Formerly JDSU

Introduction to
DOCSIS 3.1
Larry Jump
SCTE
February 2017
814 692 4294
[email protected]
http://www.catvsupport.com/index3.html
TAC 866 228-3762 Option 3,1, 2
Thought you knew everything there is to
know about DOCSIS?

Buckle Up Kids!
Time to start all over again!
© 2015 Viavi Solutions, Inc. | Viavi Confidential and Proprietary Information 2
Agenda

 DOCSIS History
 Goals and Benefits of D 3.1
 Frequency Splits
 OFDM / OFDMA
 LDPC
 Physical Layer Channels
 Pilots
 Modulation Profiles
 Upstream
 Testing

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DOCSIS History

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DOCSIS History

 DOCSIS 3.0 August 2006

▫ Added IPV6 and multicast QoS
▫ Channel Bonding
▫ Kept old modulation formats and FEC

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DOCSIS 3.1

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DOCSIS 3.1 specifications cont.

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 Drivers for D3.1 – Other than Verizon & AT&T!

All Video on Demand

1000 Unicast per
Subscriber
900
High Definition Video
Megabits per Second

800 on Demand

700 Video Blogs

Podcasting
600
Video on Demand
500
Video Mail
400
Online Gaming
300 Digital Photos
200 VoIP
Digital Music
100 Web Browsing
E-mail

Time
8
Increased demand for Bandwidth
Adding bandwidth through two different ways
▫ Increasing Capacity by adding Megahertz – plant extensions
▫ Increasing efficiency by more bits/Hz – OFDM & LDPC
▫ Or both

Source: Jeff Finklestein, CED webinar 11/2013

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D3.1 Hurdles

 Clear large chunks of spectrum for OFDM carriers

 Converting to all digital carriers, eliminating analogs.
 Completely new standards with new requirements
 New Tools for testing and system monitoring
 Mid splits and Frequency extensions
 MoCA interference if extending downstream to 1.2 GHz
 Training

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Goals of 3.1

 Increase spectral efficiency (more bits / hertz)

 Increase speeds to10GBs downstream and 1GBs
upstream
 Adapts to different spectrum and plant conditions
 Easy migration from current version of DOCSIS
 Operates on existing HFC systems

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D 3.1 Key Features

 Expanded Bandwidth
 Advanced Modulation
 Better Error Correction
 Co Existence with legacy DOCSIS
 PNM Tools
 Energy Management
 Eliminates 6 and 8 MHz channel standards
NA and Europe now same standard
 Backward compatibility with older versions of DOCSIS

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Frequency Extensions

• 1.2GHZ
• DOCSIS 3.1 supports plant expansions to 1.2GHz. The
D3.1 CM & CMTS must support 1.2GHz
• 1.794 GHz
DS • DOCSIS 3.1 support for 1.7GHz is optional for the CM &
Extensions CMTS. be supported in a later version.

• 85MHz QAM or OFDM

• DOCSIS 3.1 supports 85 MHz upstream just like D3.0
• 117MHz – for OFDM
• DOCSIS 3.1 adds additional support for 117 MHz return
US • 204MHz – for OFDM
Extensions • DOCSIS 3.1 adds optional support for a 204MHz return

Source: Cable Labs, DOCSIS 3.1 specification

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 Expansion Summary

S S S S
D3.1 C C C C DOCSIS 3.1 DOCSIS 3.1 DOCSIS 3.1 DOCSIS 3.1
Q Q Q Q D3.1 OFDM-A
OFDM-A A A A A OFDM Carrier OFDM Carrier OFDM Carrier OFDM Carrier
M M M M

Upstream Downstream Optional

Downstream
5 MHz 42 MHz Expansion Expansion
Expansion
85 MHz 117 MHz 204 MHz 1000 MHz 1200 MHz 1700 MHz

 Frequency expansion desirable but not necessary

 Downstream OFDM carriers are from 24 MHz to 192
MHz wide
 Downstream expands to as far as 1.7 GHz
 Upstream OFDMA carriers are up to 2 96 MHz wide
carriers
 Upstream expands to as far as 204 MHz
 Coexistence with legacy carriers
 Typically <250 end devices per node
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Some Mid Split Issues to ponder

 D3.1 modems transmit up to 65 dBmV

▫ Home splitter isolation
 TV IF 41 – 47 MHz
▫ Tuner RF isolation
 FM band ingress in the return path
 Signal egress in the aeronautical band from the upstream
carriers
 Downstream OOB STB carriers
 Upstream Tilt and Equalization

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DOCSIS 3.0 / 3.1 Speeds and Frequencies

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New Carriers – OFDM & OFDM-A

OFDM Legacy DOCSIS SC-QAM

• Orthogonal Frequency
Division Multiplexing
• Multi-Carrier Technology
• Composed of “Subcarriers”
• FFT-Based Implementation
6MHz

192MHz Source: Arris, CED DOCSIS 3.1 webinar 11/2013

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Why OFDM?

