Wikipedia

DOCSIS

Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification(DOCSIS) is an international telecommunications standard that permits the addition of high-bandwidth data transfer to an existingcable television(CATV) system. It is used by many cable television operators to providecable Internet accessover their existinghybrid fiber-coaxial(HFC) infrastructure.

DOCSIS was originally developed byCableLabsand contributing companies, includingArris,BigBand Networks,Broadcom,Cisco,Comcast,Conexant,Correlant,Cox,General Instrument,Harmonic,Intel,Motorola,Netgear,Terayon,Time Warner Cable,andTexas Instruments.[1][2][3]

Versions

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DOCSIS 1.0
Released in March 1997, DOCSIS 1.0 included functional elements from preceding proprietarycable modems.[4]
DOCSIS 1.1
Released in April 1999, DOCSIS 1.1 standardizedquality of service(QoS) mechanisms that were outlined in DOCSIS 1.0.[5]
DOCSIS 2.0(abbreviated D2)
Released in December 2001, DOCSIS 2.0 enhanced upstream data rates in response to increased demand for symmetric services such as IP telephony.
DOCSIS 3.0(abbreviated D3)
Released in August 2006, DOCSIS 3.0 significantly increased data rates (both upstream and downstream) and introduced support forInternet Protocol version 6(IPv6).
DOCSIS 3.1
First released in October 2013, and subsequently updated several times, the DOCSIS 3.1 suite of specifications support capacities of up to 10 Gbit/s downstream and 1 Gbit/s upstream using 4096QAM.The new specifications eliminated 6 MHz and 8 MHz widechannel spacingand instead use narrower (25 kHz or 50 kHz wide)orthogonal frequency-division multiple xing(OFDM)subcarriers;these can bebondedinside a block spectrum that could end up being about 200 MHz wide.[6]DOCSIS 3.1 technology also includespower-managementfeatures that will enable the cable industry to reduce its energy usage, and the DOCSIS-PIE[7]algorithm to reducebufferbloat.[8]In theUnited States,broadband provider Comcast announced in February 2016 that several cities within its footprint will have DOCSIS 3.1 availability before the end of the year.[9]At the end of 2016,Mediacomannounced it would become the first major U.S. cable company to fully transition to the DOCSIS 3.1 platform.[10]
DOCSIS 4.0
Improves DOCSIS 3.1 to use the full spectrum of the cable plant (0 MHz to ~1.8 GHz) at the same time in both upstream and downstream directions. This technology enables multi-gigabit symmetrical services while retainingbackward compatibilitywith DOCSIS 3.1. CableLabs released the full specification in October 2017.[11]Previously branded as DOCSIS 3.1 Full Duplex, these technologies have been rebranded as part of DOCSIS 4.0.[12]

Comparison

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Several DOCSIS versions can co exist by using frequency division multiple xing and separating new DOCSIS versions from old ones according to their operation frequencies.[13]

DOCSIS version comparison[12]
DOCSIS version Production date Maximum downstream capacity Maximum upstream capacity Features
1.0 1997 40 Mbit/s 10 Mbit/s Initial release
1.1 2001 Added VOIP capabilities and QoS mechanisms
2.0 2002 30 Mbit/s Enhanced upstream data rates
3.0 2006 1 Gbit/s 200 Mbit/s Significantly increased downstream and upstream data rates, introduced support for IPv6, introducedchannel bonding
3.1 2013 10 Gbit/s 1–2 Gbit/s Significantly increased downstream and upstream data rates, restructured channel specifications
4.0 2017 6 Gbit/s Significantly increased upstream rates from DOCSIS 3.1

European alternative

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As frequency allocation bandwidth plans differ between United States and European CATV systems, DOCSIS standards earlier than 3.1 have been modified for use in Europe. These modifications were published under the nameEuroDOCSIS.The differences between the bandwidths exist because European cable TV conforms toPAL/DVB-Cstandards of 8 MHz RF channel bandwidth and North American cable TV conforms toNTSC/ATSCstandards which specify 6 MHz per channel. The wider channel bandwidth in EuroDOCSIS architectures permits more bandwidth to be allocated to the downstream data path (toward the user). EuroDOCSIS certification testing is executed by Belgian company Excentis (formerly known as tComLabs), while DOCSIS certification testing is executed by CableLabs. Typically,customer premises equipmentreceives "certification", while CMTS equipment receives "qualification".

