Englewood, Colo. – Full-fledged deployments of Full Duplex (FDX) DOCSIS are likely still a couple of years away, but CableLabs believes that suppliers have made enough progress to be ready for initial interoperability testing later this year.

Interops are expected to underway in earnest in 2019, but the start of that work could get underway by the fourth quarter of 2018, Doug Jones, principal architect at CableLabs, said here Wednesday (June 6) at an operations roundtable that was part of the Rocky Mountain SCTE Chapter’s 23rd annual Engineering Symposium. 

That work will help to establish important groundwork on product interoperability for FDX DOCSIS, an annex to the DOCSIS 3.1 specs that will support symmetrical multi-gigabit speeds on widely deployed hybrid fiber/coax (HFC) networks.

CableLabs released the physical layer specs for FDX DOCSIS last fall, and followed with the addition of MAC Layer support in January.

RELATED: Full Duplex DOCSIS Takes Another Step Forward

Though the prescribed path to FDX DOCSIS involved a node-plus-zero network (the creation of a passive network whereby there are no amplifiers between the node and the home), CableLabs is also working on other approaches that won’t necessarily require N+0 to get MSOs started on that path, Jones noted.

CableLabs, he explained, is building a plan based on a node-plus-five environment. “We’re going to prove that FDX equipment will work on that, as a path toward FDX DOCSIS and get you that 1-Gig symmetrical tier maybe without having to go node-plus-zero first,” Jones said.

Having some flexibility is important because HFC networks are far from uniform between cable operators and even inside the operators themselves. Some have segments of the network at node-plus-15 and others at node-plus-zero, and everything in between.

And there are major business decisions to consider with moving to N+0.

“There’s a big battle that exists out there on cost that’s going to keep thwarting node-plus-zero for a while,” said Tom Gorman, the founder and president of opXL, and a cable engineering exec late of operators such as Comcast and Charter Communications.

By way of example, he said some plant extensions still require an amplifier to boost the signal.

“There’s got to be a very concerted effort and plan and willingness to spend to get to that node-plus-zero [architecture],” Gorman said. “There’s still a lot of work to be done there.”

And as cable operators take fiber deeper into the network, Gorman warned that they must be careful to ensure that their workforces continue to support technicians who know their way around coax.

“We’re finding that there’s not enough people to splice coax,” Gorman said. “The coax splicing is becoming the dying art, and [cable operators] still have a ton of coax out there. That’s where there’s a hole that’s getting bigger and bigger.”

The panel, moderated by Leslie Ellis, president of EllisEdits and a Multichannel News contributor, also touched cable’s role with 5G, and how MSOs can participate in that evolution amid the move to a standard that will deliver higher speeds and lower latencies and will be enabled in part by small cells that can be backhauled by cable’s widely deployed HFC plant and growing fiber networks.

RELATED: Cable is Wired for 5G

Cable’s move to FDX DOCSIS and distributed access architectures make HFC suitable for dense, 5G microcells, Dan Rice, vice president of HFC architecture at Comcast, said.

“All [telecom companies] are headed to the same spot, with fiber to remote nodes and physical layers out in the node, he said.

RELATED: Need to Know: 5G-Riding Wireless’s Next Wave

Gorman added that future 5G applications such as low-latency connectivity for autonomous vehicles, will present new challenges and opportunities for the cable industry.

Cable will need to focus the accuracy, reliably and availability of those 5G networks.

“The applications for [5G] will be lifeline applications, and it just makes our plant reliability all the more important,” Gorman said. “This is critical stuff we’re talking about beyond that 5G can deliver more bandwidth wirelessly.”

More details from this panel, including cable’s work with Full Duplex DOCSIS and the emerging use of machine learning for cable network operations will be featured in the June 11 issue of Broadcasting & Cable. 

The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE), its global arm, the International Society of Broadband Experts (ISBE), and Colorado-based tech training specialist opXL Learning Systems have inked a partnership aimed at expanding workforce learning and development opportunities for cable operators.

