high-speed data transmission, VoIP, home networking, and digital broadcast applications. They say that their relationship will be governed by appropriate access agreements and NDA's, in order to ensure confidentiality of information exchanged between them. "Japan CableLabs would like to contribute to the benefit of cable customers and the expansion of cable industries in both countries, particularly as voice, video and data technologies converge," Japan CableLabs president, M. Nakamura, said in a prepared statement. "This agreement will be a remarkable milestone towards the frequent exchange of technical information between two organizations and the development of open, standards-based technologies for both cable industries."
Originally Published: April 16, 2007 in [itvt] Issue 7.26 Part 2
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