A group of chipmakers and device suppliers is putting its collective weight behind the 2.5 version of Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) technology that supports speeds over coax up to 2.5 Gbps.

MoCA launched the 2.5 spec in 2016, and followed in 2017 with the intro of MoCA Access, a technology focused on in-building coaxial cabling and targeted to markets such as hotels, restaurants, and office buildings.

RELATED: MoCA Feels the Need for Speed

Amid the flurry of partnership announcements, timed with this week’s AngaCom show in Cologne, Germany, MaxLinear is working with Hitron Technologies America on a range of client devices that support MoCA 2.5 access networks. Specifically, Hitron is building MaxLinear’s chips inside those MoCA 2.5-facing devices. MaxLinear’s MoCA 2.5 portfolio includes the MxL3710 and MxL2711, which can capture the frequency range between 400 MHz to 1700 MHz.

MaxLinear said its MoCA 2.5 chips have also been selected by Teamly Digital for the Paris-based company’s new FiberCableStream cable micronode for “last meter” upgrades. UP to eight MaxLinear MxL371x MoCA chips are being integrated into a FiberCableStream node to serve individual client devices.

Also tied to Anga Com, InCoax Networks has introduced In:xtnd, a product family based on the MoCA Access standard that aims to turn in-building coaxial networks into multi-gigabit fiber extensions. The initial lineup includes a broadband-over-coax access node capable of 2.5 Gbps per RF port; a coax-to-Ethernet media converter, an element/control manager, and frequency multiplexer-demultiplexer filters that combine TV frequencies and data in the existing coax cabling. 

The Multimedia over Coax Alliance has introduced MoCA 2.1, a new firmware feature and extension of MoCA 2.0 that supports throughputs of 500 Mbps and a 1 Gbps “bonded” offering alongside the addition of a handful of new features that set a migration path toward MoCA 2.5. 

RELATED: MoCA Feels The Need For Speed

The Alliance said MoCA 2.1 and MoCA 2.1 Bonded, which can be used with whole-home DVRs and speedy networking setups that use a home's coax as the backbone, also bakes in new features spanning network set-up, management, and enhanced privacy settings:

-MoCA protected setup (MPS):  Easy setup of new nodes with unique password sharing via push-button (similar to Wi-Fi WPS).

-Management proxy: Management of nodes that don’t have upper layer management support by supporting management queries from one node on behalf of other nodes.

-Enhanced privacy: Secure data communications with a longer password using different keys between MoCA 2.1 nodes compared to MoCA 1.1/MoCA 2.0 nodes, along with the ability to control data forwarding of legacy nodes to and from MoCA 2.1 nodes.

-Network-wide beacon power management: Improved control of peak signal power on the coax by configuring the beacon power of nodes to an absolute level (within tolerance of the hardware) and advertise that level to other nodes so that the same value is used after any handoff.

-Bridge detection: Ability to distinguish between nodes belonging to different networks and pass operator specified information between nodes before admission, as well as pass that same information to upper layers to prevent neighbors from forming a common network.

“We now offer a broad suite of specifications inclusive of various performance modes and features providing the versatility to support and compliment IOT,” MoCA president Charles Cerino said, in a statement.

In April, MoCA introduced a 2.5 version of its platform that supports a wide range of profiles, including one that delivers net data rates topping 2.5 Gbps.

MaxLinear has unveiled the first chipset to support MoCA 2.5, a new home networking spec for in-home coax networks that supports speeds up to 2.5 Gbps and play nicely alongside cable’s emerging multi-gigabit DOCSIS 3.1 platform.

MaxLinear timed the introduction of its MoCA 2.5 silicon, the MxL3710, with this week’s CableLabs Summer Conference in Keystone, Colo.

It said the MxL3710 is pin-compatible to the chipmaker’s new MoCA 2.0 bonded IC, the MxL3705, which delivers up to 1.2 Gbps of MAC throughput. Pin compatibility allows OEMs to upgrade their existing MxL3705 designs for 2.5 Gbps applications, the company said.

MaxLinear noted that the MxL3710 features an “enhanced mode” that will deliver up to 3.0 Gbps of throughput when communicating with other MxL3710 nodes in the same network.