 OFDM has been around for a while and is a proven

technology
 OFDM carriers can be from 24 to 192 MHz wide in 6 MHz
increments.
 Up to 5 192 MHz wide carriers
 Longer Symbol Times
 Better spectrum efficiency
▫ Carriers up to the edge of the channel and no guard bands
 Better spectrum utilization through bit loading
 Flexible Modulation schemes
▫ Different modulation schemes based on cable modem performance
▫ Level of Modulation is based on MER at the CPE

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OFDM
Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing
 OFDM uses individual narrowband sub-carriers
 Sub carriers can be spaced at either 25 or 50 KHz in the downstream.
Or there could be as many as 8000 sub-carriers spaced at 25 KHz
each within a 192 MHz wide downstream carrier.
 For even greater spectral efficiency, these subcarriers actually overlap
in spectrum.
 Each sub carrier can be turned off where there are interference issues
or legacy carriers are present.
 Each sub carrier has it’s own modulation level
 Guard bands are eliminated therefore we gain bandwidth and can
transmit more bits per hertz.
 The carriers are distinguishable from each other because they are
mathematically orthogonal, meaning non-interfering.
 Sub carrier frequencies are chosen with the exact minimum spacing
that make them orthogonal.
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Instantaneous Inverse Fast Fourier Transform

𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 𝑋𝑋
• A rectangular pulse in terms of time transforms into a carrier in
𝑋𝑋
the frequency domain
𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 𝑋𝑋
• The carrier has regularly spaced nulls in the frequency domain
𝑋𝑋

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OFDM

Blue – 1 cycle per time period

Green – 2 cycles per time period
Red - 3 cycles per time period Sub carrier spacing is
Equal to 1/TFFT

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Subcarrier Modulation
 Subcarriers can be defined to be on either a 25kHz spacing or a 50kHz spacing
 For a 192MHz OFDM carrier this means there are either
▫ 4096 subcarriers – 50kHz spacing, 4k FFT
▫ 8192 subcarriers – 25kHz spacing, 8k FFT
 Each of these subcarriers can have a different order of QAM modulation

DS Data Modulation
Formats
16-QAM
64-QAM
128-QAM BPSK and QPSK are used for the
256-QAM PLC and NCP only
512-QAM
1024-QAM
2048-QAM
4096-QAM
8192-QAM - Optional
16384-QAM - Optional

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OFDM Sub Carriers

• Requires tight timing and frequency synchronization between transmitter

and receiver!

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Advantages - Variable Bit Loading

 Simply means that different levels of QAM can be

assigned to individual sub carriers.
 Higher orders of QAM carry more bits/hertz
▫ 256 QAM is 8 bits/symbol
▫ 4096 QAM is 12 bits/symbol
 Different Bit Loading with different Modulation Profiles
 Use higher order of QAM with better plant performance

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Constellation

256 QAM 4096 QAM

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Advantages - More Bits per Hertz

No wasted bandwidth with guard bands in OFDM.

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Advantages - OFDM has Longer Symbol Times

• Narrower Sub-Carriers mean longer symbol times

• Symbol Time of a 192 MHz wide carrier has a symbol time of about 80
µSec. A 6 MHz single 256 QAM carrier has a .2 µSec symbol time.
• As an example, reflections separated by 100’ have a reflection time of
.234 µSec. That easily interferes with a .2 µSec symbol whereas not
so much with an 40 µSec symbol time.
• Benefits of longer symbol times
• Easier interleaving and error control coding
• Better resilience against micro reflections
• Better resilience against upstream bursts and impulse noise

www.viavisolutions.com © 2016 Viavi Solutions Inc. 28

 Modulation – SC QAM
One Symbol, 8 bits for 256 QAM
860 MHz
V I A V I
CH 78
6MHz
F
r CH 79
e
q CH 80

u CH 81
48MHz
e
n CH 82

c
CH 83
y
CH 84

50 MHz CH 85
Time
Time
• Dedicated 6MHz Channels (8MHz in EMEA)
• Each Frequency behaves independently
• Symbols happen sequentially within the channel
• Modulation is optimized for the worst part of the plant
• Each symbol is about 2 µSec in duration
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 OFDM – Orthogonal Frequency Domain Multiplexing
Subcarriers and symbols
Cyclic Prefix Time

