Customer premises equipment from Arris, Cisco, Motorola, Netgear, SMC and Thomson achieved certification that they conform to a variety of cable standards, according to results published by CableLabs following its 76th certification wave (CW 76).
If the wave says anything about where the industry is heading, cable operators are preparing to take advantage of the channel-bonding capabilities inherent in the DOCSIS 3.0 (D3) specification and to start putting into place the capability to offer data tiers that achieve hundreds of megabits per second (Mbps).
Symmetry in data rates doesn’t seem to be an issue anymore; eight downstream channels and four upstreams (8 x 4) seems to be the preferred configuration. That should be good for total downstream data rates in excess of 300 to 340 Mbps (different companies specify different ranges) and upstream data rates in excess of 120 Mbps.
Arris’ Touchstone Telephony Gateway was DOCSIS 3.0 certified. The TG852G hardware is a new wireless gateway with support for up to 8 bonded downstream channels and up to 4 bonded upstream channels. The TG852G combines two voice ports, a four-port gigabyte router and an 802.11n wireless access point.
Cisco got certification for a home gateway that combines a cable modem, two-line digital voice adapter, router and wireless access point. The DPQ3925 is likewise equipped with eight bonded downstream channels, along with four bonded upstream channels. The unit also achieved PacketCable certification.
Motorola had two models certified. The SBV6240, an 8 x 4 SurfBoard model that sports two VoIP ports, earned D3 certification. The company is aiming that unit at high-end residential, as well as small businesses, and even some enterprise applications. Motorola’s SBV5222 gained DOCSIS 2.0 certification.
Netgear’s CG3000 wireless-N gateway is also an 8 x 4 modem. It incorporates four Gigabit Ethernet ports. CableLabs certified it for both DOCSIS 3.0 and PacketCable 1.5.
No information was immediately available on the specific SMC or Thomson models that achieved D3 certification.
