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. 

InCoax Networks, a vendor based in Sweden, has been elevated to “Promoter” membership status within the Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA).

InCoax will also take a positon on the MoCA board of directors, which currently is comprised of execs from Arris, Broadcom, Comcast, Cox Communications, Dish Network, Luster LightTech, MaxLinear, Intel Corp., Technicolor and Verizon.

InCoax, previously a Contributor member at MoCA, designs and markets equipment that is based on MoCA 2.5 Access, a relatively new spec that can deliver up to 2.5 Gbps downstream and 2 Gbps upstream using in-building coaxial cabling.

RELATED: MoCA Launches ‘Access’ Platform

“InCoax was invited to become a Promoter member because of their contribution to the development of MoCA Access,” Charles Cerino, MoCA’s president, said in a statement. “Their leadership as chair of the MoCA Access Work Group was a significant factor in our Board’s consideration.  InCoax’ knowledge of and deep relationships with operators throughout Europe are of great benefit as we secure trials and adoption of MoCA Access.”

“We are honored by the strong support for InCoax by the MoCA board and are committed to making MoCA 2.5 Access a success,” added Peter Carlsson, CEO of InCoax.

Elsewhere on the MoCA front, Actiontec Electronics announced today that it will begin sampling its MoCA 2.5 home networking products with service providers during the current quarter. Actiontec said it has shipped more than 15 million MoCA devices since 2006.

RELATED: MoCA Feels the Need for Speed

Shoring up its commitment to broadband access technologies, the Multimedia over Coax Alliance has joined the Broadband Forum.

MoCA is known for its speedy home networking platform, but its work with the Broadband Forum will center mostly on MoCA Access, a fiber-extension technology based on MoCA 2.5 that can deliver up to 2.5 Gbps downstream and 2 Gbps up using in-building coaxial cabling.

RELATED: MoCA Launches ‘Access’ Platform

MoCA said it will work with the Broadband Forum to integrate the organization’s data modeling and management standards with MoCA Access.  

Joining the Broadband Forum will also broaden MoCA’s exposure to telcos, ISPs, cable operators and other members of the group.

In addition to traditional broadband service providers, MoCA Access is also designed to appeal to sectors such as hospitality/hotels, restaurants, offices and other buildings that are wired with coax.

“We have always believed that the industry needs a diverse portfolio of technologies that addresses all the many use-cases that exist in the global broadband industry,” Robin Mersh, CEO of the Broadband Forum, said in a statement.

“Membership in the Broadband Forum is part of our strategy to build relationships and partner with other organizations that have the software tools and the international reputation that promotes and establishes MoCA Access as a viable access technology in domestic and international markets,” added MoCA president Charles Cerino.

The Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) has added Luster LightTech Corp., a new “Promoter” member, to its board of directors.

Beijing-based Luster is the first China-based company to join the board of MoCA.

MoCA said it Luster was invited to become a Promoter member because of the company’s contribution to the development of MoCA Access, and the promotion of MoCA home networking technology among operators in China.

RELATED: MoCA Launches ‘Access’ Platform

Luster makes and markets networking equipment for pay TV operators and ISPs in China, the U.S. and Europe.  Its partners/customers include Guizhou Broadcasting, Hebei Cable TV, Henan Cable and Hunan CATV, Shandong Cable TV, among others.

“We asked Luster to become a Promoter member and join our Board in recognition of their ongoing contributions to specification and market development,” Charles Cerino, President of MoCA, said in a statement.  “Their knowledge and reputation among operators in China is of great value to the Alliance as we promote MoCA home networking and introduce MoCA Access.”

“We are pleased to join MoCA’s Board as China represents a growing market for MoCA’s home networking and broadband access solutions,” added Dr. Yates Yao, president of Luster. “We have been providing FTTH and MoCA-based solutions for a long time, and will continue to leverage our operator relationships and brand name in China to help the Alliance achieve success for its home and broadband solutions.”

The Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) has formally introduced MoCA Access, a technology/platform based on MoCA 2.5 that can deliver up to 2.5 Gbps downstream and 2 Gbps up using in-building coaxial cabling.

MoCA, whose technology initially has been used to power whole-home DVRs and other home networking setups, said the new Access flavor appeals to “commercial integrators” that target markets such as hospitality/hotels, restaurants, offices, and any other buildings wired with coax.

The Alliance said it’s particularly well-suited for operators and ISPs that have installed fiber-to-the-basement or fiber-deep networks and are looking to take advantage of the existing coax in multiple-dwelling units.

MoCA Access is point-to-multipoint technology that serves up to 63 modems (clients), and is designed to co-exist with legacy services such as TV, DOCSIS, and cellular (4G/5G) technologies. MoCA Access operates in the frequency range of 400MHz - 1675MHz, and supports latency of less than 5 milliseconds, the Alliance said.

As a fiber extension technology, MoCA Access is designed to suit MSOs and ISPs that are installing fiber-to-the-basement (FTTB) or fiber deep into the network, and want to use the existing coax for connection to each apartment or unit.

MoCA introduced MoCA Access in June 2016, targeting a mid-2017 release data. At the time, the organization said MoCA Access would be based on the MoCA 2.0 standard, with plans then to integrate newer MoCA 2.5 technology. The new MoCA Access technology is expected to gain traction in markets such as Europe and China, along with opportunities in North America’s MDU sector.

“MoCA Access leverages our core strengths in high-performance, reliability and no new wires,” Charles Cerino, MoCA’s president, said in a statement. “Service providers around the world can take advantage of a proven high-speed technology that is designed for all future installations. And the low latency makes it the perfect complement to a wired backhaul architecture for upcoming cellular technologies such as 5G.”  

Home-based WiFi mesh systems perform better when paired with a MoCA 2.0-based wired backhaul connection when compared to a set of wireless-only platforms currently available at retail, the Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) found in a field trial conducted by Dekra, in independent testing firm.

The study, commissioned by MoCA and conducted in 11 homes around the U.S., looked at performance, reliability and latency differences between Actiontec WiFi extenders with a coax-based MoCA 2.0 bonded backhaul, and three products that relied only on 802.11ac WiFi backhaul – Netgear’s Orbi, Plume and  Eero.

Per the test results, Orbi achieved 300 Mbps or better in 50% of homes, while Eero and Plume had trouble reaching 200 Mbps, while the MoCA 2.0 Bonded extenders delivered 800 Mbps or better downlink WiFi performance in all homes.

Eero and Netgear have been asked for comment on the results.

Dekra, formerly AT4Wireless, performed the tests in 11 homes in Georgia, New Jersey, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Colorado and California, and nine WiFi clients were deployed for each test case. Traffic types were TCP and UDP, downlink and uplink, and traffic was sent to all clients individually in 60-second intervals in one test. In another test, traffic was sent to all nine endpoints simultaneously in an effort to emulate "real world usage.”

“These tests demonstrate that while Wi-Fi mesh may offer some improvement in whole home coverage, it is not consistent and a wire is still critical for the highest performance and lowest latency in every room,” Charles Cerino, MoCA’s president, said in a statement.

MoCA commissioned the test as ISPs start to rollout premium whole-home WiFi products and as they become increasingly popular retail options for consumers who are trying to eliminate WiFi dead zones in their homes.

RELATED: WiFi ‘Volcanos’ No Longer Cut It

AirTies, a maker of whole-home WiFi products and monitoring systems that is gaining traction with service providers such as Midco, Frontier Communications and Sky, has been taking on a hybrid strategy that can connect through an all-wireless system or, when required due to the material composition of the home in question, tie in a MoCA or fixed-wired system.

