MoCA Testing for triple play and Whole Home DVR Jim Carvajal Applications Specialist, Cable MSO Caribbean & Latin America
Agenda What is MoCA? Home Troubleshooting JDSU troubleshooting SmartID 2012 JDS Uniphase Corporation JDSU CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION 2
What is MoCA?
What is MoCA? Stands for: Multimedia over Coax Alliance Main applications: Streaming high throughput applications like HD Video around a home on subscriber s existing coax cable (Whole Home DVR) Connect IP enabled devices in different locations throughout a home (i.e.: Connect PC s or Home Servers) MoCA is very robust 50-60dB of loss The Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA ) is in use by all three pay TV segments---cable, satellite and IPTV 2012 JDS Uniphase Corporation JDSU CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION 4
MoCA Can Provide High performance Networking Throughput > 135 Mbps box to box (MoCA 1.0) Throughput > 175 Mbps box to box (MoCA 1.1) Throughput > 400 Mbps box to box (MoCA 2.0) Multi-room DVR (aka Whole Home DVR) Centralized Premium / Pay TV content Reduce cost with a single Hard Drive-based STB Ability to view content in any room PC to STB/TV connectivity Consume home movies / pictures / music anywhere in the home Personalized Applications running throughout the home 2012 JDS Uniphase Corporation JDSU CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION 5
MoCA Evolution MoCA 1.0 (Productized 2005) Supported up to 8 MoCA devices (nodes) Throughput around home ~135 Mbps Operates between 850 1525MHz with 50MHz Channels Multiple MoCA networks can run on the same coax network simultaneously Prioritized QoS differentiated service for video, voice and gaming MoCA 1.1 (Productized 2007) - Similar to MoCA 1.0 but with the following differences: Extended up to 16 MoCA devices (nodes) Throughput around home increased ~175 Mbps Added Parameterized QoS bandwidth reservation per flows 2012 JDS Uniphase Corporation JDSU CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION 6
MoCA 2.0 Detailed MoCA 2.0 (June 15, 2010) - Similar to MoCA 1.1 but with the following differences: Three new modes of operation: Baseline Mode: 400+ Mbps MAC throughput 700 Mbps PHY Rate Single 100 MHz Channel Enhanced Mode 800+ Mbps MAC throughput 1.4 Gbps PHY Rate Two bonded 100 MHz Channels ( Channel Bonding ) Turbo mode for a point-to-point configuration that allows: NOTE: MoCA 2.0 is different hardware than previous MoCA 1.1 HW versions 500+ Mbps MAC throughput between two connected devices when operating in Baseline mode 1+ Gbps MAC throughput when operating in Enhanced mode All three modes now have an extended frequency range 500 MHz through 1650 MHz (center frequencies) Backward compatibility with MoCA 1.0 and 1.1 devices MoCA 2.0 devices can operate at MoCA 2.0 speeds while MoCA 1.x devices are communicated to at their maximum respectable speeds on the same network 2012 JDS Uniphase Corporation JDSU CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION 7
MoCA V2.0 MoCA 1.x Frequency View Upstream Range 5 45 MHz Downstream Range 55 1000 MHz MoCA 1.x Range 850 1525 MHz 5 MHz 55 MHz 1 GHz 1.7 GHz MoCA 2.0 Frequency View Upstream Range Downstream Range 50 MHz MoCA 2.0 Range DIFFERENT HARDWARE 850MHz and 1.525GHz 50MHz wide channels Speeds up to 175Mbps 5 45 MHz 55 1000 MHz 500 1650 MHz 5 MHz 55 MHz 1 GHz 1.7 GHz 100 MHz 500MHz and 1.65GHz 100MHz wide channels Speeds above 400Mbps 2012 JDS Uniphase Corporation JDSU CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION 8
MoCA Network Configuration NORMAL 2-WAY CATV PATH Ground Block Point Of Entry Cable Modem SPLITTER JUMPING 3:1 Splitter #2 2:1 Splitter #3 SPLITTER JUMPING 3:1 Splitter #1 Attenuation between MoCA nodes can add up: Up to 50 to 60 db of loss between nodes can be tolerated Excess Attenuation is the biggest factor in MoCA service disruptions MoCA STB1 MoCA STB2 MoCA DVR MoCA STB3 Analog TV Ingress is second most common MoCA disruptor 2012 JDS Uniphase Corporation JDSU CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION 9
MoCA Interferers different than QAM issues MoCA can have issues that QAM would not be affected by: High End roll off above 1GHz (underrated splitters, faulty coax, home amplifiers, water in passives) High attenuation Wall plate to Wall plate (node-to-node) QAMs do not go output port to output port of splitters where attenuation can be very high High Frequency ingress Ingress occurring in the higher MoCA frequency band CPE issues STB with a bad MoCA circuit but QAM demod is operational 2012 JDS Uniphase Corporation JDSU CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION 10
Solving Service Issues with Wiring Solutions Recommendation is to focus on insuring wiring is clean and capable of handling RF and MoCA services In previous experience with home wiring we found that greater than ~95% of homes pass all service tests when the home wiring is tested/fixed prior to service operations Remaining <5% were CPE or Technician errors Estimated that 70-80% of homes connected need little to no extra work needed for services to effectively operate 2012 JDS Uniphase Corporation JDSU CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION 11
