CommScope announced three technology breakthroughs that improve performance at the core, throughout the access layer, and at the edge:
- DAA Aggregator – This massively scalable new architecture extends fiber deeper into the network, lowers total cost of ownership, and requires relatively minor changes to existing fiber deep networks. The change significantly increases the number of homes passed per RPD serving group – from 20 to 40 to between 150 to 300 – enabling deeper reach into neighborhoods and a simplified path to network upgrades.
- Extended Soft FDD – This new combination of software-only Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) and Extended Spectrum DOCSIS (ESD) – pushes network interface speeds beyond 1.2 GHz and is already being hailed as a preliminary flavor of DOCSIS 4.0. The advance comes just four months after the company first demonstrated soft FDD.
- A new DOCSIS timing protocol – Precise timing distribution over the DOCSIS network is now possible. Such precision is imperative for time-critical processing and applications, where a fraction of a second means the difference between success and failure. Current and future applications include mobile backhaul, virtual reality, and autonomous vehicle control.
All will become elements of the company’s Distributed Access Architecture (DAA) and 10G portfolios.
CommScope will discuss and demonstrate the new technologies at the SCTE•ISBE Cable-Tec Expo beginning September 30th in New Orleans.
“It’s no longer enough to have the fastest network,” said Tom Cloonan, CommScope chief technologist for network solutions in the company’s Office of the CTO. “2020 is about efficiency and simplicity. There will be significant changes to architectures over time, and it’s important to work with a company that has both industry-leading technology and the expertise to execute at any point in that transformation.”
CommScope Advances 10G Broadband Roadmap
CommScope announced several areas of progress on its 10G Broadband roadmap
- A low-latency DOCSIS system deemed crucial to next-generation broadband performance. The company is demonstrating IP video running alongside traditional QAM video over an EPON channel at 10 Gbps.
- A software-configurable Frequency-Division Duplex (Soft FDD) system with the potential to deliver 10G speeds over traditional coaxial wiring. Soft FDD uses FDX technology and provides a foundation for symmetrical services.
- The E6000 vCore fully virtualized converged cable access platform (CCAP) core. This offers automated provisioning and capacity tools for end-to-end service provisioning and smart capacity additions; and orchestration and intelligence tools to manage multi-access configurations and produce better analytics about network performance.
CommScope notes that these announcements come fewer than six months after it revealed its role in pioneering the core technologies for 10 Gbps broadband (10G), and just four months after it announced a 8.5 Gbps network trial with Virgin Media.
In addition, Vodafone Germany is underway with a nationwide upgrade to support 1Gbps service. Some 12 million customers will enjoy the high-speed Gigabit service through an ARRIS broadband device when the rollout is complete. Swiss provider Sasag last month became the first European operator to announce upgrading its entire network to use DOCSIS 3.1 (D3.1) for both the upstream and downstream channels.
CommScope completed its acquisition of ARRIS International in April.