BigBand Shows Modular CMTS for Channel Bonding and Installed Cable Modems

BigBand Networks announced the first live operation of its modular CMTS functionality. The company is demonstrating its Cuda CMTS and BME (Broadband Multimedia-Service Edge) platforms jointly delivering broadband services to DOCSIS cable modems.


The demonstration shows the Cuda and BME jointly achieving well over 100 Mbps per single MAC (media access control) domain. Sixteen unique high definition video streams of approximately 10 Mbps each are delivered to sixteen laptop computers connected to that MAC domain. The BigBand Networks M-CMTS design quadruples DOCSIS MAC processing to 3 Gbps per Cuda platform. Gigabit Ethernet is used to interface Cuda to BMEs, which perform high-density QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation).


Modular CMTS is designed for evolution from legacy integrated CMTS approaches, by disaggregating functionality to be performed on best-of-breed platforms connected by standard interfaces. The company said the demonstration at the CableLabs Summer Conference of its M-CMTS architecture is the first to be compatible with field-deployed cable modems, in addition to enabling higher bandwidth access by newly emerging cable modems capable of channel bonding practices. This would enable operators to scale deployments at a fraction of integrated CMTS cost, resource and space utilization. The Cuda and BME platforms used in the demonstration are already deployed for broadband IP and video edge QAM, respectively, and can be upgraded by operators for M-CMTS.


BigBand Networks said it plans for additional flexibility from its M-CMTS architecture beyond provisioning multiple access speeds and servicing multiple cable modem generations. The disaggregation of upstream termination on Cuda from downstream termination on BME can economically allow for a range of upstream-to-downstream bandwidth ratios. The BME is designed to evolve from QAM modulation of particular digital video or DOCSIS channels, towards being able to dynamically allocate capacity within the same channel towards any kind of digital traffic on the cable plant.
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