Throughput Rate Home Premise Wiring Majority of service issues inside the home are caused by wiring faults. QAM video tiling and distortions usually due to coax impairments and ingress MoCA has a high tolerance for problems, but also has a dramatic cliff effect of operation >55dB of loss between nodes reduces effectiveness of MoCA capable services Jumping Out/Out ~30-40dB 220 Mbps 70-80 Mbps 0 Attenuation 50dB 60dB 2012 JDS Uniphase Corporation JDSU CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION 12
MBS Internal Testing of MoCA capabilities Rates directly affected above 50dB of attenuation 1 example below Results vary with configuration Output to Output testing Term Ground Block 8ft Splitter 18ft 15ft Term A B Attenuation with cable loss MBS 100 80 60 40 20 0 Attenuation with cable loss 1 2 3 4 5 6 20 30 40 50 53 56 MBS 87.6 88 87.6 85.6 67.3 0 35dB Isolation RF frequency response between A B worst cast ~ 1.15 GHz 35dB 2012 JDS Uniphase Corporation JDSU CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION 13
Typical problems Shorts, opens, cuts, connectors, corrosion RG 6 Loss at 1.2 GHz = 3.5 + 3.5 + 3.5 + 3.5 + 30? + 4.5 + 4.5 + 7 = 60 50ft Rg-6 cable loss Isolation of input splitter with reflection Splitter loss 50ft F81 barrel STB with MoCA Tap 100ft Splitter 50ft STB with MoCA 50ft F81 barrel Ground Block STB with MoCA F81 barrel 50ft Cable modem Note: 28 cable connections 2012 JDS Uniphase Corporation JDSU CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION 14
Point of Entry (POE) Filter A MoCA filter (aka: POE filter) performs two jobs. First it removes the MoCA signal from entering a neighbors house Stops MoCA signal from leaving the home Second it gives MoCA a point of reflection for the signal MoCA relies on the signals to bounce output to output on splitters MoCA/POE Filter POE 2012 JDS Uniphase Corporation JDSU CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION 15
Home Troubleshooting
Key Points MoCA is HERE and it is EVOLVING MoCA issues are almost always coax issues MoCA rate table information is available via STB diagnostics screens JDSU s plan is to focus on finding and fixing root cause of physical layer issues that effect QAM, DOCSIS, AND MoCA 2012 JDS Uniphase Corporation JDSU CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION 17
MoCA CPE Diagnostics Information Good for verifying MoCA rates are acceptable or failing Troubleshooting problems with MoCA equipment Identifies which nodes it can not see Can identify a problem exists (Tiling, Rate issues, MER, BER, etc ) Rate Table does not help identify root cause of problems but identifies which leg problems may exist Rate Table MAC Addresses 2012 JDS Uniphase Corporation JDSU CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION 18
JDSU Experience with MoCA JDSU has been following MoCA for 6+ years Observed first roll-outs in many operators Initial roll-outs have seen MoCA to work with minimal tech involvement This does evolve as more and more applications/services rely on MoCA to carry larger amounts of information As MoCA capacity is reached smaller coax impairments have shown to have greater impacts Many operators may not yet have extensive experience with the MoCA technology Leads to fear of the unknown Decisions are made with little return on investment 2012 JDS Uniphase Corporation JDSU CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION 19
What and Why do techs troubleshoot? Estimated that between 90-95% of troubleshooting inside a home is coax path related Replacing connectors, splitters, faulty coax, etc This is consistent with both QAM and MoCA issues MoCA is robust - low bandwidth requirements means MoCA service survives STB diagnostics available today for MoCA suffice Multi Room DVR not yet reaching capacity of MoCA capabilities QAM signals are more susceptible to issues Service level testing (MER, BER, DQI) is more helpful for QAM issues QAM signals are maxed out and are more susceptible to issues 2012 JDS Uniphase Corporation JDSU CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION 20
JDSU Stance on MoCA emulation MoCA emulation is currently not solving service problems Rate Tables between MoCA devices are already available via diagnostic pages on STB s (CPE) Rate Tables only provide techs with information of whether the MoCA problem still exists or not Does not provide root cause breakdown or fault identification Tech must guess as to what is causing the MoCA issue by visually tracing the coax, making changes, then retesting Like DOCSIS MoCA got revised Latest is MoCA 2.0 (Released June 2010) All devices today are still on the MoCA 1.1 chipset hardware New Hardware will be required to go to MoCA 2.0 NOT a software upgrade Most Operators will want MoCA 2.0 hardware moving out of trials into mass deployments No chipsets/hardware currently exists for MoCA 2.0 2012 JDS Uniphase Corporation JDSU CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION 21
Find Root Cause of Service Issues JDSU s Philosophy: Quickly find and fix the root cause of 80-90% of in home coax related issues Help technicians find and fix the true physical issues Not just identify a service problem exists Save technician s time Allow operators to determine all Triple-Play & MoCA services will work before connecting any CPE devices! Certify the home s coax plant over all frequencies is correct Physical testing is service agnostic It doesn t matter what service is running on the coax Future proof for eventual service changes 2012 JDS Uniphase Corporation JDSU CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION 22
