Volpe Firm | Technology Blog

14 03, 2022

Upstream Transmit Power with OFDMA

Mia Colabrese2022-06-06T08:49:58-04:00March 14th, 2022|

In this episode Brady Volpe of Nimble This and The Volpe Firm, and John Downey (of Cisco) discuss Upstream Transmit Power with OFDMA and elaborate why a cable modem’s transmit power is extremely important. It not only determines if the cable modem will be able to come online and register with the CMTS (cable modem termination system) but obtaining the optimal transmit power will make or break the subscriber’s quality of experience (QoE). A DOCSIS 3.1 cable modem’s transmit power introduces some new considerations which are discussed in this

22 02, 2022

DOCSIS 3.1 Cable Modem Transmit Power

Mia Colabrese2022-06-06T08:57:26-04:00February 22nd, 2022|

A cable modem’s transmit power is extremely important. It not only determines if the cable modem will be able to come online and register with the CMTS (cable modem termination system) but obtaining the optimal transmit power will make or break the subscriber’s quality of experience (QoE). A DOCSIS 3.1 cable modem’s transmit power introduces some new considerations which are discussed in this article. Why is DOCSIS 3.1 cable modem transmit power important? Transmit power per channel is defined as the average RF (radio frequency) power in the

28 12, 2021

House amps, Cable Modems with filter issues

Mia Colabrese2022-03-14T13:42:30-04:00December 28th, 2021|

In this episode Brady Volpe of Nimble This and The Volpe Firm, and John Downey (of Cisco) elaborate on how to use PNM tools to identify house amps, Cable Modems with filter issues, etc. So houses can be identified with incompatible filters for intended UpStream spectrum deployments. Want to know what might be interesting and useful to you? Join in on the discussion and ask questions in the chat for another power hour of cable and the discussion on all things DOCSIS and beyond. Give us a thumbs

23 11, 2021

Why RxMER?

Mia Colabrese2021-11-23T16:42:11-05:00November 23rd, 2021|

The DOCSIS 3.1 PHY specification includes several PNM parameters and tests. One of the most useful downstream tests for OFDM is called receive modulation error ratio (RxMER) per subcarrier. RxMER per subcarrier provides an MER measurement for each subcarrier in the OFDM (downstream) or OFDMA (upstream) channel. This means if an OFDM channel has 7600 subcarriers, the RxMER per subcarrier data will provide 7600 MER results, one corresponding to each subcarrier. When plotted, it looks like a spectrum analyzer chart, but has different meanings. See Figure 1 for

3 11, 2021

PTP Clocks

Mia Colabrese2021-11-03T12:30:23-04:00November 3rd, 2021|

In this episode Brady Volpe of Nimble This and The Volpe Firm, discusses PTP clocks with subject matter experts Jim Olsen from Microchip and Rob Jodrie from Syncworks. This discussion includes a very high level break down of PTP profiles and why you should care? The evolution of PTP, Boundary clocks, best practices and things to look out for. You may think this is not a big topic but this is something that impacts all operators big, medium or small when deploying distributed access architecture (DAA) such as

2 11, 2021

SCTE EXPO 2021 Wrap-up

Mia Colabrese2021-11-03T11:51:09-04:00November 2nd, 2021|

In this episode Brady Volpe of Nimble This and The Volpe Firm, and John Downey of Cisco discuss the best of SCTE EXPO 2021 The discussion is on all things DOCSIS. Tips, suggestions and recommendations. Another power hour of cable. The best of SCTE EXPO 2021: SCTE EXPO 2021 wrap up Exceptional show, watch till November 14th 2021 SCTE EXPO 2021 papers on NCTAtechnicalpapers.com SCTE presentations on SCTE EXPO 2021 site Brady's presentations: You can catch Brady Volpe In the following sessions Advanced Analytics 1 of 3:

3 09, 2021

Interpreting Full Band Capture and RxMER

Mia Colabrese2021-09-03T10:44:50-04:00September 3rd, 2021|

In this episode Brady Volpe of Nimble This and The Volpe Firm, and John Downey of Cisco discuss interpreting Full Band Capture (FBC) and RxMER which is the MER of the subcarriers in the OFDM channel. Cable is a technology business and we seem to always come up with new terms and new things to understand and interpret. FBC has been around now but still not everyone knows what it means and how to understand it correctly. RxMER is a bit newer but can still be mysterious

23 08, 2021

DOCSIS is Green

Mia Colabrese2021-08-23T11:28:23-04:00August 23rd, 2021|

DOCSIS is Green (full length). Shorter and cleaner version is seen in Broadband Library DOCSIS Going Green. The simplest solution is almost always the best. Through technological advancements we can do more with less. There are important discussions happening about green initiatives in our industry. Usually on the consumer electronics side. According to the NCTA “Cable operators, video programmers, equipment manufacturers, research labs and others are now providing a more energy efficient experience that is saving consumers millions of dollars in energy bills and preventing millions of metric tons of

20 08, 2021

Cisco vCMTS

Mia Colabrese2021-08-23T11:57:31-04:00August 20th, 2021|

Cisco vCMTS? Brady Volpe founder of The Volpe Firm and Nimble This, John Downey and Jason Miller Technical Marketing Engineer of Cisco discuss Cisco's virtual CMTS (vCMTS). The topic came up during ANGACOMs 2021 presentation. I didn't know Cisco even had a vCMTS, did you? Well, let's find out what they are doing and if they are really taking away the CLI as discussed at ANGACOM. The discussion is on all things DOCSIS. Tips, suggestions and recommendations. Another power hour of cable with Brady Volpe and John Downey CMTS

15 07, 2021

DOCSIS Primary Channel Impaired Downstream Troubleshooting

Mia Colabrese2023-02-17T18:41:43-05:00July 15th, 2021|

In this episode Brady and John discuss what happens to an impaired DOCSIS Primary channel & ANGA COM highlights. When an impaired DOCSIS Primary channel occurs, do to one ore more impairment, how does it impact other DOCSIS channels? Primary being a type of "management" SC-QAM channel. Does it make a difference? We also cover the top content from the ANGA COM show. Didn't have time to watch all of the ANGA COM show material. No problem. Brady and John will make sure your up to speed