CABLE MODEMS

NAME :KAVITA SHARMA

ROLL NO:4508405
YEAR : 3rd year I.T
 Outline of Topics
1. Specification Race
a) IEEE 802.14 wg
b) CableLabs DOCSIS
2. Cable Technology Service (Data)
3. Physical Layer
a) Physical Media Dependent sublayer
b) Transmission Convergence sublayer
4. Upstream and Downstream from Cable
Modem
5. Evaluation (Cable vs DSL)
6. Annotated References
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 Specification Race
• IEEE 802.14 working group
– Established in 1994; Dismantled in 2000
– Drafts remain available
• CableLabs DOCSIS (established in 1988)
– DOCSIS 1.0 {ANSI/SCTE}
– DOCSIS 1.1 {ITU-T Rec. J.112 AnnexB}
– DOCSIS 2.0 {ITU-T Rec. J.122}
– eDOCSIS
– DOCSIS DGS
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Cable Technology Service (Data)

Figure 1 Transparent IP traffic through Data over Cable System [1]

• Relationship between CMTS and CM

• Overview of IP traffic flow to Customer
Premise
• Two way transmission
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Cable Technology Service (Data)

Figure 2 Data over Cable Reference Architecture [1] 5

Cable Technology Service (Data)

Figure 3 DOCSIS protocol layer stack [2]

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 Physical Layer - PMD
• Three RF interface points [1]
– Downstream output on the CMTS
– Upstream input on the CMTS
– Cable in/out at the CM
• Upstream (TDMA burst modulation) [1]
– 5 symbol rates
– 2 modulation formats: QPSK and 16QAM
– Supports a 25% Nyquist square root raised cosine
shaping and 6.25 μsec mini slots
– Bursts also include preamble, randomization of
payload and programmable FEC encoding scheme
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 Physical Layer –Transmission
Convergence
• Downstream (FDMA/TDMA) [1]
– Continuous 188 byte MPEG-2 packets
– 4 byte header / 184 byte payload
– Follow specification ITU-T Rec. J.83 Annex B
(Digital multi-program System)
– Using parity checksum
– 6 MHz channel (shared)

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 Upstream from CM

Table 1 Upstream Electrical Output from the Cable Modem [1]

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 Downstream to CM

Table 2 Downstream Electrical Input to CM [1]

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 Evaluation (Cable vs. DSL)
• Residential service
– Cable: 384Kbps us / 4Mbps ds
– Cable premium: 768Kbps us / 6Mbps ds
– ADSL: 384K us / 1.5Mbps ds
– ADSL premium: 768Kbps us / 3Mbps ds
• Costs vary per geography and availability
• Cable is shared per 6MHz channel
• Cable subscribers not limited to distance (100 mi)
• ADSL provisioned per circuit (subscriber)
• ADSL subscribers limited to distance (15K – 18K feet)

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 Annotated References
1. “DOCSIS 1.1 Radio Frequency Interface Specification”, CableLabs Inc. SP-
RFIv1.1I10-030730, July 30 2003. This reference is the basis of this paper. It
specifies the RF requirements for Cable Modems and CMTS.
2. R.V. Ostergaard, “Cable Modem Reference.
http://www.cable-modems.org/tutorial/02.htm. Rolf’s tutorial provides a quick
understanding of cable broadband. The figure referenced in this summary required
modification, yet it was referenced from the URL.
3. “DOCSIS 1.0 Radio Frequency Interface”, ANSI/SCTE.
http://www.scte.org/documents/pdf/ANSISCTE2212002DSS0205.pdf, Jan. 1,
2002. The specification was originally written by members of CableLabs, then
adopted by the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers and ratified as an
ANSI standard.
4. “DOCSIS 1.1 Radio Frequency Interface Specification”, CableLabs Inc. CM-
SP-RFIv2.0-I07-041210, Dec. 10, 2004. The specification provides additional
clarification to version 1.1 and additional interface specifications e.g. S-CDMA.
5. “eDOCSIS Specification”, CableLabs Inc. CM-SP-eDOCSIS-I04-041124, Issue
5.0, Nov. 24, 2004. This specification is referenced in the Background section as
part of the historical direction of DOCSIS.
6. “DOCSIS Set-top Gateway (DSG) Interface Specification”, CableLabs Inc. CM-
SP-DSG-I03-041124, Issue 3.0, Nov. 24, 2004. This specification is referenced in
the Background section as part of the historical direction of DOCSIS.

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 Annotated References
7. “Transmission systems for interactive cable television services,
Annex B: Data-over-cable service interface specifications: Radio
frequency interface specification”, ITU-T Recommendation J.112,
March 2001. As mentioned in the Background section, DOCSIS 1.1 was
adopted as Annex B.
8. “Second-generation transmission systems for interactive cable
television services - IP cable modems”, ITU-T Recommendation
J.122, December 2002. One of the fastest ratified specification
standards, lead by Richard Green. DOCSIS 2.0 was adopted as this
standard.
9. “DOCSIS Overview”, CableLabs, January 2005.
http://www.cablemodem.com/downloads/slideshow.ppt This is an MS
PowerPoint presentation that is found on the homepage of
www.cablemodem.com . It has several illustrations that I referenced in
this summary paper and class presentation.
10. “Digital multi-programme systems for television, sound and data
services for cable distribution, Annex B: Digital multi-programme
System B”, ITU-T Recommendation J.83, April 1997. This
specification was used as the reference for the PMD sublayer in DOCSIS
1.1.

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 Annotated References
11. “Example of linking options between annexes of ITU-T
Recommendation J.112 and annexes of ITU-T
Recommendation J.83”, ITU-T Recommendation J.Sup1, November
1998. This Supplement document of the “J” Series recommendations was
written to provide examples of linking options between J.83 and J.112.
12. http://www.comcast.com/Benefits/CHSIBenefits.asp Comcast Cable
web page describing Cable Internet Service benefits.
13. http://www22.verizon.com/forhomedsl/channels/dsl/dsl+vs+cable.as
p Verizon DSL web page describing DSL versus Cable benefits.
14. IEEE 802.14 WG Archive, http://home.knology.net/ieee80214/
,November 1994 to March 2000. Working Group Chair Robert Russell
provided this website with several references, and links to specification
drafts. The working group dismantled in early 2000.

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