CableLabs announced the availability of its DOCSIS 3.1 PHY (physical layer) and MULPI (MAC and Upper Layer Protocol) specifications.
Some highlights:
- Speed: Defines support for up to 10 Gbps downstream and up to 1 Gbps upstream network capabilities.
- Quality of Experience: Utilizes Active Queue Management to significantly reduce network delay as data traffic grows in the home network, dramatically improving responsiveness for applications such as online gaming.
- Higher Capacity: Enables a significant increase in network capacity with the ability to transmit up to 50 percent more data over the same spectrum, on existing HFC networks.
- Energy Efficiency: Enhancements to the DOCSIS protocols will increase cable modem energy efficiency.
- Flexible Migration Strategy: DOCSIS 3.1 modems are designed to co-exist with older versions enabling incremental deployment based on market demand.
“To meet the demand for higher speed access and increased network efficiency, CableLabs completed the development of DOCSIS 3.1 specifications 40 percent faster than previous DOCSIS projects,” said Phil McKinney, president and chief executive officer of CableLabs. “These specifications represent the combined work of a large consortium of cable industry stakeholders.”