RDK, Broadband & The Last Mile

Access networks come in many flavors, and represent the “last mile” of a network’s infrastructure, connecting the core network out to homes and businesses – although they’re almost never a linear mile, and almost always require more than a mile’s worth of materials to build. 

Of the access network types, there’s twisted copper pair, used in telephone networks, and the advanced technologies that built upon it, like Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) and its many manifestations (ADSL, VDSL2, G.Fast and XG-FAST). Then there are the fiber-fed networks, like “the PONs,” for Passive Optical Networks, like Ethernet PON (EPON) and Gigabit PON (GPON). In traditional hybrid-fiber coax networks, the access method used to move IP-based traffic is DOCSIS, for the Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification. 

Broadband gateways and related gear built with RDK started out with DOCSIS as the initial broadband access technology. But as service providers expanded, both geographically and topologically, it made sense for devices built for RDK to also expand, in terms of supporting additional access networks. It started with EPON, in 2017. An EPON “agent” software component and an associated hardware abstraction layer, or “HAL,” was created to separate the common software of RDK/Broadband from the EPON code used in individual SoCs (System on a Chip). 

In the fullness of time, the RDK stack is resourced and roadmapped to host a suite of access network agents, in a modular and open sourced way, that can be mixed and matched as needed by service provider: Maybe one footprint needs DOCSIS, and another needs DSL, or EPON, or GPON. Each agent contains the interface between the core RDK code, and the SoC code that supports the wide area network technology.

Notably, the core RDK stack remains unchanged regardless of the broadband access network it supports. Only the access network agent – be it for cable modems, Ethernet, DSL, etc – changes, as needed. This also means that the same device management, logging, telemetry and provisioning software is used in all implementations (including video devices running RDK.) That’s deliberate, so that service providers have one cloud management layer for all customer premises equipment / CPE, from all manufacturers. 

Ultimately, it’s a good thing: Multiple types of access networks are the rule these days, not the exception. So as the RDK stack evolves, know that an important part of it will be about making sure the RDK can serve DOCSIS, DSL and PON-styled access infrastructure. 

Related Posts

RDK Management is an open source consortium that manages the Reference Design Kit (RDK). RDK is an open source software platform for the connected home that standardizes core functions used in broadband devices, set-top boxes, and IoT. It enables operators to manage their devices; control their business models; and customize their apps, UIs and data analytics to improve the customer experience and drive business results. The RDK community is comprised of more than 600 companies including: CPE manufacturers, SoC vendors, software developers, system integrators, and service providers.  For more information on the tools, training, and events provided by RDK Management, please visit: www.rdkcentral.com.  

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Privacy

Privacy

Welcome to RDKCentral.com, a website owned and operated by RDK Management, LLC (“RDK Management,” “we,” or “us”). This privacy policy discloses the privacy practices for this website only, including an explanation of:

  • the categories of personally identifiable information about you that may be collected and how that information is used;
  • how we collect and use non-personally identifiable information about your use of the website;
  • the categories of persons or entities with whom the information may be shared;
  • the choices that are available to you regarding collection, use, and distribution of the information;
  • how you can opt out of RDK-related promotional e-mail;
  • the kind of security procedures that are in place to protect the loss, misuse or alteration of information;
  • how you can review and request changes to the information; and
  • how we notify users of this website of changes to this privacy policy.
Questions regarding this policy should be directed to “RDK Management – Privacy Feedback” and can be submitted via e-mail to info@rdkcentral.com.

What categories of information do we collect?

The information collected by RDK Management falls into two categories: (1) information voluntarily supplied by users of the website and (2) tracking information recorded as users navigate through the website. Some of this information is personally identifiable information (i.e., information that identifies a particular person, such as e-mail address), but much of it is not.

To make use of some features on our website, like the RDK Wiki, users need to register and provide certain information as part of the registration process. We may ask, for example, for your name, e-mail address, street address, and zip code. We might also request information about your employer and the type of work that you do, in order to determine whether your employer is a member of the RDK program, to help us ensure that you are given access to the correct portions of the website, and to tailor our website content and e-mail (if you’ve registered to receive e-mail) to your interests to make it more useful to you. If you are a registered user, our systems will remember some of this information the next time you log in and use our website, but you can always review and change your information by logging in and editing your profile here.