One symbol is up to ≈ 98,000 bits L CP-Time between

A U
symbolsS
25 kHz

192 MHz T
1 Symbol
V I
I O
192MHz
I

S
O
N

One Symbol 40 µSeconds

• OFDM uses 25kHz or 50kHz subcarriers spread across the entire bandwidth of the carrier
•Time In the above example, a 192MHz OFDM Carrier w/ 25kHz spacing, there are 8000 subcarriers
• All subcarriers are time synchronized across the entire bandwidth of the carrier
• Each subcarrier has its own modulation type (64 QAM, 256 QAM, 1024 QAM, 4096 QAM etc)
• Demodulation is FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) based so time synch is critical
• Codewords are spread across multiple subcarriers and multiple time slots (symbols)

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Exclusions

Time
• OFDM allows for the ability to exclude specific subcarriers.
• At least 2 MHz of data spectrum between Exclusion Bands
• Exclusion bands must be at least 1 MHz wide and less than 20% of the OFDM
carrier spectrum.

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DOCSIS 3.1 Downstream Profiles

Tailor profiles to account for

SNR differences in the plant

Worst – (mostly 256 QAM)

Avg. – (mostly 1024 QAM)
Better (mostly 2048 QAM)
Best (mostly 4096 QAM)
Some CM’s can do
better than others – so
Worst Avg. Better Best let them
Net capacity is higher than the
“least common denominator”

• Profiles maximize traffic capabilities over varying plant conditions

• Modifies the bit loading on each sub-carrier
• Maximizes data efficiency

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Required Minimum SNR for different orders of QAM

Order of QAM Minimum MER SNR Range

Threshold
4096 36 dB >38
2048 33 dB 35-38 dB
1024 30 dB 32-35 dB
512 27 dB 29-32 dB
256 24 dB 15-29 dB

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Downstream Profiles
• A profile is a list of modulations that are used for the subcarriers within an OFDM
Channel. Determines Bit Loading of the each of the sub carriers.
• The downstream can use different profiles for different groups of CM’s.
• Typically, a group of CM’s that have similar SNR performance will be grouped into
the same profile

Profile A
Profile B
Profile C
Profile D

• Profile A: This is the boot profile that a CM first receives when it is initializing
• All CM’s have to be able to receive Profile A
• Additional profiles will utilize higher modulations
• The overall network efficiency and capacity goes up with more customers
being able to utilize the higher profiles

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How are Profiles Established?

• Not addressed by the D3.1 specifications

Static
• Operators configure Profiles in the CMTS
• Manually done by known plant and modem performance
• Duplicate Profiles from other markets
• Helper functions from CMTS manufacturers or 3rd party vendors
Dynamic
• As PNM data is analyzed and Profiles are changed based on CM
performance
• Profiles vary slowly, not intended to handle short term events
• If a single modem has a problem, then that modem moves to a lower
Profile
• If many modems have a problem, the profile is changed

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 Legend
Modulation Profiles – basic concept 256 QAM
1024 QAM
Simplified for conceptual purposes 2048 QAM
Profile D Profile C Profile B Profile A
4096 QAM

Freq

Time
For simplicity sake, let’s assume that the profiles use the same
modulation for all subcarriers.

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 Legend
256 QAM
Profiles – realistic concept
1024 QAM
Simplified for conceptual purposes 2048 QAM
Profile B Profile A
4096 QAM
Profile D Profile C

OFDM allows for the ability to exclude specific subcarriers. It also allows each
Time

profile to vary the modulation on each subcarrier.

This allows the ability to optimize the overall carrier performance. Each profile
have the same exclusions.
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LDPC Error Coding

Source: Arris, CED DOCSIS 3.1 webinar 11/2013

Low Density Parity Check

(LDPC) Forward Error
Correction:
LDPC provides
Previously too complex to ≈5 dB of SNR gain
implement
Effectively gets:
Gets more bits/Hz 1024 QAM where
256 QAM with RS
Source: Cable Congress 2013: HFC Readiness for DOCSIS 3.1 Kabel
Deutschland
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 Forward Error Correction LDPC
• Instead of adding bits for RS, now there are codes at the end of a number
of bits with position of the 1s in the row.

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Error Correction – LDPC
Low Density Parity Check

• LPDC does add to the bandwidth

In the downstream, LDPC uses 16,200 bit codewords.

