MaxLinear, a supplier of RF and mixed-signal integrated circuits for the connected home and wired and wireless infrastructure markets, announced it is partnering with ZTE Cable to develop Ethernet-over-Coax (EoC) equipment for Chinese MSOs and that its customer Guangda has been awarded contracts by multiple cable MSOs in China for broadband CPE.
ZTE Cable
MaxLinear noted that China's MSOs are currently transforming from pay TV providers to MSOs offering data and voice services, and that with over 200 million subscribers the Chinese cable TV market is the largest addressable market for c.LINK and MoCA Access equipment. ZTE Cable is now entering the EoC market utilising MaxLinear-based technology and products.
MaxLinear is an established supplier to MSOs offering broadband data services in China and is currently shipping its third generation EoC technology, c.LINK 1.1+, which can deliver up to 800 Mbit/s of usable MAC throughput to up to 128 subscribers.
Based on the EN3681 network coordinator (NC) chip and EN3690 CPE chip, MaxLinear's c.LINK 1.1+ solution is designed to enable MSOs to cost-effectively overlay support for broadband data service without affecting existing TV services or the need to install new cabling.
MoCA Access is a new MoCA initiative designed to extend the performance and reliability of its home networking products to applications targeting FTTB deployments. As with c.LINK, MoCA Access will use an MDU's existing coax cabling to deliver broadband to each residential unit from an optical terminal. MoCA Access is designed to deliver aggregate MAC throughput of up to 2.5 Gbit/s for up to 128 subscribers.
Guangda MSO contracts
MaxLinear also announced that its customer in China Guangda has won contracts with cable MSOs to supply broadband CPE based on its EN3681 and EN3690 c.LINK 1.1+ EoC access technology.
Already supplying MaxLinear's c.LINK 1.0 and 1.1 EoC systems to MSOs in China, Guangda will now begin deploying the third-generation c.LINK 1.1+ EoC system to MSOs serving Chengdu, Ningxia, ZheJiang Rui’An, YueQing and CangNan to meet growing demand for higher broadband speeds.
MaxLinear noted that a c.LINK 1.1+ based network can support 4 x 50 MHz channels, each controlled by its EN3681 network coordinator (NC) SoC, providing up to 800 Mbit/s of usable throughput to 128 CPE modems. The Ethernet modem comprises a single EN3690 CPE SoC plus Ethernet PHY, or the EN3690 can be embedded into a wireless modem to provide in-home WiFi connectivity.
