What is the difference between DOCSIS 3.0 and 3.1?

What is DOCSIS 3.0?

DOCSIS 3.0 is the next generation of DOCSIS (Data Over Cable Services Interface Specification), an international telecommunications standard that lets cable television operators add high-speed and telephony data to their current cable TV systems.

In addition to its unprecedented speed advantages, DOCSIS 3.0 will enable operators to offer truly differentiated services such as IPTV and switched digital video along with IP content to the subscriber home. Its channel bonding capabilities will allow cable operators to compete against telecom service providers for important enterprise accounts by providing dedicated bandwidth to support services such as video conferencing and online training.

What is DOCSIS 3.1?

DOCSIS 3.1 supports a downstream throughput with 4096-QAM and 25 kHz subcarrier spacing of up to 1.89 Gbit/s per 192 MHz OFDM channel. The upstream throughput possible is 0.94 Gbit/s per 96 MHz OFDMA channel

The following table shows the key differences between DOCSIS 3.0 and 3.1.

Note: The speeds in the following table are maximum speeds and are not guaranteed. Many factors can affect the speed of your network, including the Internet package that you pay for, whether you are on a wired or wireless connection, and the layout of your home.

DOCSIS 3.1 features significantly higher speeds than DOCSIS 3.0. DOCSIS 3.1 also uses data spectrums more efficiently, increasing the amount of data that can be sent over your network.

There are some manufacturers has DOCSIS 3.0 device, such as Huawei DOCSIS 3.0 MA5633 and CMTS JH-DN31032C, they explore new market space for broadcast television customers, without any changes to the current Hybrid Fiber-Coaxial (HFC) network structure. It’s mainly applied in PON+D-CMTS scenarios and can greatly improve Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS) bandwidth.