TI software enhances cable-modem speed without adjusting bandwidth

Texas Instruments has developed an algorithmic formula that combines DOCSIS 1.1 and Internet Engineering Task Force [IETF] working group standards to maximize upstream cable modem data speeds and allow service providers to triple the number of modems serviced over a single channel.

“One of the classic problems in a DOCSIS network is that it’s a request network,” said Peter Percosan, TI’s broadband strategy director. “I request some data bandwidth, and the CMTS [cable modem termination system] will provide me with that bandwidth.”

That request/provision process consumes time and bandwidth, Percosan said. Using IETF standards, TI developed algorithms that prioritize, and, in some instances, discard unnecessary or redundant acknowledgements.

“From the user’s perspective, it will look like more speed, because the downstream performance is related to your upstream performance,” he said. “If you can minimize the amount of upstream traffic, it will actually allow the CMTS to interface more efficiently into the [cable modem], and better utilization of the upstream will allow the CMTS to support many more subscribers efficiently.”

The new software works with “every single cable modem that is using TI silicon,” Percosan said, emphasizing that the software is DOCSIS-certified and can be delivered by any CMTS.

“The unique element here is that we’ve combined DOCSIS with another standard,” he said. “By combining these two standards, we’re able to deliver much higher capacity and much better usage of the existing bandwidth.”