More Vendors Will Jump On This DOCSIS 1.1 Testing Wave

All aboard: After a sluggish start, the Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification 1.1 train appears to be gathering steam.

A handful of equipment vendors have joined the DOCSIS 1.1 certification and qualification testing mix. They'll take their first shot at obtaining Cable Television Laboratories Inc.'s coveted seal of approval for their respective cable modems and cable-modem termination systems.

Four vendors will make their first DOCSIS 1.1 appearance: 3Com Corp, Ambit, Antec Corp./Arris Interactive LLC and Tellabs Inc. Ambit, 3Com and Tellabs will put cable modems to the test; Tellabs and Antec/Arris will submit CMTSs.

Meanwhile, Terayon has coupled its earlier cable- modem submission with its next-generation CMTS, the BE 2800.

Motorola Broadband Communications Sector, which has already put a CMTS up for 1.1 testing during previous rounds, has thrown two cable-modem products into the fray: the SURFboard 4100 and the CentriQ 1220, a residential gateway that sports a built-in modem.

Though CableLabs will test DOCSIS 1.0 products during certification wave 18 in concert with gear designated for 1.1, the organization has opted to make the 1.1 wave "continual" until a cable-modem and CMTS emerge with passing grades. Certification wave 18, which will test 33 modems and two CMTSs for 1.0, is slated to end June 15; results will be publicly shared on or around June 19. Certification wave 19, meanwhile, is expected to begin July 23.

Testing products comes at a price. CableLabs recently boosted certification application costs from the original $55,000 to $95,000. It's also in the process of using third parties to conduct certification testing.

Including these additional products also underscores their importance, as they fit snugly into MSOs' future plans for voice-over-Internet protocol services. DOCSIS 1.1 adds quality-of-service (QoS), which ensures that voice and data can run simultaneously over the same channel.

Those products also will serve as the basis for PacketCable, a multimedia architecture cable operators will employ for VoIP calls and other advanced applications such as interactive gaming.

While some optimists believe the first set of cable modems and CMTS products could squeak through by the end of wave 18, several vendors said they believe the end of the next wave is a safer bet. By that point, vendors and CableLabs will have put the finishing touches on the spec's extremely complicated automated-testing procedure.

* Denotes latest products submitted in concert with the beginning of certification wave 18, which launched April 16.

Source: CableLabs and equipment vendors