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DOCSIS 3.1 Spectrum and Different Sub Carrier Types

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Sub Carrier Parameters

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Physical Link Channel (PLC)

 PLCs are sub carriers known to the cable modem and carry information
about the downstream Physical Layer.
▫ Timestamp
▫ Energy management
▫ Trigger message for synchronizing an event between the CMTS and
CM.
▫ Message channel for bringing new CMs on line.
 Either 8 with 50 KHz or 16 with 25 KHz sub carriers wide and total 400
KHz within the OFDM carrier
 With surrounding Continuous Pilots a total of 6 MHz wide
 Placed in within the carrier, but not necessarily at the center
 Preamble is BPSK and the PLC itself is 16 QAM for robustness
 No exclusions in PLC bandwidth
 Without the PLC aquistion, the modem cannot decode data from the
CMTS

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 OFDM – PLC over several symbols

One symbol is up to ≈ 98,000 bits CP-Time between

symbols
25 kHz

192 MHz
1 Symbol

192MHz

 400 KHz PLC surrounding by Continuous Pilots, 6 MHz wide total

Time
 PLC contains MAC Management Messages, MMMs:
▫ OFDM Channel Descriptors
▫ UCDs Upstream Channel Descriptors
▫ MAPs Bandwidth Allocation Messages
▫ DPDs Downstream Profile Descriptors
▫ ODS OFDM Spectrum Descriptors

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NCP – Next Codeword Pointer

 When data codewords are mapped to subcarriers within a symbol, a

pointer is needed to identify where a data codewords start.
 The Main task of the NCP message block is to provide a reference to
the appropriate profile and a start pointer for codewords.
 The NCP MUST use one of three modulation formats

NCP # of Subcarriers
Modulation
QPSK 24
16-QAM 12
It is critical that the NCP does
64-QAM 8
not have uncorrectable code
word errors.

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NCP – Next Codeword Pointer
• OFDM maps codewords, to subcarriers within and across different symbols.
• To perform this a pointer is needed to identify where a data codewords start.
• This is known as the Next Codeword Pointer (NCP)
• There are a variable number of NCP message blocks (MBs) on each OFDM
symbol

NCP NCP NCP NCP Null Null

NCP NCP

NCP
CW
C

CW
CW
B
D

CW
C
CW
A
CW
B
CW CW
D D
CW
D

CW
B
CW
C
CW CW
A C

Freq

Time www.viavisolutions.com © 2016 Viavi Solutions Inc. 46

Continuous Pilots
pilot

pilot

pilot

pilot

PLC
pilot

pilot

pilot

pilot

Time
• There are 8 Continuous Pilots within the 6 MHz BW of the PLC to
make it easy for the modems to find the PLC
• The CPs are used for receiver (cable modem) synchronization of
frequency and phase.

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Continuous Pilots
PLC Surrounded by
Continuous Pilots

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Scattered Pilots

• There are also Scattered Pilots spaced

at every 128 sub carriers
• Pilots are staggered from one symbol
to the next
• The modems use the scattered pilots
estimate carrier performance (latency,
attenuation, phase shifts)
• They are used to estimate frequency
response for equalization
• They measure noise power and MER to
determine level of QAM or Profile

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Cyclic Prefix

• The data from the end of each symbol is added to the time
period of the beginning of the symbol.
• The time duration of the CP should longer than the time of the
longest significant reflection.
• The CP does add overhead to the OFDM carriers

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 Cyclic Prefix- data from the end of the symbol added to
the beginning

One symbol is up to ≈ 98,000 bits CP-Time between

symbols
25 kHz

192 MHz
1 Symbol

192MHz

Time

Cyclic Prefix prepended to time in between symbols

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Windowing

• Simply put it is a raised cosine filter that determines how the carrier rolls
off at the beginning and end of the carrier. Also at the beginning and end
of exclusions
• The roll off must be integrated within the duration of the CP
• Windowing provides resilience against narrow band interference.

Source Rhode and Schwartz

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Active Queue Management

 Increases operator’s ability to improve customer’s QoE by

moving packets more efficiency.
 Boosts responsiveness for gamers and other web
applications by reducing latency
 Actively manages data passing through the network and
optimizes cable modem buffer usage.

© 2015 Viavi Solutions, Inc. | Viavi Confidential and Proprietary Information 53

OFDM and Adaptive Equalization

• Another major advantage of OFDM is the ability to adapt to

degraded conditions such as micro-reflections without the
need for complex adaptive equalization.
• OFDM uses a very narrow bandwidth subcarrier typically
experiences what is known as “flat fading” when micro-
reflections affect channel response.
• This is in contrast to a 6 MHz wide QAM carrier and is
susceptible to amplitude ripple (standing waves) across the
entire bandwidth.
• Each OFDM subcarrier “sees” a tiny portion of the ripple, that
affects only the amplitude of the narrow subcarrier.
• Since the subcarriers are so narrow, we can simply attenuate
individual sub carriers accordingly as opposed to a complex
AE
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OFDM and Equalization