The more you tell us about yourself, the more value we can offer you. Supplying this information is entirely voluntary. But if you choose not to supply the information, we may be unable to provide you with access to all of the features of this website. There are certain features of this website, including the Wiki and requesting to receive RDK-related promotional e-mail, that you will not be able to use unless you provide certain personally identifiable information about yourself. When you submit any personally identifiable information over this website, RDK Management (i) will use the information for the purposes described at the time you submit it and (ii) may use the information to contact you, subject to the contact preferences in your profile. If you want to remain completely anonymous, you’re still free to take advantage of the publicly available content on our website without registration.

Does RDK Management analyze my interaction with this website?

Some of the third-party service providers that RDK Management uses to deliver services, like analytics providers, may collect information on this website as disclosed in this privacy policy. This information may include personally identifiable information or may be used to contact you online.

We and our service providers may use cookies to provide these services. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has started a process to develop a “Do Not Track” Standard. Since the definitions and rules for such a standard have not yet been defined, RDK Management does not yet respond to “Do Not Track” signals sent from browsers.

You may opt out of receiving cookies from the companies that provide services on this website by going to www.networkadvertising.org/consumer/opt_out.asp or http://www.aboutads.info/choices.

What categories of persons or entities do we share personally identifiable information with?

We consider the personally identifiable information contained in our business records to be confidential. We may sometimes disclose personally identifiable information about you to our affiliates or to others who work for us. We may also disclose personally identifiable information about you to service providers and vendors, and to others who provide products and services to us. For example, when you use certain functions on this website you may notice that the website actually collecting or processing the information may be other than an RDK Management website. We may be required by law or legal process to disclose certain personally identifiable information about you to lawyers and parties in connection with litigation and to law enforcement personnel. For example, we may be required by law to disclose personally identifiable information about you without your consent and without notice in order to comply with a valid legal process such as a subpoena, court order, or search warrant.

What do we do to personalize your use of this website?

We, or our service providers, may customize this website based on non-personal information including: (i) the IP address associated with your computer for purposes of determining your approximate geographic location; (ii) the type of web page that is being displayed; or (iii) the content on the page that is shown. Because this activity automatically applies to all users and it is purely contextual, this type of content delivery cannot be customized or controlled by individual users. We may also personalize this website based on the information that you provided us during registration. You may modify this information as further described in this Privacy Policy.

To help make our website more responsive to the needs of our users, we use a standard feature of browser software called a “cookie.” We use cookies to help us tailor our website to your needs, to deliver a better, more personalized service, and to remember certain choices you’ve made so you don’t have to re-enter them.

RDK Management uses cookies, among other things, to remember your username and password, if you choose to store them, as well as to remember some of your personalization preferences and website features. RDK Management does not store your name or other personal information in cookies. You may read about enabling, disabling, and deleting cookies here. Of course, if you set your browser not to accept cookies or you delete them, you may not be able to take advantage of the personalized features enjoyed by other users of our website.

The cookies we use don’t directly identify users of our website as particular persons. Rather, they contain information sufficient to simplify and improve a user’s experience on our website. For example, we may use session-based cookies to track the pages on our website visited by our users. We can build a better website if we know which pages our users are visiting and how often. Or, we may use persistent cookies to simplify access to a user’s account information over our website, for example.

In connection with the standard operation of RDK Management’s systems, certain non-personally identifiable information about users of this website is recorded. This information is used primarily to tailor and enhance users’ experience using the website. We may use this information in an aggregate, non-personally identifiable form to, among other things, measure the use of our website and determine which pages are the most popular with website users.

We may also use one or more audience segmenting technology providers to help present content on this website. These providers uses cookies, web beacons, or similar technologies on your computer or mobile or other device to serve you advertisements or content tailored to interests you have shown by browsing on this and other websites you have visited. It also helps determine whether you have seen a particular piece of content before and in order to avoid sending you duplicates. In doing so, these providers collect non-personally identifiable information such as your browser type, your operating system, web pages visited, time of visits, content viewed, ads viewed, and other click stream data. When you visit this website, these providers may use cookies or web beacons to note which product and service descriptions your browser visited. The use of cookies, web beacons, or similar technologies by these providers is subject to their own privacy policies, not RDK Management’s privacy policy for this website. If you do not want the benefits of the cookies used by these providers, you may opt-out of them by visiting http://www.networkadvertising.org/consumer/opt_out.asp or by visiting their opt-out pages.

