Arris-Infused CommScope Demos Virtual CCAP, Low-Latency and FDD DOCSIS

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CommScope is making its first appearance at ANGA COM in Cologne, Germany since acquiring Arris, and it will be subsequently demoing a range of new DOCSIS-enabled cable network technologies, as well as its own virtual CCAP.

With insurgent makers of software-powered Converged Cable Access Platform (CCAP) tech such as Harmonic and Nokia nipping at its heels, CommScope is showing off the E6000 vCore, a fully virtualized CCAP that it says is already in trials, with “significant deployments anticipated later this year.”

CommScope’s virtualized CCAP will initially run on the company’s dedicated CCAP hardware, the E6000. But it will soon move to support Intel-powered x86 servers as the vendor’s cable operator clients move into Distributed Access Architecture (DAA).

Meanwhile, with wireless competitors touting the ultra low latency of their developing 5G networks, CommScope is demoing a low latency version of DOCSIS that will reduce typical latency from around 25 milliseconds to around 1 millisecond.

CommScope's E6000 chassis will make a nice coffee table once the vendor has its virtualized CCAP running on off-the-shelf servers.  

CommScope's E6000 chassis will make a nice coffee table once the vendor has its virtualized CCAP running on off-the-shelf servers.  

CommScope’s demo will compare gaming applications on regular service flows against games running over prioritized low-latency flow. Among many other applications, low-latency DOCSIS, the company noted, will be crucial to gaming and virtual reality performance, as well as collision-avoidance systems in self-driving cars.

Also being demo’d: Frequency-Division Duplex (aka Soft FDD), which allows operators to remotely conduct frequency splits via software. Soft FDD uses Full Duplex DOCSIS technology and provides a foundation for symmetrical services, CommScope said

“Residential home networks now rival enterprises in both demands from internet-connected devices and for performance of managed services,” said Kevin Keefe, CommScope’s senior VP and segment leader, network & cloud. “We are developing technology and architectures that result in smarter, adaptive networks. With these announcements, we’re accelerating the march toward virtual, automated and orchestrated infrastructure capable of delivering massive amounts of capacity and bandwidth.”

Daniel Frankel
Daniel Frankel

Daniel Frankel is the managing editor of Next TV, an internet publishing vertical focused on the business of video streaming. A Los Angeles-based writer and editor who has covered the media and technology industries for more than two decades, Daniel has worked on staff for publications including E! Online, Electronic Media, Mediaweek, Variety, paidContent and GigaOm. You can start living a healthier life with greater wealth and prosperity by following Daniel on Twitter today!