Cable-Tec Expo: MoCA Builds on 2.0 Platform

The Multimedia over Coax Alliance has introduced MoCA 2.1, a new firmware feature and extension of MoCA 2.0 that supports throughputs of 500 Mbps and a 1 Gbps “bonded” offering alongside the addition of a handful of new features that set a migration path toward MoCA 2.5. 

RELATED: MoCA Feels The Need For Speed

The Alliance said MoCA 2.1 and MoCA 2.1 Bonded, which can be used with whole-home DVRs and speedy networking setups that use a home's coax as the backbone, also bakes in new features spanning network set-up, management, and enhanced privacy settings:

-MoCA protected setup (MPS):  Easy setup of new nodes with unique password sharing via push-button (similar to Wi-Fi WPS).

-Management proxy: Management of nodes that don’t have upper layer management support by supporting management queries from one node on behalf of other nodes.

-Enhanced privacy: Secure data communications with a longer password using different keys between MoCA 2.1 nodes compared to MoCA 1.1/MoCA 2.0 nodes, along with the ability to control data forwarding of legacy nodes to and from MoCA 2.1 nodes.

-Network-wide beacon power management: Improved control of peak signal power on the coax by configuring the beacon power of nodes to an absolute level (within tolerance of the hardware) and advertise that level to other nodes so that the same value is used after any handoff.

-Bridge detection: Ability to distinguish between nodes belonging to different networks and pass operator specified information between nodes before admission, as well as pass that same information to upper layers to prevent neighbors from forming a common network.

“We now offer a broad suite of specifications inclusive of various performance modes and features providing the versatility to support and compliment IOT,” MoCA president Charles Cerino said, in a statement.

In April, MoCA introduced a 2.5 version of its platform that supports a wide range of profiles, including one that delivers net data rates topping 2.5 Gbps.