Comcast, Broadcom chip in to unify DOCSIS 4.0

In a move that could remedy the bifurcation that has muddied the start of cable's DOCSIS 4.0 era, Comcast and Broadcom said they are collaborating on new, unified chipsets that support the two flavors of D4.0 – Full Duplex (FDX) and Extended Spectrum DOCSIS (ESD).

Comcast and Broadcom said the work will result in the first family of silicon to support both options, complementing Broadcom's original work focused on separate chips supporting either ESD or FDX.

That collaboration will focus not only on a new chip for DOCSIS 4.0 modems, gateways and other customer premises equipment (CPE), but also silicon for network components such as nodes and amplifiers, company officials said.

The unified approach will also drive "economies of scale as well as a common retail modem for the industry," Rich Nelson, SVP and GM of Broadcom's Broadband Video Group, said in a statement.

Comcast and Broadcom timed the announcement with this week's SCTE Cable-Tec Expo in Denver.

Trials in early 2024

Comcast and Broadcom expect the new silicon to be ready for trials in early 2024, with commercial deployments on live networks to get underway before the end of 2024.

Broadcom, the companies confirmed, will take the lead in marketing and selling those chips to operators and vendors as the industry makes a wide transition to DOCSIS 4.0. Comcast declined to comment on how the operator will benefit financially from industry adoption of the new unified D4.0 chipsets.

D4.0 optionality

Though the addition of ESD in the new chipsets opens up its options, Comcast said it will continue to focus on FDX for its upgrade to DOCSIS 4.0 and that the work on the new unified chip will not stop or slow down its D4.0 rollout. Comcast kicked off its D4.0 deployment last week, offering symmetrical speeds up to 2 Gbit/s in parts of Colorado Springs. Comcast D4.0 launches in portions of Atlanta and Philadelphia are on deck.

"Comcast is focused on FDX for DOCSIS 4.0, not ESD," the company noted in a statement. FDX, the company added, "offers a more robust, more cost effective, less operationally complex and faster to roll out option."

But Comcast stressed that the work with Broadcom creates "optionality" as operators weigh their approach to D4.0 without requiring two different chipsets. "We hope that it will greatly help to accelerate the industry’s path to D4.0," the Comcast official added.

Access to the new, unified chips will be somewhat limited in the early going. According to multiple industry sources, access to Broadcom's new D4.0 technology initially is limited to operators that have signed a Joint Development Agreement (JDA) that includes certain volume commitments and funding toward the development of the new product set. Comcast, Charter Communications, Cox Communications, Liberty Global and Rogers Communications have all signed those JDAs, industry sources said.

"Initially resources will be focused on development partners getting to market, followed later by the general market," Broadcom told Light Reading.

Notably, MaxLinear, Broadcom's rival in the D4.0 world, just introduced the Puma 8, a DOCSIS 4.0 modem chipset that only supports ESD. MaxLinear says it will not require any "restrictive" JDAs just to gain access to its tech. "It's a come-one, come-all situation," Will Torgerson, VP and GM of MaxLinear's Broadband Business Unit, told Light Reading. "There's no restrictions on who we're going to work with."

Focus on AI and ML

Emphasizing improved service and network reliability, the collaboration between Comcast and Broadcom will also center on embedding artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies and network diagnostic capabilities inside those nodes, modems and amps, targeting improved operations and the automation of more functions. Those capabilities will tap into telemetry data to enhance network and in-home monitoring and, more broadly, detect network-related issues, the companies said.

"With this new Unified DOCSIS4 chipset from Broadcom, we can broadly deploy transformational AI network capabilities alongside symmetrical multi-gig speeds," Elad Nafshi, Comcast Cable's chief network officer, said in a statement. "FDX is the best technology for Comcast, but this groundbreaking unified chipset will provide the entire industry with options when upgrading their nodes, amps, and cable modems for DOCSIS 4.0."