Simple attenuators for each

25 KHz sub-carrier replace
complex wideband AEs

Complex single Adaptive EQ

For a 6 MHz wide carrier

Frequency

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Time and Frequency Interleaving

• Frequency Interleaving minimizes the effects of narrowband

interference
• Errors are distributed over multiple sub carriers
• Performed at sub carrier level
• Time Interleaving minimizes the effects of impulse noise
• Errors on a single symbol are distributed on multiple OFDM
symbols
• Performed at the sub carrier level

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 Time Interleaving

Non-Interleaved

A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 A6 A7 A8
A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 A6 A7 A8

B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 B6 B7 B8 T

C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8
A1 B1 C1 D1 A2 B2 C2 D2

D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 D6 D7 D8 T

Interleaved

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Time and Frequency Interleaving
Time Interleaving helps with wideband burst noise
Frequency interleaving helps with ingress and interfering carriers
Time
Frequency

No Frequency Time Time and Frequency

Interleaving Interleaving Interleaving Interleaving

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Downstream Conclusions

• OFDM Modulation
• System optimized for simplicity and efficiency
• Frequency agility allows for exclusions due to interferers
and legacy channels
• Ideal modulation scheme that provides maximum data
efficiency
• Multi-Profile architecture to match CM MER distribution
• Improved error correction, LPDC, provides higher orders
of modulation with the same CNR

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Upstream OFDMA

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Upstream OFDMA Parameters

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Upstream Carriers

 Remember that in the upstream the carriers will be wider than the normal 6 MHz
bandwidth and that power levels will need to be modified to reflect the change in
BW.

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OFDM-A overlay in upstream

Source: Cisco, John Chapman, CED DOCSIS 3.1 webinar 11/2013

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OFDM-A – Frames and MiniSlots

T sym
Mini Slot
…
25 kHz

Mini Slot
2 1
Frame Frame 2 Frame .. Frame N

96MHz
Mini Slot
1

Time

• Symbols are grouped into frames – configurable from 6-32 symbols

• Subcarriers are grouped into mini-slots
• Must be either 8 or 16 subcarriers per mini-slot
• Subcarriers can be bit-loaded from QPSK to 4096 QAM

www.viavisolutions.com © 2016 Viavi Solutions Inc. 64

 OFDM-A – Exclusions and Unused
Excluded
Unused
Used

25 kHz

Mini Slot
2
96MHz

Mini Slot 1

Time

• Excluded frequencies occur between mini-slots.

• Unused frequencies may be defined and occur between mini-slots.
• Unused carriers are used for pilot transmit probes for PNM
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Upstream Multiple Modulation Profiles

• Different modems have different MERs at the CMTS

• In D3, the modem with the lowest MER normally dictates the highest level of
upstream QAM or the highest speed capability
• D3.1 will provide multiple modulation profiles so that each modem will be able to
transmit at it’s highest QAM modulation profile
• Profiles are assigned at registration
• Profiles can be dynamically changed using UCD change procedure
• Operators can tailor profiles to meet plant conditions
• Profiles are not unique to each modem

www.viavisolutions.com © 2016 Viavi Solutions Inc. 66

Upstream Pilots

• Upstream Pilots are subcarriers that do not carry data.

• Instead a pilot subcarrier encodes a pre-defined BPSK symbol
known to the CMTS.
• Pilots are used by the CMTS receiver to adapt to channel
conditions and frequency offsets.
• Complementary pilots are subcarriers that carry data, but with a
lower modulation order than other data subcarriers.
• The CMTS may use the complementary pilots to enhance its
processing and accuracy

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Upstream Pre Equalization

 One equalization coefficient per sub-carrier

 CMTS evaluates and determines EQ adjustments
 CMTS sends EQ adjustments to the cable modem
 Increases the accuracy of PNM distance measurements from
several feet to a few inches.

© 2015 Viavi Solutions, Inc. | Viavi Confidential and Proprietary Information 68

Upstream Conclusions

 OFDMA is:
▫ Robust:
 Profiles fit system performance
 Interleaving
 LPDC
 Minislots and Framing
▫ Flexible
 Different levels of QAM and bonding
 Works with legacy upstreams
 Exclusions
 Transmits at the same frequencies as legacy carriers during time
periods when they aren’t being used.
▫ Up to 2 96 MHz wide carriers with up to 200MHz upstream bandwidth

© 2015 Viavi Solutions, Inc. | Viavi Confidential and Proprietary Information 69

Testing what
matters in D3.1

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DOCSIS 3.0 Testing at the CM and CMTS

• CMs and CMTSs were not designed to be test equipment but

we did get……
• Spectrum Analysis at both the CM and CMTS
• Pre EQ coefficients that aid in troubleshooting (PNM tools)
• In D 3.1 measurements from the CMTS and CMs are
specified.