RELATED: Midco Rolls Whole-Home WiFi Offering

Arris, meanwhile, is also taking a wired/wireless hybrid approach with a retail-focused whole-home WiFi product line launched last year that pairs WiFi with a high-speed backbone that relies on a home’s powerlines and G.hn technology. At the time, Arris said it also looked at MoCA for its new retail lineup, but found that there are more complexities around that technology with respect to in-home wiring.

RELATED: Arris Amps Up Retail Play With New Router Lineup

Google has also entered the whole-home WiFi game with a mesh product that leans on a wireless backhaul, but The Verge reports that some users are reporting issues with drops in connectivity following a recent update sent to the routers. However, Google told the pub that the issue impacted fewer than 0.01% of its devices and that the next auto-software update will fix the problem.

The SCTE/ISBE and the Multimedia over Coax Alliance have issued a “standards operational practice” aimed at ensuring interoperability between MoCA 2.0 and DOCSIS 3.1, which can both live in frequencies above 1 GHz.

They said the work, under the label of SCTE 235 (Operational Practice for the Coexistence of DOCSIS 3.1 Signals and MoCA Signals in the Home Environment), addresses the need to prevent degradation of failure of signals due to shared spectrum above 1 GHz.

The issue arises as MSOs look to use RF spectrum above 1.2 GHz for downstream DOCSIS 3.1 capacity, creating shared frequency zones and setting up potential conflicts with MoCA and D3.1 in the 1125-1675 MHz range.

Cable operators and other types of MVPDs have used MoCA for whole-home DVRs and other in-home content distribution applications. DOCSIS 3.1 is a next-gen access spec for HFC networks that enables multi-gigabit speeds.

SCTE 235, they said, explains the need for sufficient isolation” and suggests proper location and required performance of filters to prevent MoCA signals from one residence to leak over to a  nearby residence, and to prevent overload of DOCSIS receivers and MoCA receivers.

Among the key recommendations of SCTE 235 is the use of non-overlapping channels. They said the calculations are valid for DOCSIS 3.1 and for MoCA 1.1 and 2.0 single channel operation.

The operational practice is based on a technical study by MoCA in cooperation with CableLabs, and created by a Special Working Group on HFC Readiness for DOCSIS 3.1 within the Network Operations Subcommittee (NOS) of the ANSI-accredited SCTE/ISBE Standards Program.  It was the result of a multi-year effort.

Per the SCTE 235 documentation (PDF), areas identified for further investigation include an analysis of MoCA 2.5 signals, recommendations for filters in “mid-split” systems (when the upstream ceiling is raised to 85 MHz), and the coexistence of DOCSIS 3.1 technology with other home networking technologies such as G.hn and HomePlug, among others.

“DOCSIS 3.1 and MoCA are important enabling technologies that support more powerful, flexible services,” Rob Thompson, director, network architecture for Comcast Cable, MoCA Board member, and chair of the Technical Work Group at MoCA, said in a statement.  “SCTE 235 is designed to create home environments in which both technologies can perform as intended to meet customer demand.”

MaxLinear Inc. last week put up $21 million in cash for Marvell’s G.hn business, a deal that gives the chipmaker a foray into home networking technology that, it says, will complement its Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) business.

MaxLinear, which got into the MoCA market in the spring of 2015 via its acquisition of Entropic Communications, says it expects to close the deal for Marvell’s G.hn business sometime in Q2 2017.

RELATED: MaxLinear Wraps Up Entropic Deal

G.hn, based on standards developed by the International Telecommunications Union, runs on a variety of home wiring, including coax, phone lines, powerlines and plastic optical fiber. HomeGrid Forum, which is tied to G.hn, includes promoter members such as AT&T, BT, KT Telecom and Chunghwa Teleco. Of recent note, Arris is using G.hn for a new line of “RipCurrent” routers and extenders sold at retail that use powerline technology in tandem with WiFi.

