Sagemcom confirmed that a chipset from Broadcom is powering the F@st 3890, a cable modem gateway that was recently certified by CableLabs for DOCSIS 3.1, cable’s new multi-gig platform for HFC networks.

According to Sagemcom, its first D3.1-certified product , which also integrates 4x4 dual-band 802.11ac WiFi, uses the Broadcom  BCM3390 chip.

In January, Broadcom said “multiple” cable modem vendors achieved D3.1 certification from CableLabs with its silicon. Though not every vendor has confirmed as much, industry sources say the other suppliers that have achieved D3.1 certification so far – Netgear, Ubee Interactive, Technicolor, CastelNet and Askey – all did so with products that use Broadcom silicon.

Intel, working with MaxLinear, is also pushing D3.1-based silicon in the market and is expected to be powering a new line of products poised to obtain CableLabs certification. STMicroelectronics announced plans to develop DOCSIS 3.1 chips, but announced in January that it wasexciting the set-top and gateway business. An industry source said that STMicro is looking to sell its DOCSIS technology, and that Huawei might be among the interested suitors.

France-based vendor Sagemcom has joined a small but growing group of modem suppliers that have achieved DOCSIS 3.1 certification from CableLabs.

Sagemcom announced that the F@st 3890 cable media gateway, was certified by CableLabs during cert wave 116 at CableLabs, an achievement that is verified here.

Sagemcom introduced the F@st 3890 at last fall’s IBC show in Amsterdam. In addition to supporting D3.1 and D3.0-based traffic, the new model also integrates 4x4 dual-band 802.11ac WiFi. It was not immediately known if Sagemcom’s first D3.1 modem entry is powered by silicon from Broadcom or Intel (fellow chipmaker STMicroelectronics tossed its hat into the D3.1 ring last year, but announced in January that it was exciting the set-top and gateway business, and industry sources said that STMicro is looking to sell its DOCSIS technology).

CableLabs certified the first batch of DOCSIS 3.1 modems in January, giving the green light to products from Askey, CastleNet, Netgear, Technicolor and Ubee Interactive. It’s believed that all of those products use Broadcom chipsets.

CableLabs certification clears those products for retail distribution while also indicating that they meet interoperability requirements. MSOs typically require products to gain the CableLabs stamp before they purchase them for lease to high-speed Internet customers.

The initial wave of DOCSIS 3.1 modems are capable of supporting about 5 Gbps down and 1 Gbps upstream when fully loaded. The current D3.1 specs target capacities of up to 10 Gbps and up to 2 Gbps, though a new Full Duplex approach could enable cable operators to deliver symmetrical speeds via DOCSIS 3.1.

Chip and gateway makers at this week’s IBC show in Amsterdam are showing off a new line of gear based on DOCSIS 3.1, the emerging multi-gigabit platform for HFC networks.

DOCSIS 3.1 trials and deployments are expected to start late this year and begin to ramp up in 2016. CableLabs has opened up certification testing for DOCSIS 3.1-based products. 

-Broadcom unveiled trio of DOCSIS 3.1-based devices for the Converged Cable Access Platform (CCAP), a high-density system that combines the functions of the cable modem termination system and the edge QAM./

Broadcom said those products – the BCM3047, BCM31442 and BCM3222 -- enable CCAP vendors to build and deploy DOCSIS 3.1-compliant equipment. Early adopters of Broadcom's DOCSIS 3.1 technology include cable operators such as Comcast and Liberty Global, and CCAP equipment suppliers such as Arris and Harmonic, Broadcom said.

"Today's new CCAP infrastructure devices, combined with the BCM3390 cable modem platform, provide a complete DOCSIS 3.1-based silicon solution with advanced capabilities that effectively compete with speeds offered by fiber deployments,” said Dan Marotta, EVP and  GM of Broadcom’s Broadband & Connectivity Group, in a statement.

"End-to-end DOCSIS 3.1 technology, in both cable infrastructure and cable modems, is critical for subscribers to receive Gigabit speeds in the home," added Balan Nair, Liberty Global’s EVP and CTO. "DOCSIS 3.1 is making it possible for Liberty Global to deliver enhanced services to consumers later this year."

The BCM3047 is a single-chip transmitter that can enable transmission up to 1.2 GHz on the cable plant; the BCM31442 Receiver is a burst receiver built on D3.1 specs that can support up to 300 MHz of upstream spectrum; and the BCM3222 MAC device is capable of supporting up to 25 Gbps, Broadcom said, noting that all three chips are currently sampling.

-Intel will be showing off the Puma 7 systems-on-chip, which is built on the company’s 14nm process technology. The platform, Intel said, will also integrate support for 4x4 802.11ac WiFi. Arris is evidently one of its early D3.1 CPE partners.

“We are continually evolving our advanced HFC network to ensure that our customers have the best, fastest high-speed Internet service available. DOCSIS 3.1 is a pillar of that evolution and fundamental to our plan to offer new gigabit speed tiers to our customers,” said Tony Werner, executive vice president and CTO at Comcast, in a statement. We are excited about Intel’s use of its latest generation 14nm process technology to drive better energy efficiency and enable compelling new form factors for cable broadband gateways.”

-Sagemcom introduced the F@st 3890, a DOCSIS 3.1-based media gateway equipped with 4x4 MU-MIMO 802.11ac WiFi. Sagemcom’s entry, like other early D3.1 modem entrants, will be hybrids that can support both DOCSIS 3.1 and DOCSIS 3.0-based traffic. The device also bakes in SWAN, the French supplier’s modular software suite for apps and services.

-And there’s some news on the DOCSIS 3.0 front. Celeno Communications has teamed with STMicroelectronics on a D3.0 reference design that integrates Celeno’s WiFi 802.11ac and 802.11n chips with ST’s Alicante CableLabs-certified chipset.