Comcast has conducted the first-ever lab test of a Full Duplex DOCSIS system-on-chip (SOC) device from Broadcom that is expected to become the world’s first production silicon to be developed using the DOCSIS 4.0 Full Duplex standard.
“We are always pushing the envelope to stay ahead of our customers’ growing needs,” said Charlie Herrin, President of Technology, Product, Xperience at Comcast Cable. “This milestone is particularly exciting, because this technology is an important step forward toward unlocking multigigabit upload and download speeds for hundreds of millions of people worldwide, not just a select few.”
Comcast technologists in Philadelphia and Denver conducted the test by installing the Broadcom SOC in a simulated network environment to track the performance of its Full Duplex DOCSIS features – including echo cancellation and overlapping spectrum – which combine to support substantial improvements in network throughput. In the test environment, the research team demonstrated the ability of the SOC to deliver upstream and downstream throughputs of greater than 4 gigabits per second (Gbps). Future optimization is expected to drive even greater capacity.
Elad Nafshi, Senior Vice President of Next Generation Access Networks at Comcast Cable, said that the performance of the Broadcom SOC in Comcast’s simulated network environment exceeded expectations, and sets the stage for expanded testing later this year.
“With this test we gain a powerful new tool to support our mission of delivering the best possible connected experiences to our customers,” Nafshi said.
The Full Duplex DOCSIS test is the latest milestone on Comcast’s path to 10G. Last October, Comcast technologists were able to deliver 1.25 Gig symmetrical speeds over a live, all-digital network by leveraging advances in Distributed Access Architecture, Remote PHY digital nodes, and a cloud-based virtualized cable modem termination system platform (vCMTS). Even as Comcast works to test and deploy Full Duplex DOCSIS to enable multigigabit upload and download speeds in the future, the company is leveraging the technologies from the October trial, along with DOCSIS 3.1 in the upstream, to increase speed and capacity in the near term.
CableLabs releases DOCSIS 4.0 spec for 10G downlinks
CableLabs released the DOCSIS 4.0 specification, which incorporates both full-duplex and extended spectrum capabilities enabling a downstream speed of up to 10 Gbps (doubling the maximum download speed available with DOCSIS 3.1 technology) and an upstream speed of up to 6 Gbps - quadrupling what DOCSIS 3.1
Work on DOCSIS 4.0 has been underway since August 2016.
In a blog post, Doug Jones, Principal Architect, says the DOCSIS 4.0 specification reflects the four pillars of the 10G platform initiative: speed, lower latency, increased security, and higher reliability.
https://www.cablelabs.com/on-the-path-to-10g-cablelabs-publishes-docsis-4-0-specification
