CableLabs® Concludes 18th
|
| CableLabs® announced recently that it has concluded the 18th Certification Wave of DOCSIS™ equipment. A total of 17 cable modems received CableLabs’ certification in this wave. The equipment certified is part of the Data over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS™) program for version 1.0.
Three new companies—Hitron, Infinite, and US Robotics—joined the large list of DOCSIS cable modem equipment suppliers with certified products. Nine companies—3Com, Ambit, D-Link, Ericsson, HighSpeed Surfing, LinkSys, Net & Sys, Thomson Multimedia and Toshiba—were re-certified for modems that adhere to the DOCSIS specification. With these new additions to the DOCSIS equipment roster, 149 versions of DOCSIS 1.0 high-speed cable data modemshave been certified by CableLabs for retail sale. Included in this ever-increasing array of certified cable modems are stand-alone modems with Ethernet, USB, and even wireless interface ports, as well as PCI modems, which are built inside personal computers by manufacturers. In addition, a total of 22 cable modem termination systems (CMTSs) have been qualified to date. "This amount of certified modems and qualified headend equipment, coupled with acceptance as an international standard, squarely places DOCSIS as a global force in the cable high-speed Internet access market," said Rouzbeh Yassini, Executive Consultant to CableLabs and DOCSIS Project Leader. Efforts to certify the first DOCSIS 1.1 products continue as a parallel activity at CableLabs. A total of 12 cable modem products and 8 CMTSs currently are being tested. This number is expected to increase considerably in the next few weeks when the new certification wave starts. There are several major differences between products under DOCSIS 1.0 and DOCSIS 1.1, which builds upon, and is compatible with, DOCSIS 1.0. Chief among these differences is that DOCSIS 1.1 modems have increased capabilities to facilitate delivery of multimedia services, such as voice communications, video telephone calls, multimedia conferencing, telecommuter services, other integrated multimedia applications and interactive games. DOCSIS 1.1 modems form the platform upon which the cable industry’s PacketCable™ set of services will ride. The PacketCable project has begun conducting compliance testing. Its interface specifications are available at www.packetcable.com or under www.cablelabs.com. Certified modems are identifiable by a quot;CableLabs® Certified™" seal. This seal informs consumers and cable operators that a modem complies with CableLabs’ cable modem specification. It also assures that a modem will work together (interoperate) with qualified CMTSs and with other certified modems that are being deployed worldwide. There are numerous different regional deployments by cable operators on their broadband networks using cable modem products from the more than one dozen companies producing CableLabs® Certified™ cable modems. The cable industry created a complete retail certification standard in its data modem program from a standing start more than four years ago. A Certification Review Board, comprised of representatives of CableLabs member companies, grants certification status to DOCSIS™-compliant modems, and qualified status to headend equipment, based on lab tests completed by CableLabs, as well as on field data. The qualification process provides the cable operator or broadband service provider with information on how the CMTS will interoperate with multiple vendors’ certified cable modems using different silicon. Qualification is based on the following factors: (1) Vendors provide a signed affidavit affirming that their CMTS meets the published specification and will interoperate with all CableLabs® Certified™ cable modems. (2) The CMTS has exhibited satisfactory performance in various cable operator field trials. (3) The CMTS has passed CableLabs’ audit tests in the areas of interoperability, stability, and specification conformance. The qualification program will continue allowing more vendors’ CMTS units to be qualified. Qualification does not constitute a CableLabs endorsement or recommendation to purchase. CableLabs member companies may purchase any CMTS they choose. The DOCSIS effort has achieved widespread cable and vendor consensus on a series of definitions of key interconnection points in a cable data distribution network. It also has achieved North American (by the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers) and international (by the International Telecommunications Union) standardization using key elements of DOCSIS. |