CableLabs has finished specifications for an advanced generation of cable modems called DOCSIS 2.0.

The specifications were completed by year end, as promised, and test plans are now being finalised to allow for interoperability testing in the first quarter this year and possible certification testing in the third quarter pending product maturity, an company release states.

"CableLabs' work in the cable modem arena has added immense value to the cable industry's broadband business and to the industry's consumer offerings," said Mark Coblitz, senior V-P of strategic planning for Comcast Corporation. "The modem effort has reinforced cable's role as the leader in broadband service deployment," he added.

DOCSIS 2.0 builds upon the capabilities of DOCSIS 1.0 and DOCSIS 1.1 and adds throughput in the upstream portion of the cable plant - from the consumer out to the Internet - creating a network that has 30 megabit per second (Mbps) capacity in two directions. That tripling of data capacity enables services such as videoconferencing and peer-to-peer applications. DOCSIS stands for Data over Cable Service Interface Specification.

DOCSIS 2.0 enables operators to create new services for both home and business use, including symmetrical and critical applications. The specification enhancements are also geared towards providing an even more robust communications channel than was available with the current versions of the DOCSIS Specification, which provides additional functionality and support for lifeline services.

Cable operators and some suppliers have been working on DOCSIS 2.0 since late 1998. Specifically, DOCSIS 2.0 will include two modulation techniques: S-CDMA (synchronous code division multiple access) and A-TDMA (advanced frequency agile time division multiple access).

In addition to more upstream channel capacity, DOCSIS 2.0 will be compatible with DOCSIS 1.0 and 1.1 cable modems (CMs) and cable modem termination systems (CMTSs), will increase protection against electronic impairments that occur in cable systems, and will further enhance and augment the international DOCSIS standard (ITU J-112), which has been adopted world-wide and provides international interoperability of data signals.

CableLabs maintains web sites at www.cablelabs.com

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