TI Introduces high-performance eight downstream DOCSIS 3.0 solution

The newest member of TI's Puma 5 family of DOCSIS 3.0 products, the TNETC4840, allows cable equipment manufacturers to enable advanced video applications by increasing the number of channels available to accept DOCSIS and legacy digital video. Texas Instruments' 8x4 (eight downstream and four upstream) Puma 5 development package provides cable equipment manufacturers with an open architecture to meet the growing market demand for next-generation multimedia offerings such as IPTV. TI's unique flexible analog front end enables OEMs to deploy universal service gateways ranging from low-end systems supporting up to 200 Mhz of DOCSIS capture bandwidth to high-end full spectrum coverage.

The TNETC4840 enables unprecedented tuner flexibility allowing for a wide-range of wideband and narrow band tuner configurations that complement the robust Puma 5 DOCSIS 3.0 multimedia processor and routing accelerator. Every TI Puma 5 DOCSIS 3.0 solution combines a high-performance DSP-based voice sub-system with TI's exceptional PacketProcessor to deliver uninterrupted best in class voice quality even under high speed DOCSIS 3.0 data traffic patterns.

We congratulate TI for developing the industry's first eight downstream DOCSIS 3.0 solution, an innovative breakthrough for IP-based services over cable using both wideband and narrowband tuners to offer architectural flexibility, said Albert (Bud) Taddiken, chief operating officer of MicrotuneR, Inc. Microtune has enjoyed a long-term, successful collaboration with TI in pioneering cable solutions such as this one.

Currently, digitally connected homes can be served effectively by bonding four channels together, yielding a minimum aggregate data rate of 160 Mbps. This is the sweet spot for this segment, but a greater number of channels could be bonded together to support other demands in the marketplace, such as the lucrative business services segment. To meet the demand of the growing niche video market, TI's DOCSIS 3.0 portfolio of Puma 5 chipsets provides OEMs with the ability to easily scale upwards to 8x4 channel bonding configurations necessary for multichannel video applications. The platform's simple reconfigurability allows operators to deploy the DOCSIS 3.0 capabilities of the Puma 5 family today, while allowing them to cost-effectively upgrade their service offerings to meet the market demand for compelling multimedia services like IPTV in the future.

TI's Puma 5 DOCSIS 3.0 complaint 8x4 channel bonding solution, the TNETC4840, is the cable industry's first scaleable video gateway solution of its kind and sampling today, said Ran Senderovitz, TI's Digital Connected Home business manager. TI's flexible and scaleable Puma 5 DOCSIS 3.0 architecture enables OEMs to develop innovative products that meet operators' needs for effectively delivering voice and video without costly upgrades to pre-existing infrastructure.

TI's Puma 5 family continues to provide OEMs with the flexibility to target data and VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) service markets with cost effective 4x4 (four downstream and four upstream) channel bonding technology developed specifically for data cable modem and EMTA (embedded multimedia terminal adapter) products.