JDSU Concept
JDSU Concept Create an method to more quickly diagnose issues on the Home Wiring Identify root cause of the problem Locate the problem element more accurately Reduce guess & check troubleshooting Bad Splitter Faulty Cable A B C A B C D D E E Key: x = Coax Test Points = Splitter = Coax Cable 2012 JDS Uniphase Corporation JDSU CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION 24
Coax Wiring Testing Smart wiring probes used to find coax wiring issues JDSU wiring probes located at each CPE location Separate probes communicate with each other They identify connected locations Identify frequency response issues between 3MHz 1.65GHz Locate faults in coax wiring Show loss between CPE locations Used in conjunction with DSAM Connected via USB on top of DSAM DSAM commands probes DSAM displays testing results 2012 JDS Uniphase Corporation JDSU CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION 25
JDSU Concept Con t Save operators money over time Make techs more efficient Decrease troubleshooting time Eliminate tech frustrations Reduce guess work Reduce repeat truck rolls Combine new probes with existing equipment Combine with the DSAM for QAM/DOCSIS service testing Allow the operator to test coax for all services in the home Find all physical impairments for triple-play services Video, Voice, Data, MoCA 2012 JDS Uniphase Corporation JDSU CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION 26
SmartID Setup USB to Mini-USB Point of Entry or Main Split Splitter Attic Splitter Crawl Space Put a SmartID at each location inside the home where a Settop-box or Cable Modem will be located (or is desired to be tested) Connect one SmartID to the DSAM s USB port Then Connect that SmartID to the POE looking into the home toward CPE (i.e.: drop cable, ground block, or main split) POE = Point of Entry CPE 2012 JDS Uniphase = Customer Corporation JDSU Premise CONFIDENTIAL AND Equipment PROPRIETARY INFORMATION 27
SmartID Typical Use 28
SmartID Setup USB to Mini-USB Point of Entry or Main Split Splitter Attic Splitter Crawl Space Put a SmartID at each location inside the home where a Settop-box or Cable Modem will be located (or is desired to be tested) Connect one SmartID to the DSAM s USB port Then Connect that SmartID to the POE looking into the home toward CPE (i.e.: drop cable, ground block, or main split) POE = Point of Entry CPE = Customer Premise Equipment 29 2012 JDS Uniphase Corporation JDSU CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION 29
SmartID Overview Training Enter the SmartID mode on the DSAM Measure button => Basic tab => SmartID Select a Service Plan - Defaults are: Voice-Video-Data-MoCA Voice-Video-Data Drop Check 30 2012 JDS Uniphase Corporation JDSU CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION 30
Performing the Test Once the test is initiated several things happen: All preconfigured SmartIDs are identified Low Battery and Firmware Incompatibilities are shown Building Network Map Sweep and FDR between 5 and 1.5GHz Upstream 250KHz Steps, Downstream is 5MHz Steps Qualifying MoCA 195KHz steps within the MoCA Channel at the subcarrier freqs 31 2012 JDS Uniphase Corporation JDSU CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION 31
Reading the Results Qualification Mode Overall Pass/Fail Upstream (at specified freqs) Downstream (at specified freqs) Ingress at POE and CPE locations Limits Determine Pass/Fail Set by TPP (or Defaults) Left Column of Pyramid is POE to CPE (i.e.: AtoB, AtoC, AtoD, etc) Check Mark = Pass; X = Fail Moving up and down the limits column adjusts to each individual path s test results POE = Point of Entry CPE 2012 JDS Uniphase = Customer Corporation JDSU CONFIDENTIAL Premise AND PROPRIETARY Equipment INFORMATION 32
Certify each Coax Path Independently Qualification Screen shows Pass/Fail If all metrics pass the coax paths are good for the services its was tested against If a failure exists then further action is required The columns on the left indicate which parameters failed for the movable bold box Different paths may have different results Additional detail about the failure can be collected from the Detail and the Network Overview screens Accessible by pressing View A frequency response graph can be used to help determine why the result was failing the limits set by the test 33 2012 JDS Uniphase Corporation JDSU CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION 33
Reading the Results- Ambiguous Map Warning Occurs when a Filter or Amplifier are discovered Location of Coax Elements are determined by FDR Accuracy of FDR is increased by the freq range of the test 5 1500 MHz gets to ±0.5 Ft accuracy Filters and Amplifiers cut off some portion(s) of that frequency range No longer 5 1500MHz available Decreases accuracy of the location of elements Could decrease the accuracy to ±3 Feet based on how much frequency is filtered out SmartID makes best guess at location Warns user that locations could be less accurate Warns that some splitters may have been combined into one splitter in the Details and Network Overview modes Ambiguous elements are Highlighted 34 2012 JDS Uniphase Corporation JDSU CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION 34