International standards

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TheITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector(ITU-T) has approved the various versions of DOCSIS as international standards. DOCSIS 1.0 was ratified as ITU-T Recommendation J.112 Annex B (1998), but it was superseded by DOCSIS 1.1 which was ratified as ITU-T RecommendationJ.112Annex B (2001). Subsequently, DOCSIS 2.0 was ratified as ITU-T RecommendationJ.122.Most recently, DOCSIS 3.0 was ratified as ITU-T Recommendation J.222 (J.222.0,J.222.1,J.222.2,J.222.3).

Note: While ITU-T Recommendation J.112 Annex B corresponds to DOCSIS/EuroDOCSIS 1.1, Annex A describes an earlier European cable modem system ( "DVBEuroModem ") based on ATM transmission standards. Annex C describes a variant of DOCSIS 1.1 that is designed to operate in Japanese cable systems. The ITU-T Recommendation J.122 main body corresponds to DOCSIS 2.0, J.122 Annex F corresponds to EuroDOCSIS 2.0, and J.122 Annex J describes the Japanese variant of DOCSIS 2.0 (analogous to Annex C of J.112).

Features

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DOCSIS provides a variety of options available atOpen Systems Interconnection(OSI) layers 1 and 2—thephysicalanddata link layers.

Physical layer

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  • Channel width:
    • Downstream: All versions of DOCSIS earlier than 3.1 use either 6 MHz channels (e.g. North America) or 8 MHz channels ( "EuroDOCSIS" ). DOCSIS 3.1 uses channel bandwidths of up to 192 MHz in the downstream.[14]
    • Upstream: DOCSIS 1.0/1.1 specifies channel widths between 200 kHz and 3.2 MHz. DOCSIS 2.0 & 3.0 specify 6.4 MHz, but can use the earlier, narrower channel widths for backward compatibility. DOCSIS 3.1 uses channel bandwidths of up to 96 MHz in the upstream.
  • Modulation:
    • Downstream: All versions of DOCSIS prior to 3.1 specify that 64-level or 256-levelQAM(64-QAM or 256-QAM) be used for modulation of downstream data, using theITU-TJ.83-Annex B standard[15]for 6 MHz channel operation, and the DVB-C modulation standard for 8 MHz (EuroDOCSIS) operation. DOCSIS 3.1 adds 16-QAM, 128-QAM, 512-QAM, 1024-QAM, 2048-QAM and 4096-QAM, with optional support of 8192-QAM/16384-QAM.
    • Upstream: Upstream data usesQPSKor 16-level QAM (16-QAM) for DOCSIS 1.x, while QPSK, 8-QAM, 16-QAM, 32-QAM, and 64-QAM are used for DOCSIS 2.0 and 3.0. DOCSIS 2.0 and 3.0 also support 128-QAM withtrellis coded modulationinS-CDMAmode (with an effectivespectral efficiencyequivalent to that of 64-QAM). DOCSIS 3.1 supports data modulations from QPSK up to 1024-QAM, with optional support for 2048-QAM and 4096-QAM.
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  • DOCSIS employs a mixture of deterministic access methods for upstream transmissions, specificallytime-division multiple access(TDMA) for DOCSIS 1.0/1.1 and both TDMA and S-CDMA for DOCSIS 2.0 and 3.0, with a limited use of contention for bandwidth reservation requests. In TDMA, a cable modem requests a time to transmit and the CMTS grants it an available time slot.[16]
  • For DOCSIS 1.1 and above, the data layer also includes extensivequality-of-service(QoS) features that help to efficiently support applications that have specific traffic requirements such as low latency, e.g.voice over IP.
  • DOCSIS 3.0 featureschannel bonding,which enables multiple downstream and upstream channels to be used together at the same time by a single subscriber.[17]

Throughput

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Bandwidth is shared among users of an HFC, within service groups which are groups of customers that shareRF channels.[18]

The first three versions of the DOCSIS standard support a downstream throughput with 256-QAM of up to 42.88 Mbit/s per 6 MHz channel (approximately 38 Mbit/s after overhead), or 55.62 Mbit/s per 8 MHz channel for EuroDOCSIS (approximately 50 Mbit/s after overhead). The upstream throughput possible is 30.72 Mbit/s per 6.4 MHz channel (approximately 27 Mbit/s after overhead), or 10.24 Mbit/s per 3.2 MHz channel (approximately 9 Mbit/s after overhead).

