SCTE Standards Categories

Member organizations develop standards through their technical representatives who serve on committees and subcommittees across SCTE Standards Categories, which are focused on specific areas of cable technology. The technical subcommittees are the consensus bodies for development and the Engineering Committee  of the SCTE Board of Directors supervises the overall standards program. Learn more about each of the categories, their subcommittees and the standards that they develop to find those relevant to your company’s products and services. Get involved to make sure your organization is keeping up with the latest cable technologies—Join the SCTE Standards Program






Data Communications Standards

The SCTE Standards Program has a long list of current and developing standards related to the transmission and monitoring of data communications over broadband networks. These standards include Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS®) standards for data transmission over cable networks, and standards for IP voice over cable systems. As today’s networks are constantly updated, SCTE’s work in standardizing data communications continues to grow and thrive.

Technology Topics Covered: Standards and recommended practices for this category are developed in the existing and emerging technology areas listed below. Find topics relevant to your organization, recommend new topics, and join the SCTE Standards Program to help shape future cable telecommunications technologies.

  • Communications Over A Data Network

  • CODECs

  • Equipment

  • DOCSIS®

  • IPCable Comm

  • HD Audio

  • IP Interconnection

  • Cellular Backhaul

  • Wireless

  • Home Networking

  • Business Services

The Data Standards Subcommittee (DSS) oversees the Internet of things (IoT) Working Group.  The SCTE IoT Working Group’s charter is to focus on making standards and operational practices deployable and manageable for service providers, to facilitate communication between service providers and industry partners to standardize new IoT based services, and to identify and adapt use cases available in the IoT community to service provider’s business objectives.

Data Standards Subcommittee (DSS)
Charter:  Data Standards Subcommittee develops standards for the delivery of digital service supporting high-speed data, video, VoIP, and other services over cable networks.

Subcommittee Chair:
David Fellows 
T-Mobile

 



Digital Video Standards

With all the different video formats being used simultaneously, it is important to keep things straight. SCTE offers a complete set of standards for digital video transmission on cable networks, including the definitive industry standards for advertisement insertion. New technologies making their way into these standards include advanced video systems, video quality standards, 3D programming, and advanced audio.

Technology Topics Covered: Standards and recommended practices for this category are developed in the existing and emerging technology areas listed below. Find topics relevant to your organization, recommend new topics, and join the SCTE Standards Program to help shape future cable telecommunications technologies.

  • Digital Video

  • Ad Insertion

  • 3D

  • Conditional Access

  • Audio Levels

  • MPEG Transport

  • DASH

  • Close Captioning

  • IP Video

  • Audio Synchronization

  • IP Multicast

  • Unicast

  • Advanced CODECs


Digital Video Subcommittee (DVS)
Charter:  Digital Video Subcommittee identifies requirements and develops standards for the design and operation of systems for delivery of video, audio, and associated data for the Cable Industry, coordinating as necessary with organizations such as ATSC, CTA, SMPTE, NCTA, and CableLabs.

Subcommittee Chair:
Paul J. Hearty, Ph.D. 
Vice President, Technology Standards Office 
Sony Electronics, Inc.

 
 

Energy Management Standards

Rising energy costs are a reality and something every business will have to address. Understanding ways to better manage those costs is vital to continued profitability. New markets have opened focusing on sustainable and energy efficient cable products and services. Through standards, best practices and thought leadership efforts, the SCTE can help organizations control their costs and boost efficiencies. SCTE Standards is developing standards and recommended practices in several key areas to improve the application of environmentally friendly and sustainable procedures and products, to create solutions that lower overall costs and increase overall performance.

Technology Topics Covered: Standards and recommended practices for this category are developed in the existing and emerging technology areas listed below. Find topics relevant to your organization, recommend new topics, and join the SCTE Standards Program to help shape future cable telecommunications technologies.

  • Conservation

  • Efficiency

  • Environmentals

  • Power System Interfaces

  • Density

  • Operations

  • Facilities

  • Monitoring

  • Modeling

  • Graphics

  • Measurements

  • Energy Controls

  • Recycling




Energy Management Subcommittee (EMS)
Charter:  Energy Management Subcommittee is responsible for identifying standards and operational practices for reducing power consumption and costs, increasing operating efficiency and recognizing sustainable actions to both support business and the environment.

Subcommittee Chair: 
David Mendo 
Sr Director – NDCI&S East & Central 
Comcast Cable Inc.

 


Read more about SCTE•ISBE Energy2020
 



Equipment & Cabling Standards

With the billions of components found across miles of broadband networks, it is important to ensure that all the pieces work together. This has been a major cornerstone in the SCTE Standards Program. Standards for coaxial cables and connectors have been in existence since the program started in the early 1990’s. In the future, increased deployment of optical fiber, standards for fiber cables, connectors, and interfaces are what will drive the equipment standards side of the SCTE Standards Program.

Technology Topics Covered: Standards and recommended practices for this category are developed in the existing and emerging technology areas listed below. Find topics relevant to your organization, recommend new topics, and join the SCTE Standards Program to help shape future cable telecommunications technologies.

  • Connectors

  • Fiber

  • Coax

  • Related Test Procedures

  • Amplifiers

  • Power Requirements

  • Housings

  • Environmental Factors

  • Cable Management

  • Home Wiring

  • STB/Gateways

  • RFoG

  • Labeling & Symbology

Interface Practices Subcommittee (IPS)
Charter:  The Interface Practices Subcommittee (IPS) develops standards and operational practices for active and passive equipment, including cables and connectors, used in broadband communications systems. The focus of the work is in the access network, including headends, hubs, outside plant, and customer premises. The work includes standards for the physical construction and performance of the equipment, as well as test procedures for measuring the performance and compliance of the equipment. In general, the test procedures are designed to be lab-grade measurements. Standards and operational practices for in-service measurements of broadband communications systems are normally created and maintained in the Network Operations Subcommittee (NOS). 

Subcommittee Chair:
Kevin Gantt 
Sr. Product Engineer, Cable R&D 
CommScope, Inc.

 

 
 

Network Operations Standards

Operators are focusing their attention on how to run smoother networks with less than 0.001% of downtime. SCTE Standards has recently entered the network operations realm to develop standards and recommended practices to monitor network transmission, prevent network failure, and provide information on how to quickly detect and correct points of failure. Current and developing standards in this area include Hybrid Fiber-Coax network management protocols used for monitoring outside plant equipment and recommended measurement practices on cable system; new efforts are addressing intelligent network management and Internet peering.

Technology Topics Covered: Standards and recommended practices for this category are developed in the existing and emerging technology areas listed below. Find topics relevant to your organization, recommend new topics, and join the SCTE Standards Program to help shape future cable telecommunications technologies.

  • High Availability—Definitions & Measurements

  • Proactive Management

  • Financial Models

  • Monitoring

  • Performance Levels

  • Capacity

  • SLAs

  • EAS

  • Business Continuity

  • Diasaster Recovery

  • Energy

  • Synthetic Testing


Network Operations Subcommittee (NOS)    
Charter:  The Society’s Network Operations Subcommittee is responsible for standards, operational practices, and related documents and information that provide support for the implementation and operation of cable networks. The NOS focuses on network testing, measurements, business continuity, disaster recovery, and other topics relevant to the performance and operational management of cable networks

Subcommittee Chair:
Ron Hranac
Technical Leader, Cable Access Business Unit
Cisco Systems, Inc.