“G.hn is truly complementary to MoCA,” MaxLinear CEO Kishore Seendripu said on the company’s Q4 call last Wednesday (Feb. 8). While MoCA is adept at high-speeds networking on home coax lines, he said G.hn is “ideally suited” for electrical twisted pair and powerline networks.

The pending acquisition,  he added, will also enable MaxLinear to secure “several strategic tier 1 telco operator engagements and design wins,” including those with South Korea’s KT Telecom, China Telecom, and Reliance in India, among others.  

MaxLinear CTO Adam Spice said the G.hn business being acquired has “nascent revenues” in the “low single-digital millions of dollars’ in the Q1/Q2 2017 timeframe,” but gives MaxLinear “a strong pipeline of design wins and platforms that are already ramping.”

As for the complementary nature of the technologies, Seendripu said telecom operators that “subscribe to the ITU standards do not use MoCA for the distribution inside the home.”

He added that “MoCA is far superior to G.hn,” but said G.hn “wave two technology” from Marvell enables on twisted pair “gigabit- plus data rates that otherwise was not possible in the past.”

That, he said, will allow MaxLinear to sell the G.hn product to telcos that are deploying xDSL, G.fast or fiber largely outside North America.

On the MoCA front, Seendripu said the company’s next-gen MoCA 2.5 platform, which can reach up to 3  Gbps, is on track to ramp in the second half of 2017. MaxLinear’s MoCA technology is also “morphed” in to its c.LINK platform, which provides low-cost access infrastructure for MDUs and is already being deployed by several cable MSOs in China.

Regarding  DOCSIS 3.1, he expects that part of MaxLinear’s business to become a “very meaningful growth driver in second half of 2017.” D3.1 product growth rose by more than two times in Q4, but remains “a small part of our cable data mix,” Seendripu said.

Also in the second half of this year, MaxLinear expects to start sampling silicon for Full Duplex DOCSIS, an extension of DOCSIS 3.1 that supports symmetrical speeds up to 10 Gbps.

RELATED: ‘Full Duplex’ DOCSIS Speeds Ahead

MaxLinear posted Q4 revenues of $87.1 million, down 12% from the year-ago quarter, and net income of $8.3 million (12 cents per share). For Q1 2017, the company expects revenues of $86 million to $90 million.

Offering another indicator that the deployment ramp of DOCSIS 3.1 is in its early stages, MaxLinear said it has shipped more than 100,000 front-end systems-on-chips (SoCs) and programmable gain amplifier chipsets for the emerging multi-gigabit platform for HFC networks.

MaxLinear has teamed with Intel Corp. on DOCSIS 3.1 modems and gateways. Together, they are competing in that market with Broadcom. Among CPE vendors, Hitron Technologies Americas demonstrated a DOCSIS 3.1 gateway powered by Intel and MaxLinear silicon at the recent SCTE/ISBE Cable-Tec Expo in Philadelphia.

“Within our operator family, the cable DOCSIS data gateway market is an exciting strategic growth platform for us particularly as we start to see initial data service deployments around the new multi gigabit cable DOCSIS 3.1 standards,” Kishore Seendripu, MaxLinear’s CEO, said Monday on the company’s Q3 call.

He said the “bigger part of the ramp” is expected to occur in the second of 2017.  “We have not yet seen what I call a stronger part of the ramp for DOCSIS 3.1 yet, and the current expectation is still it's going to be a second half phenomenon.”

Several cable operators, including Comcast, WideOpenWest, Midco, RCN, among others, have been rolling out or trialing 1-Gig residential services using DOCSIS 3.1.

RELATED: Comcast Sets DOCSIS 3.1 Expansion, Launches 1-Gig in Detroit

Though MaxLinear continues to wind-down the video SoC business it has as part of its 2015 acquisition of Entropic, Seendripu noted that silicon for Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) remains an “increasingly strategic part of our business.” MoCA is a speedy, video-focused home networking technology for in-home coax networks, used primarily for whole-home DVRs and WiFi adapters and bridges.

