Cisco Cisco Broadband Access Center for Cable 4.1 Data Sheet

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Data Sheet

Cisco Broadband Access Center 4.2

Product Overview

Cisco

Broadband Access Center (BAC) is a distributed and highly 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

and PacketCable

™

As service provider infrastructure increases 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 pro

vider’s business

policies. Cisco BAC allows service providers to implement either one 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 a service, subscriber devices are captured and

recorded in the provisioning application. Upon completion Cisco BAC configures the device and activates

the service.

Key Features and Benefits

●

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 up to 60 million 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 2 million devices. These DPEs can be combined in

groups to provide redundancy, load sharing, and disaster recovery. The regional distribution unit (RDU) is a

central component used to manage service requests and modifications. A single RDU server in conjunction

with the appropriate number of DPE groups can support as many as 60 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.