Cable Modem

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Cable Modem

• Its Cable With A Twist

Presented by Swimming Mike Feb 18, 1999
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Agenda

• Technical issues
• introduction
• pros and cons
• standards
• Market issues
• market stats and projections
• major vendors
• related services and service providers
• cost analysis

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What is cable modem

• A modem used to connect a computer to Internet
  via cable system

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How does cable modem work

• Cable frequency allocation
• Downstream 27 to 36 Mbps per channel
• Upstream 500K to 10Mbps
• Cable modem connection
• 10Base-T Ethernet card with twisted-pair wiring
• Layer 1 2 (OSI) operations

5
42
50
56
62
68 . . . . .
700 (MHz)
Upstream
Downstream
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Cable network
Cable Headend system

• 500 to 5,000 home for each line

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Pros of cable connection

• High speed connectivity
• average 500K to 1Mbps downstream
• Constant connectivity
• Not tie up a telephone line

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Cons of cable connection

• Less performance when traffic load is high
• shared bandwidth
• Not ubiquitous availability
• upgrade to two-way connection
• Solutions
• allocate additional channel or subdivide cable
  network by more cable lines
• one-way connection

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One-way connection

• Downstream cable
• Upstream telephone line
• Pros
• get service rapidly without waiting
• save upgrade fee (200 - 250 per home)
• Cons
• not fast upstream
• no constant connectivity
• tie up a telephone line

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Standards

• IEEE 802.14
• by IEEE
• late 1997
• future-proof standard
• ATM cells
• not well supported

• DOCSIS
• by MCNS
• March 1997
• minimize product costs and time to market
• IP packets
• supported by major vendors

IEEE The Institute of Electronic and Electrical
Engineering DOCSIS Data Over Cable Service
Interface Specification MCNS Multimedia Cable
Network System
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North American 2-Way Cable Modem Subscriber
Projections 1997-2002
Source Kinetic Strategies Inc.
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North American 2-Way Cable ModemUnit Sales
Projections 1996-2000
Source Kinetic Strategies Inc.
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Market Forecast

• Major obstacles
• lack ubiquitous cable system plant upgrades
• only available to a minority of consumers for
  limited time
• heavy investment for two-way
• Tremendous market expansion
• fast throughput speeds
• reasonable pricing
• integrated content

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Major vendors
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Major service providers

• _at_Home Network
• served 330,000 cable modem subscribers as of
  January 1
• available to 11million homes passed in the U.S.
  and Canada
• Time Warner Cable two-way cable modem service to
  4.5 million households.
• MediaOne (formerly Continental Cablevision)

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Connection Services

• High-speed Internet access the dominant
  near-term service
• Streaming audio and video servers
• Local content (community information and
  services)
• CD-ROM servers

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Map of Services
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Cost to customers

• 40 - 60 per month for an Internet service
  package
• unlimited Internet access
• specialized content
• rental of a cable modem.
• Robust Internet service for about the cost of a
  dial-up account with
• a local Internet service provider
• a second telephone line
• Far better value than ISDN

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Conclusion Optimistic Forecast

• High speed and stable connectivity
• High convenience to customers
• Affordable price
• Wide selection of services