Hitron teams with MaxLinear on DOCSIS 4.0 CPE

Several cable operators and manufacturers are working with Broadcom on new DOCSIS 4.0 modems and gateways. But it's now clear that Broadcom will face some competition as operators look to hang these more powerful device gateways off of their upgraded hybrid fiber/coax (HFC) networks.

Hitron confirmed that it is developing DOCSIS 4.0 modem and gateway products with MaxLinear, the chipmaker that acquired Intel Corp.'s Home Gateway Platform Division, which included a DOCSIS technology portfolio, in 2020. Prior to that deal, Hitron was a long-time partner of Intel and Texas Instruments (which sold its DOCSIS portfolio to Intel in 2010) for DOCSIS products.

Hitron Americas President and CTO Greg Fisher said his company is developing DOCSIS 4.0 products using a new two-chip solution from MaxLinear that will succeed the company's DOCSIS 3.1 Puma 7 platform.

Based on where development stands today, Fisher expects Hitron to be ready to submit its first DOCSIS 4.0 products to CableLabs for certification in the first half of 2024. CableLabs announced last week that it will start to accept submissions for DOCSIS 4.0 customer premises equipment (CPE) certification testing starting June 26.

Fisher said Hitron already has had DOCSIS 4.0 SoCs in hand for a few months and will later tie in a new front-end processing chip from MaxLinear. As that comes together, Hitron is already working on other aspects of the coming DOCSIS 4.0 product, including the porting of the new D4.0 software, a voice stack, telemetry elements and other customizations for individual operators.

Hitron hasn't announced any operator commitments for its coming D4.0 products.

"We believe there will be a market. DOCSIS is a bit part of our business," Fisher said. "We do see a lot of interest for the solution."

Fisher said Hitron will likely focus on CPE that uses the Frequency Division Duplexing (FDD) option of DOCSIS 4.0, which keeps upstream and downstream traffic operating in dedicated spectrum and envisions an HFC network built out to 1.8GHz. Full Duplex DOCSIS (FDX), an option favored by Comcast, uses echo-cancellation technology to enable upstream and downstream traffic to run in a shared block of spectrum.

Fisher said there's sizable operator interest in the FDD option, but allowed that Hitron might also develop FDX-capable products sometime down the road.

MaxLinear has not officially launched its chipsets for DOCSIS 4.0 CPE, but confirmed that Hitron is one of the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) it has engaged with for DOCSIS 4.0 silicon. It's also engaged with other manufacturers as well as unnamed operators on DOCSIS 4.0 developments.

"We have worked with Hitron as an OEM partner on a wide range of DOCSIS platforms over the past decade," Stefan Szasz, director of marketing for MaxLinear's connectivity and access business unit, said in a statement. He added that MaxLinear has "dedicated a significant number of resources" toward DOCSIS 4.0 product development and interoperability efforts.

Competition for Broadcom

MaxLinear's entry into the market ensures there will be at least two sources of DOCSIS 4.0 CPE silicon. Several manufacturers and cable operators, including Comcast, Charter Communications, Cox Communications, CommScope, Vantiva and Ubee Interactive, are also working with Broadcom under joint development agreements (JDAs) that, at least for the operators, involve certain volume commitments, according to industry sources.

Fisher said Hitron is not directly participating in the Broadcom JDA, but acknowledged that some of its operator customers are. But he said Hitron intends to get involved from a testing and interoperability standpoint.

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— Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading