CableLabs® Certifies 7 More DOCSIS™ 1.1 Modems, Continuing Cable Data Advances

Total of Nine 1.1 Modems Certified to Date

The cable industry recently certified seven more DOCSIS™ 1.1 high-speed cable modems, adding to the industry’s family of interoperable high-speed devices.

The companies receiving DOCSIS 1.1 certification status in the latest wave of testing are Ambit, Arris, Ericsson, Scientific-Atlanta, and Tellabs. Toshiba received certification for one new cable modem and re-certification for its previously certified modem. Texas Instruments received certification for a new cable modem. DOCSIS stands for Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification. The 1.1 modems are compatible with existing DOCSIS 1.0 equipment and will work on cable systems alongside modems that will be certified under future versions of DOCSIS, such as the recently announced 2.0. There are now a total of nine DOCSIS 1.1 modems certified, and two cable modem termination systems (CMTSs) that were qualified earlier this year. Strategically, DOCSIS 1.1 opens a technological doorway to augmented revenue streams for cable providers. It does so by enabling the existence of high-speed Internet service tiers, via techniques known as data fragmentation and quality of service (QoS). Those two techniques allow cable providers to deliver high-speed Internet services simultaneously over the same plant—and in a path parallel to—core video services.

And, perhaps most importantly, equipment built to comply with the DOCSIS 1.1 specification becomes the foundation for expanding the list of advanced cable services offered by cable providers, including home networking through the CableLabs CableHome™ project, and packet telephony and multimedia services through the CableLabs PacketCable™ project.

In September, in what was an industry “first,” CableLabs awarded certification status to the first DOCSIS 1.1 cable modems, adding to the industry’s family of interoperable high-speed devices. The advancements that come with DOCSIS 1.1 are tactically and strategically critical to cable providers.

Two companies, Texas Instruments and Toshiba, achieved certification status from CableLabs for modems that comply with specifications for DOCSIS 1.1. Two companies, Arris and Cadant, gained qualification status for their DOCSIS 1.1 CMTSs. “This announcement is a huge step forward for the cable industry in maintaining its competitive leadership in the delivery of broadband services to its customers. Our industry now has new, fully featured, certified, high-speed cable modems and qualified headend equipment. We could not have accomplished this without tremendous cooperation and collaboration among CableLabs, manufacturers, and developers. Our customers will be the real beneficiaries because they will be able to enjoy ever more advanced and affordable broadband technologies in their homes or businesses,” said Joseph Collins, Chairman of the CableLabs Board of Directors.

CableLabs President and CEO Dr. Richard R. Green noted that DOCSIS 1.1 builds upon the existing cable modem business so successfully established by cable providers over the past several years. “The 1.1 modems are truly ‘best of breed’ because of the additional capability they provide. I look forward to the development path as we use DOCSIS 1.1 as the base upon which to build our PacketCable™ and CableHome™ systems.”

Said Rouzbeh Yassini, executive consultant to CableLabs and leader of the cable modem initiative at CableLabs, “In 1.1 we have taken 28 months to go from specification to certification. That is five months faster than the 33 months we took in taking 1.0 from specification to certification. Our process at CableLabs has once again proven to be a fast, efficient path to market for suppliers in the broadband industry,” said Yassini, who also is CEO of YAS Broadband Ventures.

The September certification included units from Accton, Ambit, Askey, Asustek, CastleNet, Correlant, Ericsson, Hauppauge, HighSpeed Surfing, LG Innotek, Lynksys, Motorola, Panasonic, Samsung Electronics, Scientific Atlanta, SMC Networks, Terayon, Thomson, Toshiba, Trigem Computer, Turbocomm, and Zoom. One new 1.0 CMTS, manufactured by Motorola, was qualified this wave as well. New silicon from two additional sources, Correlant and Terayon, also were included in modems certified in September.

To date, 193 DOCSIS 1.0 modems have received certification status and 26 CMTSs have been qualified by CableLabs. In this latest wave, twelve cable modems from the following companies achieved certification or re-certification, in some cases for new products: 3Com, Ambit, Cisco Systems, D-Link, Hitron, Motorola, Panasonic, Scientific-Atlanta, Thomson Multimedia, and Toshiba. Two new CMTSs achieved DOCSIS 1.0 qualification. These are new products from Cisco Systems and Pacific Broadband (now Juniper Networks).

Yassini said that the results of certification wave number 20 magnify the fact that the cable modem certification strategy continues to help the advance of the broadband industry. “The cable industry has set the bar high in its commitment to high quality for consumer products. This modem program also continues to shine as a vehicle for helping get product to market in a remarkable timeframe and in good working order,” said Yassini.