How do users opt out of RDK-related promotional e-mail?

You can opt out of receiving RDK-related promotional e-mail from RDK Management using the opt-out link found in the footer of any of these e-mails. You can also e-mail the request to the attention of “RDK Management – E-mail Opt Out” via e-mail to info@rdkcentral.com.

Other Websites

To make our website more valuable to our users, we may offer some features in conjunction with other providers. Our website may also include links to other websites whose privacy policies and practices we don’t control. Once you leave our website by linking to another one (you can tell where you are by checking the address – known as a URL – in the location bar on your browser), use of any information you provide is governed by the privacy policy of the operator of the website you’re visiting. That policy may differ from ours. If you can’t find the privacy policy of any of these websites via a link from the site’s homepage, you should contact the website directly for more information.

Security

All information gathered on our website is stored within a database accessible only to RDK Management, its affiliates, and their specifically-authorized contractors and vendors. However, as effective as any security measure implemented by RDK Management may be, no security system is impenetrable. We cannot guarantee the complete security of our database, nor can we guarantee that information you supply won’t be intercepted while being transmitted to us over the Internet. If you don’t want us to know any particular information about you, don’t include it in anything that you submit or post to this website or send to us in e-mail.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may change this privacy policy from time to time. If we change this privacy policy at some point in the future, we’ll post the changes on our website and by continuing to use the website after we post any changes, you accept and agree to this privacy statement, as modified.

A Special Note About Children

This website is not directed to children under the age of 13, and RDK Management does not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from anyone under the age of 18 on this website.

Effective: February 5, 2015

Terms & Conditions

Website Terms of Use

Welcome to RDKCentral.com, a website owned and operated by RDK Management, LLC (“RDK Management,” “we,” or “us”). Please read these Terms of Use before you use this website. By using this website, you agree to abide by these Terms of Use. We may change these Terms of Use from time to time. By continuing to use the website after we post any changes, you accept and agree to them, as modified.

These terms apply to the website(s) owned and operated by RDK Management on which they are posted. Some RDK Management websites may have different or additional terms. In these cases, those agreements, terms, and policies apply to those sites. By accessing any other RDK Management website, you agree to abide by each website’s applicable visitor agreement, terms of use, subscriber agreement, privacy policy, or other terms and policies.

Privacy

RDK Management respects the privacy of our users to and users of this website. Please review our Privacy Policy located here.

Feedback

We invite you to send in your questions or comments about this website, or to bring to our attention any material you believe to be inaccurate. You may provide general feedback using the contact forms found on the website.

Contents and Linking

The material that appears on this website is for general informational purposes only. While we try to ensure that any information we post to this website is both timely and accurate, errors may appear from time to time. This website may not be updated daily, and certain information may not be the most current information available. Though we may post follow-up information and reports, and may continue to provide access to the original information and reports, as in an archive of news stories, for example, we may not go back and change the original report to reflect new developments. If you’re looking for the most recent information on a given subject be sure you’re not looking at an out of date report. Before you act on information you’ve found on our website, you should independently confirm any facts that are important to your decision.

RDK Management is not responsible for, and cannot guarantee the performance of, any products and services provided by any advertisers or others, including those to whose websites we link. A link to another website does not constitute an endorsement of that site (nor of any product, service or other material offered on that site) by RDK Management or its licensors.

Although we make this website freely accessible, we don’t intend to give up our rights, or anyone else’s rights, to the materials appearing on the website. The materials available through this website are the property of RDK Management or its licensors, and are protected by copyright, trademark and other intellectual property laws. Except for the limited licenses expressly granted to you in these terms, RDK Management and its licensors expressly reserve all other rights and licenses. You are free to display and print for your personal, non-commercial use information you receive through this website, but you may not otherwise reproduce or modify any of the materials without the prior written consent of their owner. You may not distribute copies of materials found on this website in any form (including by email or other electronic means), without prior written permission from their owner. Of course, you are free to encourage others to access the information themselves on this website and to tell them how to find it. Requests for permission to reproduce or distribute materials found on this website should be info@rdkcentral.com.

We welcome links to the homepage of our website. You are free to establish a hypertext link to the homepage of this site so long as the link does not state or imply any affiliation, connection, sponsorship, or approval of your site by RDK Management. We do not permit framing or inline linking to our website or any portion of it.

