Comcast XFINITY → Increased Upstream Speeds Ahead

A DSL Reports news item today about increasing upstream speeds using DOCSIS 3.1 technology:

Cable Eyes DOCSIS 3.1 For Faster Upstream Speeds
Comcast Calls Technology a 'Godsend in the Upstream'
By Karl Bode, DSL Reports - June 27, 2013
»Cable Eyes DOCSIS 3.1 For Faster Upstream Speeds [79] comments

quote:

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Comcast has been testing faster upstream speeds for some time, stating as early as 2010 that they were seeing [upstream] speeds of 75-100 Mbps in the lab.

DOCSIS 3.1 is still some time away: CableLabs is expected to complete the specs this year, though Werner doesn't see trials starting until 2014, with commercial products arriving in late 2014 or early 2015.

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Latest news on equipment for supporting DOCSIS 3.1:

Anadigics Gets Amped For DOCSIS 3.1
New Mount Line Amplifier Supports Spectrum up to 1.2 GHz
By Jeff Baumgartner, Multichannel News - July 23, 2013
»www.multichannel.com/dis ··· 1/144530

quote:

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The vendor’s first D3.1-focused component out of the chute is the ACA2429 GaN power doubler, a 1.2 GHz surface mount line amplifier. While most upgraded cable plant is built out to 750MHz, 860MHz, or 1GHz, the DOCSIS 3.1 specs will entertain the notion of expanding the downstream by additional 200GHz, so that’s where Anadigics’ new amps will try to fit in.

That expanded spectrum range could provide the necessary head room to support a “high-split” that would involve raising the current upstream bandwidth ceiling from 42 MHz to 200MHz.

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200 GHz?? I wonder if that's a typo and they really mean 2GHz or 200MHz?

"While most upgraded cable plant is built out to 750MHz, 860MHz, or 1GHz, the DOCSIS 3.1 specs will entertain the notion of expanding the downstream by additional 200GHz, so that’s where Anadigics’ new amps will try to fit in."Yes, an obvious typo (which I did not notice myself) which should be 200MHz

EDIT: The author has now corrected that typo.

Cablelabs announced at the SCTE Cable-Tec Expo today that the DOCSIS 3.1 specifications will be publicly issued by the end of this month:

CableLabs to Issue DOCSIS 3.1 Specs This Month
Specs For Modems and CMTSs For Platform That Targets Downstreams of 10 Gbps, Upstreams of 1 Gig Upstream To Be Issued in October
By Jeff Baumgartner, Multichannel News - October 21, 2013
»www.multichannel.com/dis ··· h/146185

EDIT: Also, a follow-up article to that now:

First Wave of DOCSIS 3.1 Gear Expected By Late 2014
That Should Set The Table for Initial Deployments in 2015
By Jeff Baumgartner, Multichannel News - October 21, 2013
»www.multichannel.com/dis ··· 4/146196

An article on the MCN site today and what can be expected with the first DOCSIS 3.1 modems:

First DOCSIS 3.1 Modems Will Have 4-5 Gbps Potential
Fully-Loaded Hybrid 3.0/3.1 Gear Will Pack Some Punch
By Jeff Baumgartner, Multichannel News - October 24, 2013
»www.multichannel.com/dis ··· l/146255

quote:

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The first DOCSIS 3.1 modems will be hybrids that support both DOCSIS 3.1 and DOCSIS 3.0 spectrum, and will be able to handle both simultaneously. The DOCSIS 3.0 side will carry a minimum requirement of bonding 24 downstream QAM channels and 8 upstream QAM channels, alongside a DOCSIS 3.1 minimum that calls for the ability to tie in two channels/blocks orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) at 192MHz-wide each, and two 96MHz-wide channels for the upstream.

Operators will later decide how and when to turn up that capacity, but when fully-loaded, that 3.0/3.1 mix will be able to handle max downstream speeds of 4 Gbps to 5 Gbps, and 1.5 Gbps in the upstream right out of the chute ...

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EDIT: Corrected the "1.5 Mbps" typo in the quote that Chris 313 had noticed, after it was corrected later on by the article's author.

EDIT2: The author also updated the article's headline (to indicate that those are potential speeds), and which also ended up modifying the URL.

EDIT3: Karl also has a DSLR News item on this now: »First DOCSIS 3.1 Modems to Hit 4-5 Gbps [50] comments

1.5 Mbps in the upstream? That sounds pathetically weak, given you have 4-5 Gbps on the download side. Was that a typo?

Yeah, it must be, most likely meant to say "1.5 Gbps" Missed noticing that myself!

Yeah. I had a double take at that. Or the fact I don't have enough coke in me yet and need to snag another can.

If they were gonna be so stingy with bandwidth, at least give us 4-5Gbps down and 500 up.

The article has now been updated by the author to correct that typo.

CableLabs has now released the specifications for DOCSIS 3.1:

CableLabs Unleashes DOCSIS 3.1 Specs
Cable’s Multi-Gigabit Era Takes a Step Forward
By Jeff Baumgartner, Multichannel News - October 30, 2013
»www.multichannel.com/dis ··· s/146382

Link to the DOCSIS 3.1 specs page on the CableLabs site: »www.cablelabs.com/cablem ··· s31.html

EDIT: CableLabs press release: »www.businesswire.com/new ··· chnology