Of recent note, MaxLinear demonstrated a new multi-gigabit MoCA 2.5 platform at a CableLabs-run conference. MoCA introduced the 2.5 spec in April.

While the MoCA 2.5 chips are sampling now, Seendripu expects revenues for the company’s MoCA 2.1 chip to start in mid-2017.

MoCA 2.1 is a firmware feature and extension of MoCA 2.0 that supports throughputs of 500 Mbps and a 1 Gbps “bonded” outputs along other components aimed to set a migration path toward MoCA 2.5.

MaxLinear posted Q3 revenues of $96.3 million, up 1% year-on-year, and net income of $9.7 million (14 cents per share), down from year-ago net income of $22.6 million (33 cents per share).  The company expects Q4 revenues of between $85 million and $89 million. 

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.”

Though cable data revenue was flat in Q4, chipmaker MaxLinear expects the picture to improve later this year as several major MSOs begin to accelerate the purchase and deployment of gateways outfitted with DOCSIS 3.1, the emerging multi-gigabit platform for HFC networks.

“We expect major cable operators to ramp shipments of DOCSIS 3.1 data gateways in the second half of 2016,” MaxLinear CEO Kishore Seendripu said Monday on the company’s Q4 earnings call.

MaxLinear, which demoed a D3.1 platform with Intel at last month’s CES, believes “this upgrade cycle will generate solid revenue growth over the next several years.”

MaxLinear and Intel will be fighting for share as operators start to march on DOCSIS 3.1. According to sources, the first batch of DOCSIS 3.1 modems recently certified by CableLabs were powered by silicon from rival Broadcom.

“I think our cable data business is pretty healthy,” Seendripu said, noting that the company is still seeing growth with DOCSIS 3.0 modems that can bond 24 or 32 downstream channels amid the anticipated run-up to D3.1. “We did not see the growth we had expected…in the past quarter, but we have good strong backlog in Q1, so we feel pretty good.”

As for D3.1, “there is a very good chance, in the second half, of DOCSIS 3.1 to ramp,” he added, noting that MaxLinear is “very well positioned” in that area with a major, but yet unnamed, MSO in North America.

Among U.S.-based operators, Comcast is already being aggressive, having named five markets where it plans to initially rollout D3.1 during 2016.

On the financial front, MaxLinear posted a Q4 net loss of $8.5 million (14 cents per share), on revenues of $98.9 million, up 4% from the year-ago quarter. The loss included $21.6 million in intangible asset impairment charges and $2.3 million in restructuring charges.

Operator revenues grew 10% in Q4, versus the Q3 2015, and accounted for 76% of total revenue in the period, MaxLinear said.

Full year 2015 revenues increased 126%, thanks in part to its acquisition of Entropic, a maker of Multimedia over Coax Alliance technology, last April.

Seendripu said MaxLinear had “particularly strong” MoCA shipments into both satellite and cable platforms in Q4. Last month, it 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. MaxLinear is expected to be in the mix when MoCA moves ahead on next-gen 3.0 platform that will target in-home data networking capacities of 2.5 Gbps. 

Seendripu also offered an update on MaxLinear’s legacy SoC products, noting that the company is seeing “softness” in demand for HD Digital Terminal Adapters, which are simple one-way digital-to-analog boxes that MSOs are using for their digital transitions. However, he said current backlog levels point to sequential revenue growth in that area in Q1 2016.

Primary revenues from HD DTAs are coming way of Time Warner Cable and Cox Communications.

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. 

The Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) said its board has unanimously appointed Charlie Cerino as the organization’s first full-time, paid president.

Cerino has been president of MoCA since 2007, while also representing Comcast on the MoCA board. In his revised role at MoCA, Cerino will no longer represent Comcast on the board, but will continue to sit on the board as an independent representative unaffiliated with any company, MoCA said. The organization added that there will be no material change in his duties, as he will continue to promote MoCA technology to operators worldwide, serve as a spokesman for the organization, and manage the Alliance’s day-to-day operations.

