Hitron Technologies has taken the wraps off a new DOCSIS 3.0-powered modem that can deliver downstream speed bursts in excess of 1 Gbps.
Hitron’s “Gigabit Cable Modem,” a model also known as the CDA3-35, can bond up to 32 downstream channels and up to eight upstream channels, representing an advance over 24x8 DOCSIS 3.0 modems. The new model can handle up to 1.2 Gbps in North American systems that use 6MHz-wide channels, and up to 1.6 Gbps on EuroDOCSIS systems that utilize 8MHz-wide channels.
The CDA3-35 is equipped with Intel’s Puma 6-MG DOCSIS processor and MaxLinear’s 32-channel MxL268 tuner, which, Hitron noted, are “drop-in and software compatible upgrades to prior 16- and 24-channel solutions.” Broadcom has also announced a 32x8 DOCSIS 3.0 solution.
All of those options are appearing ahead of DOCSIS 3.1, an emerging multi-gigabit platform for HFC networks. The first D3.1 modems will be hybrids that support both DOCSIS 3.0 and DOCSIS 3.1-based traffic.
Hitron, which ships more than 3 million DOCSIS units worldwide per year, also announced that GCI of Alaska and Suddenlink Communications are the first MSOs to deploy the CDA3-35 for residential and business customers.
Last month, Suddenlink launched a 1 Gbps (downstream) residential broadband service to an initial set of markets -- Bryan-College Station, Texas; Nixa, Mo.; and Greenville and Rocky Mount, N.C. That service, which uses DOCSIS 3.0, is paired with a 50 Mbps upstream, and sells for about $109 per month as a stand-alone service, and for less when bundled with other Suddenlink services.
Hitron claimed that the CDA3-35 is the industry’s first 32x8 D3 modem product to deploy commercially in North America.
“The rollout of gigabit cable modems into the home will enable the adoption of advanced applications such as high-definition streaming content, interactive services, home security and other next-generation connected home technologies that rely on fast, reliable broadband connectivity to the Internet,” explained Jeff Heynen, Research Director, Broadband Access and Pay TV at IHS.
“For cable operators, the availability of gigabit technology over their existing cable plant will enable them to quickly compete with fiber-based services at an affordable price point,” Jeff Heynen, research director, broadband access and pay TV at IHS, said in a statement.
“The CDA3-35 provides the fast Internet connectivity speeds that will allow MSOs to deploy next-generation interactive services to their subscribers and support the increasingly advanced applications and devices in the Connected Home,” added Todd Babic, chief sales and marketing officer for Hitron Technologies Americas.