DOCSIS 3.1 supports a downstream throughput with 4096-QAM and 25 kHzsubcarrier spacingof up to 1.89 Gbit/s per 192 MHz OFDM channel. The upstream throughput possible is 0.94 Gbit/s per 96 MHzOFDMAchannel.[19]

Network layer

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  • DOCSIS modems are managed via anInternet Protocol(IP) address.
  • The 'DOCSIS 2.0 + IPv6' specification allowed support for IPv6 on DOCSIS 2.0 modems via a firmware upgrade.[20][21]
  • DOCSIS 3.0 added management overIPv6.[17]

Throughput

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Tables assume 256-QAM modulation for downstream and 64-QAM for upstream on DOCSIS 3.0, and 4096-QAM modulation for OFDM/OFDMA (first downstream/upstream methods) on DOCSIS 3.1, although real-world data rates may be lower due to variable modulation depending on SNR. Higher data rates are possible but require higher order QAM schemes which require higher downstreammodulation error ratio(MER). DOCSIS 3.1 was designed to support up to 8192-QAM/16,384-QAM, but only support of up through 4096-QAM is mandatory to meet the minimum DOCSIS 3.1 standards.

Maximum raw throughput including overhead
Version Downstream Upstream
Channel configuration DOCSIS throughput in Mbit/s EuroDOCSIS throughput in Mbit/s Channel configuration Throughput in Mbit/s
Minimum selectable number of channels Minimum number of channels that hardware must support Selected number of channels Maximum number of channels Minimum selectable number of channels Minimum number of channels that hardware must support Selected number of channels Maximum number of channels
1.x 1 1 1 1 42.88 55.62 1 1 1 1 10.24
2.0 1 1 1 1 42.88 55.62 1 1 1 1 30.72
3.0 1 4 m Not defined m× 42.88 m× 55.62 1 4 n Not defined n× 30.72
3.1 1 OFDM channel
or
1 SC-QAM channel		 2 OFDM channels
and
32 SC-QAM channels		 m1
m2		 Not defined Dependent on OFDM channel bandwidth in MHz
plus
m2× 42.88		 Dependent on OFDM channel bandwidth in MHz
plus
m2× 55.62		 1 OFDMA channel
or
1 SC-QAM channel		 2 OFDMA channels
and
8 SC-QAM channels		 n1
n2		 Not defined Dependent on OFDMA channel bandwidth in MHz
plus
n2× 30.72

For DOCSIS 3.0, the theoretical maximum throughput for the number of bonded channels are listed in the table below.[22]

Number of channels Downstream throughput Upstream throughput
Downstream Upstream DOCSIS EuroDOCSIS
4 4 171.52 Mbit/s 222.48 Mbit/s 122.88 Mbit/s
8 4 343.04 Mbit/s 444.96 Mbit/s
16 4 686.08 Mbit/s 889.92 Mbit/s
24 8 1029.12 Mbit/s 1334.784 Mbit/s 245.76 Mbit/s
32 8 1372.16 Mbit/s 1779.712 Mbit/s

Note that the number of channels a cable system can support is dependent on how the cable system is set up. For example, the amount of available bandwidth in each direction, the width of the channels selected in the upstream direction, and hardware constraints limit the maximum amount of channels in each direction.[citation needed]

Note that the maximum downstream bandwidth on all versions of DOCSIS depends on the version of DOCSIS used and the number of upstream channels used if DOCSIS 3.0 is used, but the upstream channel widths are independent of whether DOCSIS or EuroDOCSIS is used.[citation needed]

Upstream

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Traditional DOCSIS upstream in North America uses the 5–42 MHz frequency range. The 5–65 MHz range is used by EuroDOCSIS. This is known as a "low-split" or "sub-split" design, capable of a total shared capacity of ~108 Mbit/s upstream (assuming 4 SC-QAM upstream channels) for the service group.[23]

In recent years,[when?]cable operators[which?]have begun to increase the amount of bandwidth dedicated to the upstream. The two most popular options for this include a "mid-split" or "high-split".[24]

A mid-split increases the upstream frequency range to 5–85 MHz, supporting a total shared upstream capacity of ~450 Mbit/s (assuming 4 SC-QAM + OFDMA channels) for the service group.[25]

A high-split increases the upstream frequency range to 5–204 MHz, supporting a total shared upstream capacity of ~1.5 Gbit/s (assuming 4 SC-QAM + OFDMA channels) for the service group.[25]