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DOCSIS 3.1 Testing
• In 3.1, CMs and CMTSs are specified to act as test equipment
• Adds:
• NPR testing on the downstream and upstream. (Like IUC)
• Visibility of LTE
• Intermodulation Products
• Downstream Ingress
• Constellation and MER measurements
• Increased accuracy of Pre EQ taps
• Taps go from 400 KHz to 50 KHz increasing the accuracy
of PNM calculated distances by 8 times.
• Upstream and Downstream Channel Estimates
• The CMTS and CM remember every symbol it transmits
• The transmitted symbols can then be compared to what is
received and a sweep trace can be produced.

www.viavisolutions.com © 2016 Viavi Solutions Inc. 72

Remote PNM Diagnostic Tool

Please note that in this example, the existing four-port tap faceplate displayed in
the white area is replaced by a new faceplate that has the existing tap structure in
white but also the new forward and reverse test taps as displayed in the yellow
area. Spliced in each leg of a node or within the housing.itself.
Source: Jack Moran
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Modem Pre EQ Proactive Network
Maintenance

 PNM Identifies modems with poor upstream performance

and separates modems with different issues.

© 2015 Viavi Solutions, Inc. | Viavi Confidential and Proprietary Information 74

Downstream Spectrum Analysis at the Cable Modem

© 2015 Viavi Solutions, Inc. | Viavi Confidential and Proprietary Information 75

Downstream Spectrum Anomalies at the Cable Modem

© 2015 Viavi Solutions, Inc. | Viavi Confidential and Proprietary Information 76

Symbol Capture

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Notch Filter Testing at the CMTS (NPR)

Uses Exclusion Bands to test for

upstream dynamic range

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 Important D3.1 Field Measurements
• Downstream
• Physical Layer
• Power Levels of the carrier
• MER across the carrier
• Noise Profiles under the carrier
• PLC
• Channel Lock
• Codeword Errors
• NCP
• Channel Lock
• Codeword Errors
• Profiles
• Profile A: Lock and Codeword Errors
• Every modem needs to receive Profile A so there should be no
uncorrectable CWE
• Other Profiles: Lock and Codeword Errors
• The higher performance tiers will want to run on better profiles
www.viavisolutions.com © 2016 Viavi Solutions Inc. 79
What is important to test and measure on DOCSIS 3.1

• Service Layer
• Registration and Bonding
• Did it register and come on line as 3.1?
• Are the 3.1 OFDM carriers active and bonded?
• Upstream
• Carrier Power levels
• Bonding – Am I getting the bonding I expected
• ICFR – In Channel Frequency Response of each carrier

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Testing the OFDM Building Blocks

Profiles B,C,D… enable higher

modulations for greater efficiency

The OFDM avg. power needs to be

within range. Good MER and lack of
noise enable higher modulations

Profile A is the Boot profile. ALL 3.1

modems must be able to use profile A

The NCP (Next Channel Pointer) tells the

modem which Codewords (CW) are present
on which profile to use on each CW

The PLC contains the critical information on how

to decode the OFDM signal

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DOCSIS Codewords

• In our example, each code word consists of 128 RS symbols. 122 of those
symbols carry data. The remaining 6 symbols are used for error correction.
-ITU-T J.83, Annex B states that the data is “…encoded using a (128,122) code
over GF(128)…” which shows each RS codeword consists of 128 RS symbols
(first number in first parentheses) and the number of data symbols per RS
codeword is 122 (second number in first parentheses), leaving six symbols per
RS codeword for error correction.
• DOCSIS RS FEC is configured for what is known as “t = 3,” which means that the
6 FEC can fix up to any three errored RS symbols in a RS codeword.

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DOCSIS Downstream Codewords

• In DOCSIS Reed Solomon FEC, 7 bits = 1 RS symbol, and 128 RS

symbols = 1 RS codeword

0 1 1 0 0 1 0

7 bits = 1 RS symbol

RS symbol #1 RS symbol #2 RS symbol #3 RS symbol #4 RS symbol #127 RS symbol #128

128 RS symbols = 1 RS codeword

In each RS codeword: 122 RS symbols = data symbols, 6 RS symbols = parity symbols

Source Ron Hranac

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Codeword Errors

• What happens when there is, say, a burst of noise that causes a bit error or
errors in one RS symbol?
• It doesn’t matter to the RS decoder if one bit in that RS symbol is errored or
all seven bits are errored—the entire symbol is considered broken.