MoCA 2.5, which will ultimately be integrated in home gateways and other CPE, will interoperate with MoCA 1.1 and 2.0, which supports data rates of up to 1 Gbps. MoCA tech is used today mostly for whole-home DVRs and in bridge devices that help to beef up home networks. 

The Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) introduced the 2.5 spec in April, anticipating then that a certification test plan would be available in a year or less. MoCA is also said to be working on MoCA 3.0, a next-gen platform that will aim to deliver capacities of up to 10 Gbps within the next three to five years.

“Given the recent ratification of the MoCA 2.5 standard, the Multimedia over Coax Alliance is delighted to see MaxLinear set the pace with its MoCA 2.5 offering, Charlie Cerino, president of MoCA, said in a statement.

MaxLinear, which got into the MoCA game via its 2015 acquisition of Entropic, competes in that sector with Broadcom.

“With regard to MoCA 2.5, I don't think there's going to any player who is going to have MoCA 2.5 anytime soon,” MaxLinear CEO Kishore Seendripu said Monday on the company’s earnings call.

MaxLinear, he added, is also making progress with DOCSIS 3.1 in partnership with Intel.

“We expect initial product rollouts [of D3.1 product] in the fourth quarter of 2016 and into the first half of 2017,” he said, but didn’t expect early shipments of D3.1 products to impact the company’s current guidance.

MaxLinear posted Q2 revenues of $101.7 million, up 44% year-on-year, and net income of $22.6 million, or 33 cents per diluted share. It expects Q3 revenue of between $94 million and $98 million. 

The Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA), the group behind a speedy in-home networking platform, is looking to expand the reach of its core technology via the development of a new specification for the access market, with a specific focus on apartment buildings and other types of multiple dwelling units.

MoCA said the spec will be on the current MoCA 2.0 standard, which supports net data throughputs of 1 Gbps. The organization also has plans to integrate the new MoCA 2.5 spec, which will support speeds up to 2.5 Gbps and is backward-interoperable with MoCA 2.0.

The MoCA Access spec is expected to be available by mid-2017, according to the organization.

Among use cases for MoCA Access, the org said it will be a viable solution for operators driving fiber deep into the network or to the building (FTTB) and want to leverage existing wiring without sacrificing performance, and for ISPs building fiber-based networks that terminate the topical signal in the basement of a facility and use existing coax to deliver service to each unit or apartment. It also sees it taking hold with commercial integrators that design and install networks in restaurants, offices and any other buildings that have coax already installed.

MoCA believes the new Access spec will gain traction first in markets such as Europe and China, but also sees commercial opportunities in the hospitality and hotels segment arising in North America as well.

InCoax Networks AB of Sweden and Luster of China are among companies that are interested in the new access platform, MoCA noted.

“Our move into access applications is driven by operators worldwide who told us they need one Gbps actual throughputs with a long-term migration path and want to use the existing coax infrastructure,” Charles Cerino, president of MoCA, said in a statement. “Our performance and reliability attributes are proving to be a great solution in broadband applications as well as the home network backbone.” 

Feeling the need for speed, the Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) has officially unleashed a new spec that will enable speeds of 2.5 Gbps over in-home coaxial networks.

Multichannel News reported in January that the group was developing the next-gen platform, while also pursuing an even faster spec, to be called MoCA 3.0, that would eye capacities of up to 10 Gbps within the next three to five years.

MoCA said the new 2.5 spec, now available to members, is designed to be interoperable with MoCA 1.1 and 2.0, which supports data rates of up to 1 Gbps.

Update: MoCA said a certification test plan for version 2.5 should be available in a year or less, with silicon emerging by then, or perhaps sooner. 

MoCA 2.5, the organization said, will support multiple performance profiles that enable MoCA 2.0 devices to be upgraded and take advantage of the new spec’s features:

-Profile B: 400 Mbps net data rate up to 16 nodes, and 500 Mbps in turbo mode (two nodes only).

-Profile C: 800 Mbps net data rate with channel bonding up to 16 nodes, and 1 Gbps in turbo mode (two nodes only).

-Profile D: 1.5 Gbps, 2 Gbps and 2.5 Gbps net data rates up to 16 nodes.

The latest version also adds features and enhancements such as MoCA protected setup (eases the addition of new nodes with password sharing via push-button, similar to WiFi WPS); a management proxy (node management without upper-layer management support); enhanced privacy capabilities; network-wide Beacon Power (provides better control of peak signal power on the coax), and bridge detection (ability to distinguish between nodes belonging to different networks).