Cerino, who joined Comcast in 1978 as a system engineer, retired as vice president of Comcast Center Technology in 2013, but has continued to lead MoCA.

“The Board realized that the organization required the attention of an actively engaged president and that the best person for the job was already in place,” said William Beals, MoCA vice president, in a statement.

“I am honored by the Board’s decision and look forward to interacting with our members and operators as we continue to evolve the technology and set our sights higher and faster worldwide,” Cerino added. “We anticipate an exciting year for the Alliance. The progress on our next generation specifications will solidify MoCA’s position in home networking for years to come.”

MoCA is a high-speed, IP home networking platform that has become a key technology for whole-home DVR systems. The latest generation of MoCA, 2.0, delivers baseline net data rates of 400 Mbps and 800 Mbps (with bonding), and 1 Gbps in point-to-multipoint mode.

Last fall, MoCA announced that field tests showed that the 2.0 version of the platform achieved net data rates of 400 Mbps or more in 90% of all coaxial outlets, or paths, and net throughputs of at least 350 Mbps in 95% of paths. Last April, the organization said that all new product certifications conducted in the first quarter of 2015 were for devices based on MoCA 2.0, which was ratified by the organization in mid-2010. 

MoCA said it has certified 198 products in all, including about 40 for MoCA 2.0 from companies such as Actiontec, Arris, Alcatel-Lucent, Broadcom, Cisco Systems, Entropic (now part of MaxLinear), Hitron, MStar Semiconductor, Netgear, Pace plc (now part of Arris), Samsung, STMicroelectronics, Technicolor, TiVo, Ubee Interactive, and WNC.

MoCA is also comprised of 51 members. Its Promoter (board of director) members include Arris, Broadcom, Cisco, Cox Communications, DirecTV, EchoStar, MaxLinear, Verizon, Comcast and Intel Corp.

Offering another glimpse at the expected speed of cable’s rollout of DOCSIS 3.1, chipmaker MaxLinear expects product volumes to climb toward the second half of next year.

Speaking Tuesday on the company’s third quarter earnings call, CEO Kishore Seendripu said MaxLinear made progress on its DOCSIS 3.1 initiatives during the quarter, and “we currently expect to ramp in volume in the second half of 2016.”

In September at the IBC show in Amsterdam, MaxLinear and partner Intel announced a chipset designed to be compatible with DOCSIS 3.1, the emerging multi-gigabit platform for HFC networks. That platform features combines an upgraded form of Intel’s Puma silicon with MaxLinear’s MxL268 Full-Spectrum Capture tuner, which can obtain channels for bonding from anywhere along the cable spectrum. The first wave of DOCSIS 3.1 modems will be hybrids that can support both DOCSIS 3 .1 and DOCSIS 3.0-based traffic.

Hitron Technologies said last month that its first D3.1-based modem product will be powered by the Intel/MaxLinear combo.

MaxLinear and Intel will be competing on the D3.1 chip front against Broadcom and STMicroelectronics.

Seendripu noted on the call that Comcast is one of the MSOs “leading the charge” on DOCSIS  3.1, while other MSOs look to offer gigabit capabilities using DOCSIS 3.0-based platforms that can bond up to 32 downstream channels.

“So we got multiple ways to get to multi-big gigabit services,” he said.

MaxLinear posted Q3 revenues of $95.2 million, up 34% sequentially and 193% year-over-year, reflecting the first financial period that reflected a full-quarter of contribution from the company’s acquisition of Entropic Communications, a maker of silicon for set-tops and Multimedia over Coax technology. MaxLinear also posted Q3 net income of $1.6 million (3 cents per diluted share), versus a net loss of $3.2 million (9 cents per share) in the year-ago quarter. 

Those results beat Wall Street analyst expectations. MaxLinear shares rocketed $2.65 (20.18%) to $15.78 each in early day trading Wednesday.

The Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) said new field tests of the speedier 2.0 version of the home networking platform achieved net data rates of 400 Mbps or more in 90% of all coaxial outlets, or paths.

Those tests also showed net throughputs of at least 350 Mbps were achieved in 95% of paths, the organization said. The chart shows the percentage of paths delivering a specific data rate or higher for both raw data (PHY) and net (MAC) throughput.

MoCA said the results were based on trials conducted in 205 U.S. homes, noting that all homeowners were volunteers, and that no homes were screened or selected based on construction materials, age, condition of coaxial wiring, or the type of pay TV service being delivered to those homes .

“The completion of the MoCA 2.0 field tests confirms the speed, ease of installation and reliability of our technology,” Charles Cerino, MoCA’s president, said in a statement. “This proves that coax is the high-speed backbone of the home network.”  

MoCA, a technology used in multi-room DVRs and in bridge devices that extend the reach of home WiFi networks, is also conducting similar trials in China, Israel and South Africa.

The organization announced in April that all new product certifications conducted in the first quarter of 2015 were for devices based on MoCA 2.0, a platform that’s designed to support usable throughputs of more than 400 Mbps in “Basic” mode and 500 Mbps in a “Turbo” point-to-point setting when utilizing a single channel. MoCA 2.0 also supports an “Enhanced” mode that uses channel bonding to provide throughputs of between 800 Mbps to 1 Gbps.

More than 30 products have been certified for MoCA 2.0.

MaxLinear has joined the board of directors of the Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA), moving up from an Associate level membership that the company has held since 2011.

MaxLinear was eligible to assume the seat on the MoCA board as a result of its acquisition of Entropic Communications late last month. Entropic was a pioneer in MoCA-powered silicon and products.

“MaxLinear’s enthusiasm and commitment will greatly contribute to the success of the Alliance. We are delighted to have them join the Board and look forward to their insights and involvement” said Charles Cerino, president of MoCA, in a statement.

“We intend to take a very active role in MoCA,” added Dr. Kishore Seendripu, CEO of MaxLinear. “We have long supported the value MoCA technology brings to the connected home.”

MoCA technology is being used in a variety of whole-home DVRs, set-tops, broadband gateways, and Ethernet-to-coax bridge devices. As an upgrade of MoCA 1.1, the 2.0 version is designed to support usable throughputs of more than 400 Mbps in “Basic” mode and 500 Mbps in a “Turbo” point-to-point setting when connected devices are operating in the baseline mode and utilizing a single channel. MoCA 2.0 also supports an “Enhanced” mode that uses channel bonding to produce throughputs of between 800 Mbps to 1 Gbps.

Last month, MoCA said all new product certifications during the first quarter of 2015 were for devices of the 2.0 variety.

Offering a clear indication that adoption of MoCA 2.0 is accelerating, all new product certifications during the first quarter of 2015 were for devices that integrated the speedy coax-based home networking platform, according to the Multimedia Over Coax Alliance.

MoCA technology is being used in a variety of whole-home DVRs, set-tops, broadband gateways, and Ethernet-to-coax bridge devices. As an upgrade of MoCA 1.1, the 2.0 version is designed to support usable throughputs of more than 400 Mbps in “Basic” mode and 500 Mbps in a “Turbo” point-to-point setting when connected devices are operating in the baseline mode and utilizing a single channel. MoCA 2.0 also supports an “Enhanced” mode that uses channel bonding to produce throughputs of between 800 Mbps to 1 Gbps. In January, MoCA said preliminary 2.0 field trial results showed that the technology achieved net throughputs of 400 Mbps or more in 90% of coax “paths,” and greater than 350 Mbps in 95% of paths.

Of the 35 device certifications since the launch of the MoCA 2.0 certification program in Q1 2014, 28 have been for products integrating MoCA 2.0, and nine integrating MoCA 1.1, the Alliance said, noting that Comcast and Verizon were among the service providers that announced MoCA 2.0-capable gateways last year.