= good RS symbol

= errored RS symbol

= errored RS symbol

= errored RS symbol

Source Ron Hranac

www.viavisolutions.com © 2016 Viavi Solutions Inc. 85
Codeword Errors

• With a RS FEC configuration of “t = 3” the FEC decoder can fix up to any 3

errored symbols in a RS codeword

128 RS symbols = 1 RS codeword

This is a correctable codeword error

 When there are more than 3 errored symbols in a codeword the entire

codeword is errored

This is an uncorrectable codeword error

Source Ron Hranac
www.viavisolutions.com © 2016 Viavi Solutions Inc. 86
Testing the OFDM Building Blocks
PLC – Phy Link Channel

The PLC contains the CRITICAL

information on how to decode the OFDM
signal

Things to Check:
Uncorrectable CWE: NONE
Lock Status: Locked
MER: > 15dB (min)
Level: > -15dBmV (6MHz)
Other info: PLC Center Freq

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Testing the OFDM Building Blocks
Next Codeword Pointer

The NCP (Next Channel Pointer) tells the modem

where Codewords (CW) start and which profile to use
on each CW

They are CRITICAL for proper data communication

Things to Check:
Uncorrectable CWE: NONE
Lock Status: Locked

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Testing the OFDM Building Blocks
Profile A
Profile is the cornerstone for a D3.1 modem to
actually operate on the OFDM carrier. This is where
the command and control, range and registration
occurs.

In practice Profile A may be assigned lower mixed

modulations like QAM 64/16 so every 3.1 modem can
communicate. Lower modulation profiles can operate
at lower MER/CNR and power levels.

Profile A is the Boot profile. ALL 3.1

modems must be able to use profile A

If Profile A isn’t
locked or has
Things to Check: Uncorrectable.
CWE the modem
Uncorrectable CWE: NONE
may roll back and
Lock Status: Locked use only SC-
QAM’s in 3.0 mode

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How to set the level of a D3.1 OFDM carrier

SC-QAM DOCSIS 3.1 OFDM Carrier DOCSIS 3.1 OFDM Carrier

DOCSIS 3.1 OFDM carrier power levels should be measured and referenced in comparison to the power in a
6MHz carrier.

In a flat system, the average power of the OFDM, referenced to a 6MHz carrier should be set to the same
power level as the adjacent QAM 256 carriers.

NOTE: The TOTAL power of the OFDM carrier is greatly different than the average power in a 6MHz bandwidth.

Total Power = Total Power PER Channel (6MHz) + 10log10(Channel Bandwidth).

Where Channel Bandwidth would be overall OFDM Bandwidth/6MHz channel bandwidth = # of 6MHz Channels
for a 96MHz wide OFDM carrier the TOTAL power will be 12.04dB higher
for a 192 MHz wide OFDM carrier the TOTAL power will be 15.05dB higher

NOTE: DON’T USE THE TOTAL OFDM POWER to ADJUST CMTS OUTPUT POWER
(This would be like using the total integrated power of 32 DOCSIS QAM carriers to set the level)

Single 6MHz channel power = 5 dBmV

Total Power(96MHz channel) = 5dBmV + 10log10(16) = 5 + 12.04 = 17.04dBmV
This is what some spectrum analyzers (like R&S FSW) show –
total power of 96MHz wide carrier: This is not referenced to a 6MHz carrier
www.viavisolutions.com © 2016 Viavi Solutions Inc. 90
 Measuring Channel Power

• Using a OneExpert CATV (ONX-620) to set power levels

Select the OFDM carrier in

the cover flow

Look at the average Level

of the OFDM Carrier

The Level should be set

similar to the power of the
6MHz SC-QAM’s
eg. All at 10dBmV

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 Testing the OFDM Building Blocks

Profiles B,C,D… enable higher

modulations for greater efficiency

TAP Ground Block Outlet/CPE

Profile Uncorrectable Profile Uncorrectable Profile Uncorrectable

Locked? CWE Locked? CWE Locked CWE

Profile A YES NO YES NO YES NO
Profile B YES NO YES NO NO YES
Profile C YES NO YES YES NO YES
Profile D YES NO NO YES NO YES

Profile changes highlight problems in

drop and or home wiring:
Things to Check:
Higher profiles makes the network more Uncorrectable CWE: Varies
efficient. It is desirable to get as many Lock Status: Locked
modems running on higher profiles for
overall network efficiency and customer
quality of experience
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Testing the OFDM Building Blocks
CodeWord Error Expectations and Impact
Profiles B,C,D… enable higher
modulations for greater efficiency