MoCA is ramping up new performance capabilities as cable operators and other ISPs continue to ratchet up broadband speeds that are entering the home. Initial DOCSIS 3.1-fueled services will target gigabit speeds, but the specs themselves will be capable of supporting 10 Gbps down and at least 1 Gbps upstream.

MoCA is used primarily by MVPDs for multi-room DVR set-ups, but is also being positioned as a high-capacity, in-home IP backbone for the distribution of a wide range of bandwidth-intensive apps and services. The new capabilities will also put MoCA on solid footing as it faces off with rival technologies and specs such as G.hn.

“MoCA has once again raised the performance bar for home networking with an increase in throughput that is more than two and half times MoCA 2.0 with additional capabilities operators need and end users want,” Charles Cerino, president of MoCA, said in a statement. “In addition, the technology was delivered in one year, from start to finish, further indicating that the Alliance can quickly respond to the market demands of operators. In MoCA 2.5, service providers have another comprehensive standard from MoCA for building their networks.”

It’s clear that ISPs are addressing the need for speed by pumping gigabit broadband to the home, with multi-gigabit residential services on the horizon, but an organization that uses in-home coax as a high-octane IP backbone is also pursuing next-generation technologies. 

The Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) is developing a new spec that aims to support coax-based, in-home net throughputs of 2.5 Gbps, according to sources familiar with that work as well as from evidence that emerged at recent industry tradeshows. 

The next version of the platform, dubbed MoCA 2.5, will target performance metrics of 2.5 Gbps, and the specs on how that will be accomplished are expected to be announced by mid-2016, according to a person familiar with MoCA’s technology roadmap. MoCA is also looking at an even faster spec, to be called MoCA 3.0.

MoCA has not announced details about its roadmap, though its first-ever full-time president, Charlie Cerino, did note in a statement issued today that the organization is making progress on “our next generation specifications” that “will solidify MoCA’s position in home networking for years to come.”

Evidence of what’s on the horizon for MoCA has been referenced in recent tradeshow presentation materials. For example, at the SCTE Cable-Tec Expo in October in New Orleans, Arris presented a presentation on the future of the home network that referenced MoCA 2.x and 3.0, and a capacity target of at least 2.5 Gbps. A Cable-Tec Expo presentation from CableLabs also referenced MoCA 2.5 with a requirement to support 2.5 Gbps, noting that working devices are expected to be available for plugfests within 18 months.

The documentation from CableLabs also showed that future MoCA 3.0 technology could require supported data rates of between 2.5 Gbps to 10 Gbps and become available in three to five years. That would put MoCA 3.0 in-line with the kind of access network capacity envisioned by DOCSIS 3.1 (up to 10 Gbps downstream, and at least 1 Gbps upstream). That same document also mentions work that’s underway to ensure that future MoCA technology can coexist with DOCSIS 3.1, particularly from a spectrum-usage standpoint (CableLabs noted that those coexistence requirements were issued by MoCA, and given to the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers). 

If the first of those specs, MoCA 2.5, is indeed eying such speed metrics, it would blow the current version, MoCA 2.0, out of the water. MoCA 2.0 currently delivers baseline net data rates of 400 Mbps and 800 Mbps (with bonding), and 1 Gbps in point-to-multipoint mode. Earlier this month, MaxLinear, a chipmaker that bought MoCA specialist Entropic Communications last April, introduced a third-generation MoCA 2.0 system (the MxL3705) that supports 1.2 Gbps of aggregate MAC throughput for up to 16 “nodes” on the home network.

And 2.5 Gbps would seem like extraordinary overkill with respect to today’s in-home data demands. But it would future-proof MoCA for the long-term as MSOs roll out 1-Gig services to the home today with DOCSIS 3.0 and targeted FTTP, and later chase down multi-gig services that will be enabled by DOCSIS 3.1.

The next version of MoCA would also come into play as the use of video streaming continues to grow, including bandwidth-heavy 4K video, a flood of new devices connect to home networks, and as consumer needs continue to lean on whole-home gigabit WiFi systems with multiple access points that utilize MoCA as their core in-home IP data backbone. MoCA could also be looking to bulk up amid the potential for competition from rival technologies and specs such as G.hn.