DOCSIS 4.0 in both full-duplex (FDX) and extended spectrum DOCSIS (ESD) configurations will support upstream speeds surpassing 5 Gbit/s.[26]

Equipment

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A DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem
Acable modem termination system(CMTS)

A DOCSIS architecture includes two primary components: a cable modem located at the customer premises, and acable modem termination system(CMTS) located at the CATV headend.[27]

The customer PC and associated peripherals are termedcustomer-premises equipment(CPE). The CPE are connected to the cable modem, which is in turn connected through the HFC network to the CMTS. The CMTS then routes traffic between the HFC and the Internet. Using provisioning systems and through the CMTS, the cable operator exercises control over the cable modem's configuration.[27]

DOCSIS 2.0 was also used over microwave frequencies (10 GHz) in Ireland byDigiweb,using dedicated wireless links rather than HFC network. At each subscriber premises the ordinary CM is connected to an antenna box which converts to/from microwave frequencies and transmits/receives on 10 GHz. Each customer has a dedicated link but the transmitter mast must be in line of sight (most sites are hilltop).[28]

Security

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DOCSIS includesmedia access control(MAC) layer security services in its Baseline Privacy Interface specifications. DOCSIS 1.0 used the initial Baseline Privacy Interface (BPI) specification. BPI was later improved with the release of the Baseline Privacy Interface Plus (BPI+) specification used by DOCSIS 1.1 and 2.0. Most recently, a number of enhancements to the Baseline Privacy Interface were added as part of DOCSIS 3.0, and the specification was renamed "Security" (SEC).

The intent of the BPI/SEC specifications is to describe MAC layer security services for DOCSIS CMTS to cable modem communications. BPI/SEC security goals are twofold:

  • Provide cable modem users withdata privacyacross the cable network
  • Provide cable service operators with service protection (i.e. prevent unauthorized modems and users from gaining access to the network's RF MAC services)

BPI/SEC is intended to prevent cable users from listening to each other. It does this byencryptingdata flows between the CMTS and the cable modem. BPI and BPI+ use 56-bitData Encryption Standard(DES) encryption, while SEC adds support for 128-bitAdvanced Encryption Standard(AES). The AES key, however, is protected only by a 1024-bit RSA key.[29]

BPI/SEC is intended to allow cable service operators to refuse service to uncertified cable modems and unauthorized users. BPI+ strengthened service protection by addingdigital certificatebased authentication to itskey exchangeprotocol, using apublic key infrastructure(PKI), based on digitalcertificate authorities(CAs) of the certification testers, currently Excentis (formerly known as tComLabs) for EuroDOCSIS and CableLabs for DOCSIS. Typically, the cable service operator manually adds the cable modem'sMAC addressto a customer's account with the cable service operator;[30]and the network allows access only to a cable modem that can attest to that MAC address using a valid certificate issued via the PKI. The earlier BPI specification (ANSI/SCTE 22-2) had limited service protection because the underlyingkey managementprotocol did notauthenticatethe user's cable modem.

Security in the DOCSIS network is vastly improved when only business critical communications are permitted, and end user communication to the network infrastructure is denied. Successful attacks often occur when the CMTS is configured for backward compatibility with early pre-standard DOCSIS 1.1 modems. These modems were "software upgradeable in the field", but did not include valid DOCSIS or EuroDOCSIS root certificates.[citation needed]