Get complete coverage of Cable-Tec Expo 2016

Under the deal, they’ll make opXL’s Safety and HFC Technician courses available to SCTE/ISBE’s 25,000 members via the Society’s “learning infrastructure.” They’ll begin to offer opXL's courses, which are interactive and distributed online, later this year.

RELATED: NCTI, opXL Make a Course Connection

opXL's Safety Series includes refresher training for Ladder Safety, Driving, Bucket Truck Safety, Electrical Safety (two courses) and Slips, Trips and Falls. Its HFC Technician programs include Cable Math, RF Theory & Troubleshooting and AC Power.  All courses are interactive, are offered online, and include rich animations and graphics.

The partnership will also open the door for opXL and SCTE/ISBE to collaborate on new training content, with opXL positioned as the sales channel for coursework covered by the partnership.

They announced the deal on the eve of Cable-Tec Expo 2016, set to run through Thursday (September 29) in Philadelphia.

“opXL’s strong technical knowledge base, its engaging curricula and its results-oriented methodologies all have established it as a ‘go-to’ resource for training expertise,” Mark Dzuban, president and CEO of SCTE/ISBE, said in a statement. “By collaborating on both course creation and distribution through both SCTE and ISBE, we can accelerate the global availability of customized, personalized training that can have a direct and meaningful impact on operators’ bottom lines.”

“With its vast membership base, its deep relationships with operators and technology partners and its role as the industry’s only ANSI-accredited standards body, SCTE/ISBE is able to expand both the footprint of opXL training as well as the portfolio of course offerings,” added Tom Gorman, president of opXL and industry vet who is late of several MSOs, including Charter Communications, Prime Cable, Comcast, and Jones Intercable. “We look forward to building a relationship that will achieve the goals of both of our organizations—a better-trained, more valuable workforce for our industry.”

Two Colorado–based companies -- NCTI (formerly Jones/NCTI) and opXL LLC -- have come together to launch nine courses for frontline cable and broadband industry techs.

The courses, a three-part series focused on the HFC Outside Plant, and a six-part Safety Series, are being offered online and address two of the top training requests from cable operators in educating frontline teams, they said.

The online courses, which feature video clips and animation to illustrate concepts, are optimized for iPads and Android tablets, they added. NCTI will market and sell the opXL-developed courses and offer them at www.ncti.com

The HFC Outside Plant Technician Basics Series provides an overview of cable math, AC power and RF theory. The Safety Series delivers safety refreshers in the following areas: Bucket Truck Safety; Ladder Safety; Electrical Safety-Outside Plant; Electrical Safety-Customer Premises; Slips, Trips and Falls; and Driving Safety

"Our customers told us they want basic training for HFC Outside Plant Technicians and need safety refresher courses to keep technician teams safe, and support corporate risk management goals,” said Stacey Slaughter, NCTI’s CEO, who acquired Jones/NCTI late last year. “We are pleased to collaborate with opXL to offer these important and relevant new courses in a learner-friendly format. Our superior delivery system and this high quality content creates a win-win for operators."

"NCTI provides opXL with a fantastic avenue to deliver our interactive HFC Technician and Safety courseware to the service provider market,” added Tom Gorman, president of opXL. “The HFC Tech Series gives advanced techs the knowledge and skills they need to be more effective in their job - which is invaluable as technology changes. The skill level of service techs must evolve as well.  And safety - among both field employees and contracted technicians - is of critical, and often overlooked, importance. In addition to the personal health benefits, the amount of savings an operator can realize by reducing reportable accidents is significant."

"opXL Learning Systems' HFC Tech Series and Safety Series programs are a great addition to NCTI's robust curriculum,” opXL principal Neil Sullivan said. “The HFC Tech Series is ground-breaking, online, interactive content that can be delivered via any web format and is available 24/7. Our Safety courses have been developed with employee welfare in mind. One of our MSO clients has reported a reduction in accidents of 50% since they started using the programs."