Comcast, the nation’s largest gig-speed Internet provider, today demonstrated the fastest-yet speeds it has achieved over a complete 10G connection on a live network, reaching download speeds faster than 8 gigabits per second (Gbps) and upload speeds faster than 5 Gbps.
At an industry 10G event at CableLabs headquarters, Comcast also showed the 10G node technology that will help power its deployments and demonstrated how its network virtualization technology will seamlessly orchestrate mixed fiber and 10G deployments.
10G is the technology that will enable Comcast and other network operators to deliver multigigabit symmetrical speeds – combined with improved latency, security, and reliability – over the connections already installed in tens of millions of homes and businesses worldwide.
For the demo, Comcast connected a 10G-enabled Virtualized Cable Modem Termination System (vCMTS) linked by more than 80 kilometers of fiber to the demonstration site. The fiber terminated into a production switch, which connected to what is believed to be the world’s first fully functional 10G-enabled Full Duplex DOCSIS 4.0 node, along with a 10G prototype modem at CableLabs headquarters. Today’s demonstration is a first in a production-ready network environment, showing how live 10G deployments will work, orchestrated by Comcast’s Distributed Access Architecture (DAA) technology, which is already widely deployed.
“These 10G technologies represent the fastest, most efficient path to deliver multigigabit symmetrical speeds at scale everywhere, not just in select neighborhoods or towns,” said Elad Nafshi, EVP & Chief Network Officer at Comcast Cable.
Comcast also demonstrated how its DAA network virtualization technology will deliver not just ultrafast 10G speeds, but also greater reliability and adaptability to support a range of next-generation network architectures. The DAA demo included two key components:
- The demo showed how a single DAA-enabled vCMTS can seamlessly and simultaneously operate both 10G connections and PON (passive optical network) connections and deliver multi-gig services with identical levels of visibility and orchestration. While Comcast is primarily focused on 10G, the ability to easily blend 10G and PON provides enormous flexibility to support the widest range of geographies and customer needs.
- The demo also showed how 10G and DAA will deliver greater reliability by leveraging the unprecedented visibility the technology provides into Internet performance at every level of the network from the core, all the way to individual customer gateways.
Comcast also offered a first look at a 10G node that will become a key element of 10G trials and deployments.
Today’s demonstration builds on several 10G milestones Comcast has announced over the past year, including a test in January of the world’s first 10G modem technology delivering 4Gbps symmetrical speeds.
