TDC and Huawei Successfully Complete the DOCSIS 3.1 Early Field Test, Achieved a Transmission Rate of over 800Mbit/s

[Cologne, Germany, June 12, 2015] Huawei and TDC Group jointly announced today that they have successfully completed the Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) 3.1 early field test. This is the first E2E DOCSIS 3.1 early field test in the industry since the standard was released in 2013, and provides a measured downstream transmission rate of 840Mbit/s. The milestone was announced at the ANGA COM CATV and broadband exhibition in Cologne, Germany.

With IP-based video and broadband traffic increasing approximately 50% per year, Multiple System Operator (MSOs) need to upgrade their networks to meet customer demands. At the same time, to compete with Fiber-To-The-Home (FTTH) ultra-broadband, DOCSIS 3.1 technology has been designed for Gbps services. Compared to DOCSIS 3.0 technology, the DOCSIS 3.1 data transmission efficiency increases 50% through using Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) modulation. DOCSIS 3.1 can provide transmission rates of up to 2Gbps in the upstream and 10Gbps in the downstream. In addition, the innovative technology also brings significant cost per bit reduction of up to 30%. Therefore, MSOs are eager to adopt DOCSIS 3.1 technology on existing coaxial networks to provide a Gbps ultra broadband experience to their customers and to compete with FTTH.

This early field test used the DOCSIS 3.1 compliant head end device of the Huawei Distributed-Converged Cable Access Platform (D-CCAP) solution, a Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) test platform provided by leading manufacturer ST Microelectronics, and was performed on the coaxial broadband network of TDC in Copenhagen. This early field test benefits from advanced DOCSIS 3.1 OFDM modulation and extra line signal gains supported by the distributed access architecture, resulting in downstream traffic rates reaching up to 840Mbps through using a 96 MHz band. The Huawei initiative D-CCAP solution enables the digital transformation of traditional Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS) networks, which reduces analog equipment and fiber investments. The D-CCAP can coexist with FTTH in unified platforms, increasing the flexibility of existing Hybrid Fiber Coaxial (HFC) architectures greatly.

TDC Group, a world leading telecom MSO operator, continues to lead in communication technology innovation. TDC deployed the first DOCSIS 1.0 network in Europe and plans to launch DOCSIS 3.1 in 2016, to provide download speeds of 1Gbit/s in order to meet customer's ultra-broadband service demands and maintain its top competitor position.

Peter Bukhave, Vice President of TV network development, TDC, said, "The success of this early field test confirms that moving to 1 Gbps speeds in the coaxial network is an optimal business opportunity with a promising timescales for a 2016 launch."

Wang Zhengan, President, Access Network Product Line, Huawei, said, "Huawei is aiming to be the top provider in DOCSIS 3.1 era. The success of the early field test proves Huawei's innovation capabilities in the DOCSIS industry and reflects the gains from Huawei's steady efforts in coaxial broadband domain. We are ready to work closely with carriers' MSO, including TDC, to promote the global DOCSIS 3.1 commercial use progress and meet MSOs' demands for building ultra-broadband networks."