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Upwardly Mobile: Cable Operators Moving Up To DOCSIS 3.0®
(pdf - 92 Kbytes)
Now that DOCSIS® 3.0 has arrived, cable operators are welcoming it for good reason. Actually, they have many good reasons to embrace this new protocol standard. Certainly DOCSIS 3.0 (Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification) has achieved its goal of much higher line speeds, but many other characteristics make it attractive to operators. The flexibility with which this higher bandwidth can be implemented and the easy scalability of the termination equipment, for example, will simplify and accelerate operators’ introduction of new services, hastening the addition of new revenue streams. And the seamless operation of DOCSIS 3.0 modems with legacy network management systems means that network operational expenses may not be affected by a gradual or even a sudden migration. Because there are little, if any, capital investments in the infrastructure to deploy DOCSIS 3.0, operators will enjoy minimal deployment costs and a healthy return on investment on the infrastructure already in place. Moreover, having DOCSIS 3.0 modems in the field opens a clear path to triple-play service offerings involving data communication, voice over cable (VoCable) and, eventually, video transmission via Internet Protocol (IP).
It is already clear that the many tools in the new DOCSIS 2.0 standard that allow for efficient use of the upstream spectrum and mitigation of impairments also make the task of optimizing transmission parameters increasingly difficult. In fact, the performance of a DOCSIS 2.0-based CMTS greatly depends on its ability to dynamically assess upstream channel conditions and set the transmission parameters accordingly.
With the technical capabilities of DOCSIS 3.0 in clear focus, some of the remaining questions center on logistical and business issues. Specifically, when should deployment begin? With the introduction of new DOCSIS 3.0 products and platforms like TI’s Puma 5 DOCSIS 3.0 solution for cable modems, the answer is increasingly clear: sooner rather than later.
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