The OFDM avg. power needs to be within

range. Good MER and lack of noise
enable higher modulations

Profile A is the Boot profile. ALL 3.1

modems must be able to use profile A

The NCP (Next Channel Pointer) tells the modem

which Codewords (CW) are present on which
profile to use on each CW

The PLC contains the critical information on how to

decode the OFDM signal

Component Importance Code Word Error expectations and impact

PLC Critical Should have 0 Uncorrectable CWE otherwise OFDM may not work

NCP Critical Should have 0 Uncorrectable CWE otherwise OFDM may not work

Profile A Critical Uncorrectable CWE will cause poor QOE and possibly make the OFDM carrier
unusable forcing data to regular QAM carriers instead of OFDM

Profile B,C,D High Uncorrectable CWE will affect bandwidth and overall QOE

www.viavisolutions.com © 2016 Viavi Solutions Inc. 93

Service Testing
DOCSIS 3.1 Range, Register and BONDING

Things to Check:
Channel Bonding with OFDM
Upstream Bonding

Since a D3.1 modem is backward compatible, it can

utilize just the 3.0 QAM carriers. By ensuring that
the service is bonding with the OFDM carriers or
using the OFDM carriers it validates that the high
data customer will be working on the more efficient
OFDM carriers and not impacting other customers.

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DOCSIS 3.1 Testing
Signal Testing and Troubleshooting
Signal Testing
Looking a the MER across the entire
list of subcarriers is important in order
to identify potential impairments that
affect the ability to carry higher level Unstable MER with drops below 30 means
only the lower profiles running 256 QAM or
profiles lower will work

Stable MER better than 40dB means

QAM 2048 and 4096 will work

Spectrum and Noise identify portions of

the carrier where degradation may occur
Profiles may need to adjust for this

In-Channel Response identifies roll-off

and excessive ripple

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Service Testing
Throughput DOCSIS 3.1 systems can provide 1Gb/s or
greater.

Validating that the network and service can

Download Speeds
operate at the subscribed rates is important to
verify customer experience.

Testing at the DOCSIS service layer identifies

1Gb/s
960Mb/s RF impacts on the overall performance

Being able to test both DOCSIS service and

0 Gb/s Ethernet helps ensure customers’ QOE.

Many consumer grade PC’s have hardware

limitations that prevent them from testing up to
1Gb/s. Having a test device that can test both
the DOCSIS layer and Ethernet Layer to
1Gb/s helps distinguish between service
problems or equipment problems.

www.viavisolutions.com © 2016 Viavi Solutions Inc. 96

3.1 testing summary

• PLC and NCP have to be locked and have no uncorrectable codeword errors
before CMTS and modems can communicate
• Profile A must also be locked and have no uncorrectable codeword errors as the
CM uses Profile A to range and register with the CMTS
• Power levels need to be equated to SC QAM carriers in a 6 MHz bandwidth
• Profiles can be checked between location
• Look for bonding with legacy DOCSIS carriers
• Check for ICFR and variations in MER
• Throughput

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Thank You
Questions?

www.viavisolutions.com
 References
• “What is OFDM?,” Ron Hranac. Communications Technologies, Nov 2012,
• http://www.scte.org/TechnicalColumns/12-11-30%20what%20is%20ofdm.pdf
• “Modern Modulation and Multiplexing,” Daniel Howard, CTO SCTE.
• SCTE Live Learning Archives
• http://www.scte.org/TechnicalColumns/12-11-30%20what%20is%20ofdm.pdf
• “DOCSIS 3.1 Plans and Strategies,” Patricio Latino, Cable Consultant,
• SCTE Live Learning Webinar 12/18/13
• “Compatibility and Interference Issues on Migration to Mid-Split and High-Split,”
• Alberto Campos and Tom Williams, CableLabs, Presented at SCTE Tech Expo 2012
• “DOCSIS 3.1 Overview,” Ahyam Al-Banna, Ph.D, Staff Systems Architect, Arris
• “Testing in 3.1,” Brady Volpe, The Volpe Firm, Broadband Library
• “DOCSIS 3.1 Pocket Guide,” CableLabs
• “DOCSIS 3.1 App Note”, Rhode and Schwartz, http://cdn.rohde-
schwarz.com/pws/dl_downloads/dl_application/application_notes/7mh89/7MH89_0E.pdf
• DOSCIS 3.1: Cable Tackles the Gigabit Challenge, SCTE white paper,
http://www.scte.org/SCTEDocs/WhitePapers/DOCSIS_3.1_Initiative_WhitePaper.pdf
• The Volpe Firm Website!!!

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