DOCSIS 3.1 OFDM Field Measurements

Join Brady Volpe and Ron Hranac as they take a technician-level look into DOCSIS 3.1 downstream OFDM field measurements. Learn what to measure, how to measure it, and what those measurements really mean — from subcarrier spacing to RxMER and everything in between. If you’re a cable tech, broadband engineer, or just a DOCSIS nerd, this is the livestream for you.

Topics covered:

• OFDM vs SC-QAM differences
• How to interpret RxMER per subcarrier
• Locking to PLC, NCP, and Profiles A/B
• Measuring channel power
• What correctable vs uncorrectable codewords mean
• Best practices for field meters

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Ron’s Bio: Ron Hranac, a 50 year veteran of the cable industry, who has worked for cable operators and vendors during his career. He is a Fellow Member of the SCTE and co-founder and Assistant Board Member of the organization’s Rocky Mountain Chapter, Ron was inducted into the Society’s Hall of Fame in 2010, is a co-recipient of the Chairman’s Award, an SCTE Member of the Year, and is a member of the Cable TV Pioneers Class of 1997. He received the Society’s Excellence in Standards award at Cable-Tec Expo 2016. He was recipient of the European Society for Broadband Professionals’ 2016 Tom Hall Award for Outstanding Services to Broadband Engineering, and was named winner of the 2017 David Hall Award for Best Presentation. He has published hundreds of articles and papers, and has been a speaker at numerous international, national, regional, and local conferences and seminars.

0:00 Introduction: OFDM Downstream Measurements
1:41 DOCSIS 3.1 OFDM Overview & Fundamentals
3:52 OFDM Channel Anatomy: Bandwidth, Guard Bands, Subcarriers
9:16 OFDM Channel Anatomy: Data Subcarriers & Orthogonality
11:45 OFDM Channel Anatomy: Continuous & Scattered Pilots
13:12 OFDM Channel Anatomy: PLC Band & PLC (Physical Layer Link Channel)
17:43 Q&A Break 1: Analog TV Terminology, Subcarriers/Codeword
19:55 What to Measure: Key OFDM Parameters 21:36 Test Equipment Setup & Initial Checks
22:19 Q&A Break 2: Guard Bands, PLC Lock Issues, UK Welcome & Resources
25:02 Measurement Deep Dive: Identifying the OFDM Channel
27:17 Measurement Deep Dive: OFDM Channel Power (Power per 6 MHz)
30:56 Measurement Deep Dive: PLC Lock, Level & RXMER
32:16 Measurement Deep Dive: Code Word Errors (Correctable vs Uncorrectable)
33:10 Measurement Deep Dive: Next Code Word Pointer (NCP) Lock & Errors
34:16 Measurement Deep Dive: Profile Lock & Errors (Profile A, B, C, D)
37:38 Measurement Deep Dive: Average RXMER & Thresholds
39:44 Measurement Deep Dive: RXMER Statistics (Std Dev, 2nd Percentile)
42:08 Measurement Deep Dive: RXMER per Subcarrier Plot (Visual Analysis)
45:03 Real-World Impact: Speed Tests & Bonding Benefits
46:55 Summary: Key Measurement Takeaways
48:18 Resources: Specs, Papers, Videos
49:19 Final Q&A: LTE, ALC/PLC, ICFR, Gap Noise, Meter Ranging Issues
57:58 Conclusion & Thank You

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