CableLabs has revealed a new project designed to deliver even higher upstream Gigabit services of up to 10 Gbps symmetrical on 1 GHz HFC networks with the potential for even higher performance above 1 GHz.
The new full Duplex DOCSIS technology applies emerging techniques from wireless networks to achieve what the cable technology house describes as a breakthrough increase in the upstream speeds for DOCSIS delivered broadband service.
As Belal Hamzehm, vice president of research & development in wireless technologies group at CableLabs, explained in a blog post “Existing technologies mostly use either Frequency Division Duplexing (FDD) or Time Division Duplexing (TDD). In FDD, upstream and downstream (or uplink and downlink in the terms of the wireless world) traffic operate separately in dedicated parts of the spectrum. In current DOCSIS network deployments, the lower part of the spectrum is dedicated for upstream traffic and the upper part of the spectrum is dedicated for downstream traffic. In TDD, the upstream and downstream traffic share the same spectrum, but take turns in using the spectrum, similar to how Wi-Fi, or DSL, operate. In Full Duplex communication, the upstream and downstream traffic use the same spectrum at the same time, doubling the efficiency of spectrum use. A DOCSIS 3.1 Full Duplex network provides the peak speeds and flexibility of TDD solutions, but one-ups both TDD and FDD with double the capacity.”
CableLabs has built a solution that proves the viability of full duplex communication. Its approach significantly increases upstream data capacity in order to enable symmetric multi-Gigabit broadband data services for consumers and the enterprise.
A team of technicians and suppliers will now further validate the technology.
