During the CableLabs 2016 Winter Conference, CableLabs announced the Full Duplex DOCSIS (now a part of DOCSIS 4.0 technology) specification project that will significantly increase upstream speeds on the DOCSIS network. The announcement of the Full Duplex DOCSIS (now a part of DOCSIS 4.0 technology) extension of the DOCSIS 3.1 specification, and its potential of offering multi-Gbps symmetric services over the HFC network, created a lot of excitement in the industry. Since then a lot has been going on behind the scenes.
CableLabs has been actively collaborating with the vendor community to further refine the concept and system architecture of a Full Duplex DOCSIS (now a part of DOCSIS 4.0 technology) system. The ecosystem support for the Full Duplex DOCSIS technology (now a part of DOCSIS 4.0 technology) has been staggering, with many vendors collaborating and contributing to the development of the technology. A recent example is Cisco’s contribution of a new silicon reference design of a digital echo canceler that maximizes the use of HFC capacity to provide a scalable multi-gigabit return path.
In June, CableLabs officially launched the Full Duplex DOCSIS (now a part of DOCSIS 4.0 technology) project, transitioning it from the innovation phase to the R&D phase focused on specification development. Our first face-to-face meeting held in Louisville last month featured strong participation from CableLabs members and the vendor community including several new participants. Working group meetings will be held on a regular basis until the specification development is complete.
Full Duplex DOCSIS technology (now a part of DOCSIS 4.0 technology) will radically change the art-of-the-possible on the HFC network by delivering an unparalleled experience to cable customers.