Cisco Headend System Release 2.5
738185 Rev B
Distributed BFS Plant Configuration
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Chapter 1
Distributed BFS Plant Configuration
Overview
Introduction
Cisco developed this guide to identify the recommended configurations to support
distributed BFS.
Some service providers may choose to configure their plant with more than one BFS
Some service providers may choose to configure their plant with more than one BFS
QAM. For these sites, the QAMs can be configured with overlapping frequencies or
non-overlapping frequencies (split plant). The term overlapping frequencies means the
distributed BFS QAMs use the same frequency as the primary BFS QAM. The term
non-overlapping frequencies mean the distributed BFS QAMs and primary BFS QAM
use different frequencies.
For any of these architectures, a multiplexing device can be added to provide a
For any of these architectures, a multiplexing device can be added to provide a
secondary video through the BFS QAMs. Examples of multiplexing devices include
Cherry Pickers, Grooming BIGs, or BitMizer devices. You can also use a media
converter, such as a SWIF-to-ASI converter, for a distribution BFS without adding
content to your BFS QAM. No matter which multiplexing device you use, Cisco
strongly recommends that you configure the multiplexing devices to output
program numbers that match the program numbers going to the primary BFS QAM.
This configuration ensures that the program numbers going into the distributed BFS
QAMs match the program numbers going into the primary BFS QAM. The program
numbers in the Broadband Integrated Gateway Program Allocation Table (BIG PAT)
are very important when configuring the multiplexing devices to support the
distributed BFS configuration. By configuring your multiplexing devices to use the
same program numbers defined in the BIG PAT table, you can ensure that the
program numbers match among the primary BFS QAM and all the distributed BFS
QAMs.
If you match the program numbers and use overlapping frequencies, it is not
If you match the program numbers and use overlapping frequencies, it is not
necessary to use OSM Automux. Otherwise, you have to use OSM Automux to
identify those QAMs that need to carry a unique Code Version Table (CVT).
Note: If you do not want the primary BFS QAM to provide an RF signal, you can
Note: If you do not want the primary BFS QAM to provide an RF signal, you can
configure one or more secondary BFS QAMs to provide all BFS data.
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