Arris, Alcatel-Lucent, Broadcom, Cisco Systems, Entropic Communications, Hitron, Netgear, Pace, Samsung, Technicolor, Ubee Interactive, and WNC are among the companies that have received MoCA 2.0 certifications for various products.

“This has been a prolific year for certification of devices incorporating MoCA 2.0,” said Dr. Stephen Palm, chair of the MoCA Certification Board and senior technical director at Broadcom, a maker of MoCA silicon.  “MoCA Certification and the interoperability it represents are cornerstones for continued successful adoption of any connectivity technology standard, especially when used by service providers.”

“MoCA 2.0 certifications have surpassed our expectations just one year after the launch of the certification program,” added Charlie Cerino, president of MoCA. “The number of certified MoCA 2.0 devices is a clear trend on how quickly it is being adopted by the industry.”

Following a string of lawsuits about alleged patent violations and unfair trade practices, chipmakers Entropic Communications and ViXS Systems announced Monday that they have settled all litigation and agreed to execute cross-licensing deals that cover patents linked to the litigation.

The peace agreement smooths out what has been a rocky relationship between rivals that has grown more competitive in part because both companies make silicon for Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA), a high-speed home networking platform for set-tops, gateways and Ethernet-over-coax bridge devices.

Last May, Entropic targeted ViXS in a California district court, alleging that its competitor had infringed on two of its “core” home coax networking patents.

In April of this year, ViXS filed a complaint at the U.S. International Trade Commission alleging that Entropic had engaged in unfair trade practices by using certain set-tops, gateways and other devices that, it claimed, infringed on four asserted patents. ViXS also complained that Entropic's timing was suspect becasue the suit was targeting ViXS as the Toronto-based company was in the midst of an initial public offering. ViXS's complaint also sought to halt the importation into the U.S. and sale after importation products that use Entropic’s MoCA silicon, and included DirecTV, Wistron NeWeb Corp., and CyberTAN on the list of defendants. The settlement announced Monday dismissed actions against those defendants, the companies said.

Other terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

"Today's settlement allows both companies to move on as two of the industry's innovation leaders," said Patrick Henry, president and CEO, Entropic, in a statement. "We have set aside our differences while addressing the needs of our customers, our shareholders and the industry."

"We are pleased to find an amicable and effective solution to the litigation with Entropic," added Sally Daub, president and CEO, ViXS. "We expect to continue the productive collaboration the companies have established over the years."

The Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) has expanded its membership with the addition of CableLabs as a “Contributor” member.

The organizations aren't strangers, as they’ve been working together for years as part of a technical liaison relationship. Formal membership in the Alliance, they said, will enable CableLabs to provide more input and direction early in the MoCA spec development process.

MoCA 2.0, the latest, greatest version of the technology, supports two performance modes that pump out usable throughputs of 400 Mbps and 800 Mbps, respectively. MoCA, a technology that ships video and other media over IP over a home's coax network and is used in whole-home DVR set-ups, has not announced if it's currently pursuing a next-gen version of MoCA.

Other MoCA Contributor members include Alcatel-Lucent, MStar Semiconductor, STMicro, Technicolor, Time Warner Cable, Pace, and ViXS.

Promoter members, which get MoCA board slots, include Arris, Broadcom, Cisco Systems, Comcast, Cox Communications, DirecTV, EchoStar, Entropic Communications, Intel and Verizon Communications.

“We have always worked well with MoCA and our membership further establishes and strengthens the relationship,” said Ralph Brown, chief technology officer of CableLabs, in a statement.  “We look forward to continuing our joint efforts in support of cable operators and the broader cable ecosystem.”

“The cooperation between our two organizations is critical to keeping the cable market strong – in the U.S. and worldwide--through innovation, certification of products and specifications that are mutually beneficial to the operators and consumers,” added MoCA president Charles Cerino.