Trademarks

We don’t want anyone to be confused as to which materials and services are provided by RDK Management and which aren’t. You may not use any trademark or service mark appearing on this website without the prior written consent of the owner of the mark.

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You are solely responsible for any information that you submit or post on this website. By using this website you agree not to submit, post or transmit any defamatory, abusive, obscene, threatening or illegal material, or any other material that infringes on the ability of others to enjoy this website or that infringes on the rights of others. We retain the right to deny access to anyone who we believe has violated these terms.

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RDK Management welcomes your feedback about this website and our products and services. We ask that you limit your feedback to these items. Nevertheless, any communications you send to this website or otherwise to RDK Management are deemed to be submitted on a non-confidential basis and become the sole property of RDK Management. RDK Management may, in its sole discretion, reproduce, use, publish, modify, disclose, distribute, or otherwise use these communications in any way and for any purpose. All such uses by RDK Management shall be without liability or obligation of any kind to you. These uses may include, for example, use of the content of any such communications, including any works, marks or names, ideas, inventions, concepts, techniques or know-how disclosed therein, for any purpose without any obligation to compensate the originator of such communications and without liability to that person.

Termination

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Disclaimer of Warranties and Liability

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THIS WEBSITE IS PROVIDED TO YOU “AS IS,” “WITH ALL FAULTS,” AND “AS AVAILABLE.” RDK MANAGEMENT AND ITS AGENTS AND LICENSORS CANNOT AND DO NOT WARRANT THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, USEFULNESS, TIMELINESS, NONINFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OF THE INFORMATION AVAILABLE THROUGH THE WEBSITE, NOR DO THEY GUARANTEE THAT THE WEBSITE WILL BE ERROR-FREE, OR CONTINUOUSLY AVAILABLE, OR THAT THE WEBSITE WILL BE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS.

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHALL RDK MANAGEMENT (INCLUDING ITS PARENTS, SUBSIDIARIES, AND AFFILIATES) OR ITS AGENTS OR LICENSORS BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANYONE ELSE FOR ANY DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF ANY USE OR MISUSE OF THIS WEBSITE, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT, OR SIMILAR DAMAGES, EVEN IF ADVISED BEFOREHAND OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OR CAUSE OF ACTION INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE, AND OTHER TORT ACTIONS. BECAUSE SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF CERTAIN CATEGORIES OF DAMAGES, THE ABOVE LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. IN SUCH STATES, THE LIABILITY OF RDK MANAGEMENT AND ITS AGENTS AND LICENSORS IS LIMITED TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY SUCH STATE LAW. YOU AGREE THAT THE LIABILITY OF RDK MANAGEMENT (INCLUDING ITS PARENTS, SUBSIDIARIES, AND AFFILIATES) AND ITS AGENTS AND LICENSORS, IF ANY, ARISING OUT OF ANY KIND OF LEGAL CLAIM IN ANY WAY CONNECTED TO THE WEBSITE SHALL NOT EXCEED THE AMOUNT YOU PAID TO RDK MANAGEMENT FOR THE USE OF THE WEBSITE.

Miscellaneous

To obtain access to certain services on our website, you may be required to register. As part of any such registration process, you will select a user name and a password. You agree that the information you supply during that registration process will be accurate and complete and that you will not register under the name of, nor attempt to enter the service under the name of, another person. RDK Management reserves the right to reject or terminate any user name that, in its judgment, it deems offensive. You will be responsible for preserving the confidentiality of your password and will notify us of any known or suspected unauthorized use of your account.

At certain places on this website there may be additional or other terms and policies that apply to your use of this website and the services on it. By using the website or those services, you agree to abide by those terms and policies. We may change those terms and policies from time to time. By continuing to use the website after we post any changes, you accept and agree to those terms and policies, as modified.

These terms have been made in and shall be construed in accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. By using this website, you consent to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in all disputes arising out of or relating to these terms or this website. In the event that any portion of these terms is held to be unenforceable, the unenforceable portion shall be construed in accordance with applicable law as nearly as possible to reflect the original intentions of the parties and the remainder of the provisions shall remain in full force and effect.

By using this website, you agree to abide by these terms. We hope you enjoy using this website, and we welcome suggestions for improvements.

Effective: February 5, 2015

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