At the latest DOCSIS 4.0 Interop·Labs event — which took place Nov. 4–7 at CableLabs’ headquarters in Louisville, Colorado — equipment suppliers showcased their efforts to deliver on the 10G platform through DOCSIS 4.0 technology. All four 10G pillars were on display: faster speeds, lower latency, enhanced security and increased reliability. These pillars were all designed into the DOCSIS 4.0 specifications, and we’ve reached the point at which the products simply work.

We want to thank the participants who helped make the event successful and once again helped us achieve a high level of productivity. To recap the major themes of the event:

• Speeds are rock solid. Demonstrations boasted downstream speeds faster than 9 Gbps that were limited only by the single 10 Gbps interface on the modems. Upstream speeds can exceed 2 Gbps on and go even higher.
• The new focus is interoperability. Products are maturing, and suppliers are differentiating their offerings. As operators continue to seriously develop deployment scenarios, we want to ensure that the specifications are clear enough to handle real-world deployment, including specific configurations, corner cases and race conditions. Four operators attended this interop to provide guidance on deployment scenarios. Much effort went into exercising interoperability and identifying areas for work.
• Energy efficiency is on the rise. A burgeoning trend at this interop was energy management. New features will benefit consumers by providing options to conserve energy in various scenarios.
• Reliability is a reliable theme. We continue to examine the copious data available from the modems — in particular, DOCSIS 4.0 cable modem Proactive Network Maintenance (PNM) functions that can be used to increase the reliability of service offerings.

Supplier Participation

Attendance at the interop was high, as it offered the last best opportunity to get this work in before the 2024 holiday season arrived. The aforementioned operators who joined us to observe demonstrations went out of their way to interact with suppliers and talk about their own DOCSIS 4.0 network progress.

Among the suppliers were CommScope and Harmonic, both of which brought DOCSIS 4.0 cores to the interop. There were also three 1.8 GHz remote PHY devices (RPDs) from CommScope, Harmonic and Vecima Networks. In addition, seven DOCSIS 4.0 modem suppliers — Arcadyan, Askey, Gemtek, Hitron, Sagemcom, Sercomm and Ubee Interactive — brought multiple cable modem models. Calian participated with its suite of DOCSIS technology analyzers and tools.

Remote-PHY Interoperability

The DOCSIS modem termination system (CMTS) has been virtualized, and the software portion is referred to as the core. The physical layer of the CMTS has moved to the RPD in the fiber node. In other words, the CMTS has been disaggregated, and the core and RPD can (and will) come from different suppliers. The modem can come from yet another supplier. These three pieces need to work together to provide service.

At our interop events, we like to delve into multiple real-world configurations. The core calls the shots and configures the RPD for the downstream and upstream signals, and then the core manages the DOCSIS cable modems. Flexibility is built into this scenario, however, and we’re constantly working to get everything right and interoperable. It’s for this reason that operators attend the interop events — to clarify how DOCSIS 4.0 technology can be introduced to the networks, including backward compatibility with existing services.

Energy Management

Energy management is an important function for cable modems. DOCSIS cable modems and cores support a low-power energy mode called the Energy Management (EM) mode. During idle times, when a single upstream and downstream channel can meet a user’s data-rate demand, the cable modem switches to EM mode. When the modem requires a higher data rate than the reduced set of channels can provide, the core instructs the modem to return to the larger transmit-and-receive channel set.

EM mode can also be used during a power outage — for example, when a modem goes into battery back-up but continues to provide digital phone service. In this scenario, EM mode can conserve battery power when the traffic is low, exhibiting minimum impact on normal service, to prolong access to digital voice service, especially the 911 emergency call service.

The EM feature shows how people rely on their broadband connection for all services, not just web and email. The feature also reveals how DOCSIS technology has evolved to address these needs as a broadband service of choice.

Proactive Network Maintenance

PNM is an important function that increases network reliability. We always look at the PNM data available from DOCSIS device, because it’s a sign of product maturity. This PNM data enables the most efficient operation of the coaxial cable network, keeping the data levels at their peak by using the more efficient orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) and OFDM access (OFDMA) signals, and allowing the diagnosis and maintenance of the network before consumers ever notice an issue.

Join Us Next Time!

We’ve gone beyond the basics of the four pillars. The focus of our DOCSIS 4.0 interops is now interoperability, interoperability and more interoperability! These products are soon headed to the field, in various configurations with multiple suppliers’ products having to work together. And this work will continue into 2025 as DOCSIS 4.0 technology comes into use.

The next DOCSIS 4.0 interop event is planned for the week of Feb. 10, 2025, at CableLabs’ headquarters in Louisville, Colorado. The event will provide an opportunity for new suppliers and new products as we kick off the new calendar year.

And don’t forget: Right around the corner in March 2025 are CableLabs Winter Conference and Smaller Market Conference.