CableLabs Joins MoCA Mix

The Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) has expanded its membership with the addition of CableLabs as a “Contributor” member.

The organizations aren't strangers, as they’ve been working together for years as part of a technical liaison relationship. Formal membership in the Alliance, they said, will enable CableLabs to provide more input and direction early in the MoCA spec development process.

MoCA 2.0, the latest, greatest version of the technology, supports two performance modes that pump out usable throughputs of 400 Mbps and 800 Mbps, respectively. MoCA, a technology that ships video and other media over IP over a home's coax network and is used in whole-home DVR set-ups, has not announced if it's currently pursuing a next-gen version of MoCA.

Other MoCA Contributor members include Alcatel-Lucent, MStar Semiconductor, STMicro, Technicolor, Time Warner Cable, Pace, and ViXS.

Promoter members, which get MoCA board slots, include Arris, Broadcom, Cisco Systems, Comcast, Cox Communications, DirecTV, EchoStar, Entropic Communications, Intel and Verizon Communications.

“We have always worked well with MoCA and our membership further establishes and strengthens the relationship,” said Ralph Brown, chief technology officer of CableLabs, in a statement.  “We look forward to continuing our joint efforts in support of cable operators and the broader cable ecosystem.”

“The cooperation between our two organizations is critical to keeping the cable market strong – in the U.S. and worldwide--through innovation, certification of products and specifications that are mutually beneficial to the operators and consumers,” added MoCA president Charles Cerino.