The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) and ANGA COM said they have inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that forges a link between their respective flagship events and other promotional ties between their respective organizations.  

The MOU, which also includes the International Society of Broadband Experts (ISBE), which is SCTE’s global brand, designates the ANGA COM Exhibition and Congress and SCTE/ISBE Cable-Tec Expo as “international partners” while also establishing a way for the orgs to work more closely to build “global visibility for technical sessions and training activities” that are conducted at those events.

Other elements of the MOU include the organization of co-branded technical sessions, growing “International Breakfasts” at both events aimed at knowledge sharing and business development, and the co-promotion of ANGA COM and SCTE/ISBE Cable-Tec Expo.

ANGA COM 2016 is set for June 7-9 at the Koelnmesse in Cologne, Germany; SCTE/ISBE Cable-Tec Expo 2016 is scheduled for Sept. 26-29 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, Pa.

“ANGA COM and SCTE/ISBE are cornerstones for much of the thought leadership and workforce education that underpin our industry’s success,” said Bill Warga, vice president, technology for Liberty Global, and vice chairman of the SCTE/ISBE board of directors, in a statement. “By working together to plan and execute key international elements of ANGA COM and SCTE/ISBE Cable-Tec Expo, they can increase alignment between the objectives of both events and the needs of cable and broadband telecommunications.”

“Cable operators throughout the world are seeking optimal solutions in key areas such as energy management and DOCSIS 3.1 training,” added Mark Dzuban, president and CEO of SCTE/ISBE.  “ANGA COM and SCTE/ISBE are uniquely positioned to expand the availability of technical information to the international cable community.”

“The globalization of the broadband industry has created a growing need for an exchange of technical skills across borders,” said Dr. Peter Charissé, managing director of ANGA COM. “SCTE/ISBE with its high expertise is the perfect transatlantic partner for us. We highly appreciate the exchange of know-how, topics and speakers, as this will surely make our events more international than ever.” 

Offering more evidence that cable’s next-gen IP platform for HFC networks is nearing a deployment-ready state, Huawei and TDC Group said they have completed  a DOCSIS 3.1 field trial, claiming they achieved a downstream transmission rate of 840 Mbps using a 96 MHz swath of bandwidth.

Huawei said the trial, conducted with TDC in Copenhagen, involved the China-based vendor’s distributed Converged Cable Access Platform and a prototype modem powered by silicon from STMicroelectronics (Broadcom and Intel are among the other known chipmakers that are developing D3.1-based silicon).

The trial, announced at the recent ANGA COM event in Cologne, Germany, comes as vendors and operators prepare for the initial wave of deployments of a CableLabs-specified platform that will aim for downstream capacity of up to 10 Gbps down and at least 1 Gbps upstream.  

D3.1 will rely on blocks of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), eschewing the use of 6MHz- and 8MHz-wide channels use by current-gen DOCSIS networks. When combined with low density parity-check, a forward error correction scheme that uses less bandwidth than the current Reed-Solomon approach, DOCSIS 3.1 is expected to be about 50% more efficient from a bits-per-hertz perspective than DOCSIS 3.0.

TDC plans to launch DOCSIS 3.1 in 2016 and use it to provide download speeds of 1 Gbps. Comcast has also begun DOCSIS 3.1 field trials in anticipating of a broad deployment.

“The success of this early field test confirms that moving to 1 Gbps speeds in the coaxial network is an optimal business opportunity with a promising timescales for a 2016 launch,” Peter Bukhave, vice president of TV network development at TDC, said in a statement.

“Huawei is aiming to be the top provider in DOCSIS 3.1 era,” added Wang Zhengan, president of Huawei’s Access Network Product Line. “The success of the early field test proves Huawei’s innovation capabilities in the DOCSIS industry and reflects the gains from Huawei’s steady efforts in coaxial broadband domain. We are ready to work closely with carriers’ MSO, including TDC, to promote the global DOCSIS 3.1 commercial use progress and meet MSOs’ demands for building ultra-broadband networks.”

Huawei is aiming high, but it will have plenty of competitive company on the access network, as Arris, Cisco Systems, Casa Systems, Harmonic, Gainspeed, among others, are also developing CCAPs that support DOCSIS 3.1. 

Taking aim at cable’s next-gen IP platform, Broadcom has introduced a DOCSIS 3.1-based cable set-top box reference design that also supports 4K/Ultra HD video and gigabit WiFi. 

The design, dubbed the BCM93390VMS52, can support IP capacity of 5 Gbps downstream and 2 Gbps upstream, Broadcom said. Broadcom unveiled its first DOCSIS 3.1-based chipset, the BCM93390, in January. Intel and STMicroelectronics are among the known companies that are also developing DOCSIS 3.1 modem silicon. 

DOCSIS 3.1 is being designed to handle up to 10 Gbps down and at least 1 Gbps upstream. 

Notably, Comcast previewed a D3.1-based “Gigabit Home Gateway” at the recent INTX show in Chicago. 

Broadcom, which is in the process of being acquired by Avago for $37 billion said its new  chipset will also feature 10-bit HEVC-enabled Ultra HD video decoding (via Broadcom's BCM7252S), MoCA 2.0 (for in-home networking over coax),  WiFi speeds up to 2.2 Gbps at 5GHz and 1 Gbps at 2.4GHz with support for the 802.11ac Wave 2 specs. 

The BCM3390M DOCSIS 3.1 device and BCM93390VMS52 set-top box reference design with integrated 802.11ac WiFi are currently sampling. Broadcom said it is demonstrating the BCM93390VMS52 at this week’s ANGA COM event in Cologne, Germany. 

"Competition among service providers is driving an increase in Gigabit Internet speeds and 4K IP video around the world. Broadcom is bringing to market an extraordinary set-top box reference design that gives service providers a platform to enable the best connectivity performance available today," said John Gleiter, VP of marketing at Broadcom’s Broadband & Connectivity Group. "With Broadcom's latest platform, service providers and OEMs can immediately begin to leverage the value of DOCSIS 3.1 to provide their customers with market-leading Gigabit broadband data speeds, the highest-speed dual concurrent 4x4 Wi-Fi for streaming Internet content to wireless devices and Ultra HD cable TV experiences."

Taking aim at a next-gen HFC platform aiming for multi-gigabit speeds, OneTree Microdevices said it has launched the first in a series of DOCSIS 3.1-compliant semiconductor amplifiers.

OneTree is announcing the new products in concert with this week’s ANGA COM trade show in Cologne, Germany.

OneTree, a company based in Santa Rosa, Calif., said it’s now sampling the OTM3228, an amp that can operate up to 1.2 GHz, with volume production scheduled for late third quarter of 2015.

Small, initial DOCSIS 3.1 deployments are expected to get underway late this year, and ramp up in 2016. As designed, DOCSIS 3.1 will target capacities of up to 10 Gbps downstream and at least 1 Gbps up.

“Our OTM3228 is designed for a wide range of applications serving unique requirements in China as well as in the U.S. and Europe,” said Chris Day, chairman and CTO of OneTree, in a statement. “OneTree’s OTM3228 delivers GaN-level output performance while providing higher gain, simplifying the design and lowering component costs in hybrid fiber/coax nodes.”