TECHNICAL
Figure 4. Software Network Functions in Wireline and Wireless Networks
such heavy data bandwidth users for cable service providers.
Once the heavy users on a DOCSIS R-PHY device are identified, a Harmonic Fin OLT Plug SFP+ can be installed in one of the Harmonic node’s Ethernet ports. This simple approach allows the MSO to convert their existing R-PHY nodes into a PON OLT without the need of additional equipment installation, greatly reducing the barrier of entry to PON in a brownfield deployment. As the highest consumers of data bandwidth are slowly transferred to a PON fibre network, that newly installed fibre now passes additional homes and businesses, further expanding the potential customer base for PON services. The DOCSIS to PON offload may be controlled in software at the head-end with minimal change to the existing platform which is already providing the vCMTS function in software. Cable providers can now solve the data bandwidth problem by guaranteeing higher bandwidth for their top users while actually improving access for the other subscribers in their area. This approach also has the significant advantage of extending the longevity of the existing DOCSIS network infrastructure without wholesale changes. The PON offload is essentially made possible by adding OLT forwarding and control software on the Intel-powered MSO head end servers and inserting the Fin OLT Plug in one of the Harmonic cOS Pebble R-PHY Ethernet ports which is in turn connected by optical fibre to the home of targeted subscribers.
Figure 5. The Network Platform Transformation Journey
a better overall service to meet subscriber data bandwidth needs, cable operators can gain a competitive advantage. Figure 6 below shows a specific example where dominant traffic streams are from a small number of subscribers. This small group of users is responsible for the majority of the traffic in a service group. This small group of users is responsible for consuming the majority of the data bandwidth available to the service group, thus limiting the amount of bandwidth available to other users. This is typically addressed by splitting a fibre node, which carries additional expense to the operator. In some cases this approach may also fail to address the problem as the heavy users are still present in the newly split node. The DOCSIS to PON offload methodology illustrated in Figure 6 provides a very good way of resolving the dilemma of managing
as containerisation with Kubernetes orchestration in a micro-services architecture. This network transformation journey, shown in Figure 4 below, has enabled adoption of a spectrum of deployment models and evolving technologies. MSO’s can now benefit from improved efficiency with reduction of space and lower power consumption, as well as easier maintenance and upgrades with granular scalability. The flexibility of a cloud-native NFV deployment also helps consolidate software solutions with co-located network functions.
A Unified Approach to DOCSIS and PON
Since DAA facilitates the meshing together of DOCSIS and PON to provide
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