See also

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References

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  1. ^"Five Modem Makers' Systems Considered for Cable Data Specifications".CableLabs. September 23, 1996. Archived fromthe originalon October 21, 2002.RetrievedApril 15,2023.
  2. ^"CableLabs Selects Broadcom and Terayon to Author Advanced Modem Technology Proposals".CableLabs. November 13, 1998. Archived fromthe originalon October 11, 2013.RetrievedApril 15,2023.
  3. ^"Data-over-Cable Service Interface Specifications (DOCSIS)".Community.Cisco.Cisco Systems.March 1, 2019.RetrievedApril 15,2023.
  4. ^"Cable Modem Termination System–Network Side Interface Specification"(PDF).CableLabs. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on August 17, 2016.RetrievedJuly 27,2016.
  5. ^"Specifications".CableLabs.RetrievedDecember 2,2017.
  6. ^"DOCSIS 3.1 Targets 10-Gig Downstream".Light Reading.
  7. ^Greg, White; Rong, Pan."Active Queue Management (AQM) Based on Proportional Integral Controller Enhanced (PIE) for Data-Over-Cable Service Interface Specifications (DOCSIS) Cable Modems".Tools.IETF.org.RetrievedApril 12,2021.
  8. ^"Active Queue Management in DOCSIS 3.x Cable Modems"(PDF).CableLabs.
  9. ^"Comcast to Introduce World's First DOCSIS 3.1-Powered Gigabit Internet Service in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Miami, and Nashville".BusinessWire.February 2, 2016.RetrievedFebruary 15,2016.
  10. ^"Mediacom Going All DOCSIS 3.1 by Year-End".Light Reading.RetrievedDecember 2,2017.
  11. ^Hamzeh, Belal (October 11, 2017)."CableLabs Completes Full Duplex DOCSIS Specification".CableLabs.RetrievedJune 17,2019.
  12. ^ab"DOCSIS 4.0 Technology".CableLabs.RetrievedMarch 7,2023.
  13. ^Downey, John J. (July 31, 2014)."DOCSIS 3.1 Overview".PiedmontSCTE.org.RetrievedOctober 24,2024.
  14. ^"DOCSIS Technology".Rohde & Schwarz.
  15. ^"Recommendation J.83 (1997) Amendment 1 (11/06)".November 2006.RetrievedJune 20,2013.
  16. ^"Understanding Data Throughput in a DOCSIS World".Cisco.RetrievedFebruary 21,2024.
  17. ^ab"CableLabs Issues DOCSIS 3.0 Specifications Enabling 160 Mbps".CableLabs. Archived fromthe originalon November 20, 2010.RetrievedDecember 2,2017.
  18. ^Achieving the Triple Play: Technologies and Business Models for Success: Comprehensive Report.Intl. Engineering Consortium. March 15, 2024.ISBN978-1-931695-37-4.
  19. ^Sinclair, Dave."DOCSIS What's Next - An Overview"(PDF).SCTE-SanDiego.org.Archived(PDF)from the original on August 15, 2017.RetrievedMarch 6,2023.
  20. ^"DOCSIS 2.0 Interface".CableModem.Archived fromthe originalon September 4, 2009.
  21. ^Torbet, Dan (April 9, 2008)."IPv6 and Cable: How Cable is managing the transition from IPv4 to IPv6"(PDF).Rocky Mountain IPV6 Task Force.RetrievedFebruary 12,2015.
  22. ^Data-Over-Cable Service Interface Specifications DOCSIS® 3.0 MAC and Upper Layer Protocols Interface Specification CM-SP-MULPIv3.0-C01-171207
  23. ^"StackPath".BroadbandTechReport.RetrievedJune 25,2022.
  24. ^"Band Splits 101: Splitting Our Way to 10G".CableLabs. December 9, 2021.RetrievedJune 25,2022.
  25. ^abHowald, Robert; Wolcott, Larry; Ellis, Leslie (October 11, 2021).Execute the Upstream Makeover without Leaving Scars(PDF).Cable-Tec Expo. SCTE.RetrievedJune 26,2022.
  26. ^Baumgartner, Jeff (April 29, 2022)."Comcast, Charter Take DOCSIS 4.0 and '10G' a Step Toward Commercial Reality".Light Reading.Louisville, Colorado.RetrievedJune 26,2022.
  27. ^abDOCSIS 3.1(Technical report). CableLabs. Physical Layer Specification. CM-SP-PHYv3.1-I19-211110.
  28. ^"Wireless Broadband Internet".Ogier Electronics.RetrievedDecember 5,2023.
  29. ^Data-Over-Cable Service Interface Specifications DOCSIS 3.0 Security Specification(PDF)(Technical report). CableLabs. 2006–2013. p. 87. CM-SP-SECv3.0-I15-130808.
  30. ^"United States v. Ryan Harris a.k.a. DerEngel and TCNISO, Inc"(PDF).Wired.p. 2.When a computer user seeks to access the internet, the user's modem will report its MAC address to the ISP, and if the ISP recognizes the modem's MAC address as belonging to a paying subscriber, the ISP will allow the user to access the internet via the ISP's network.
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  • DOCSIS 3.1This Rohde & Schwarz application note discusses the fundamental technological advances of DOCSIS 3.1.
  • DOCSIS Tutorial(2009) at Volpe Firm

Specifications

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