Cisco Cisco Broadband Access Center for Cable 4.0 Data Sheet

Data Sheet

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Cisco Broadband Access Center 4.0

Product Overview

Cisco

Broadband Access Center (BAC) is a distributed, scalable application allowing for

automated flow-through provisioning of subscriber services and management of subscriber

devices. Cisco BAC provides a centralized and automated platform for service providers to control

and configure residential home gateways and the IP devices behind the gateways.

Cisco BAC automatically recognizes devices, assigns the appropriate class of service, dynamically

creates and generates device configuration files, and activates subscribers. Cisco BAC provides a

single device management platform to support multiple technologies including DOCSIS

PacketCable

™

, CableHome

™

, satellite, and Session Initiation Protocol (SIP).

As service provider infrastructures increase rapidly in size and complexity, management systems

that simplify the task of operating the network and its services become more essential. Cisco BAC

addresses this need by automating the configuration and provisioning of subscriber devices based

on the service provider’s business policies. Cisco BAC allows service providers to implement

either or both of the following workflow models:

●

Preprovisioning: Devices are assigned to subscribers and recorded in advance in the

provisioning application. When subscribers plug them in, Cisco BAC automatically assigns

the appropriate service level and activates them.

●

Autoprovisioning: When subscribers self-register for service, subscriber devices are

captured and recorded in the provisioning application. Subscribers are required to register

for service before Cisco BAC configures the device and activates the service.

Cisco BAC is a fast, secure, and scalable system for provisioning tiered services on devices. It is

designed for:

●

Reliability: Cisco BAC provides high reliability and high availability, supporting autonomous

headends, multiple distributed device provisioning engines (DPEs), each of which includes

its own data-caching repository, a Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) server, and a time-

of-day (ToD) server. During central server outages or communication problems, Cisco BAC

provides continued service to existing registered subscribers.

●

Scalability and performance: Cisco BAC can support tens of millions of devices in

distributed deployments. Cisco BAC uses multiple distributed device management and

caching engines to balance processing of device requests. A single DPE can support as

many as 1 million devices. These DPEs can be combined in groups to provide redundancy

and load sharing. Cisco BAC includes a central component called a regional distribution

unit (RDU) to manage service requests and modifications. A single RDU server in

conjunction with the appropriate number of DPE groups can support as many as 35 million

devices with a sustained rate of hundreds of thousands of new devices a day.

●

Integration with current systems: Cisco BAC integrates with existing service provider

systems, such as billing systems, operations support systems (OSSs), and other customer

management systems, through a Java provisioning API. It can also notify interested