Details View Shows all items in the path between the two SmartIDs Shown Arrow Left and Right to highlight different segments Each segment and element has additional information available in the text box Swap will reverse the orientation from left to right to ease understanding on distances to elements Swapped 2012 JDS Uniphase Corporation JDSU CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION 35 35
Deeper Dive into the Network Detail view shows additional information about the network Probe paths are isolated for a deeper view about the tested coax network Individual coax segment information is shown Lengths and element information are indicated Additional text is presented to help indicate failed service tests Potential causes of the failures and impedance mismatches are shown on the screen as faults (exclamation points) as well as the distance from other elements to the potential faults are shown Elements such as filters, amplifiers, and splitters are also shown with more detail in this view SmartIDs can be changed by arrowing up/down while highlighting the probe Two Splitter example 36 2012 JDS Uniphase Corporation JDSU CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION 36
Network Overview Shows all detected Elements and their connections SmartID s Best Guess at where everything is located Typically 80-90% correct Filters and Amps can degrade accuracy Can scroll through the CPE location SmartIDs Pressing Enter will take user to Details view Exclamation Points = Identified reflections (Faults) S = Filter locations Triangle = Identified Amplifier Plus Signs mean multiple elements Filters, Faults, Amp Red SmartID Letters = Failed Ingress 37 2012 JDS Uniphase Corporation JDSU CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION 37
Seeing how everything is connected Network Overview shows what is connected The SmartIDs can determine what it believes is connected and where those elements have common connections Each element is shown on the topology map including: splitters, filters, amplifiers, and found mismatches Users can easily identify if unexpected elements are discovered and trace where those elements are located before beginning to troubleshoot the coax network Note: Not every topology can be mapped with 100% accuracy though most common configurations can. Filters and amplifiers in the path can lead to inaccurate common points being shown on the topology map and are highlighted yellow when present. 38 2012 JDS Uniphase Corporation JDSU CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION 38
Sweep Trace Freq Response Shows POE to CPE for Full and Upstream Sweeps User Arrow keys to See amplitude at a specific frequency Type in the specific freq on the keypad Press cancel button to go back Upstream Freq Response Downstream Freq Response with MoCA filter in place 39 2012 JDS Uniphase Corporation JDSU CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION 39
See each path s frequency response Sweep graphs can identify many issues in the coax network Relative levels are shown at multiple frequencies to give users more information than words alone can express By looking at the sweep response users can identify why the test failed the limits of the service plan: Too much overall loss, adjacent points difference too great, overall highest loss to lowest loss (peak to valley) too great Users can see and interpret from the sweep response signal degradation caused by: Frequency cut offs due to poor splitters or inline filters Amplifiers eliminating the return or MoCA bands Excessive attenuation Reoccurring standing waves Frequency suck outs 40 2012 JDS Uniphase Corporation JDSU CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION 40
CPE to CPE Multi-room DVR 41
Reading the Results - CPE to CPE Qualification Mode Overall Pass/Fail MQI score between both locations If a MoCA filter was present or not Filters can be set to not be required Limits Determine Pass/Fail Set by TPP (Default MQI = 7 or higher) Filter requirement set by TPP as well Right of Left most Column of Pyramid is CPE to CPE (this case BtoC, BtoD, BtoE, BtoF, CtoD, CtoE, CtoF, DtoE, DtoF, EtoF) If Box is Green = Pass; Red = Fail; Yellow = Filter not required Moving up/down and left/right - Limits Column adjusts to each individual path s test results POE = Point of Entry CPE = Customer Premise Equipment 42 2012 JDS Uniphase Corporation JDSU CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION 42
MQI Description MQI takes into account the entire 50MHz MoCA 1.x channel MoCA is made up of subcarriers that will adjust their modulation based on if that specific frequency is suitable for higher or lower orders of modulation (i.e.: 256QAM vs 4QAM) MQI evaluates each subcarrier individually and correlates if it would be a higher or lower modulation All subcarriers are then evaluated as an overall Score to produce the MQI score displayed MoCA is pretty robust but handles frequency response issue better if there is a pattern than random freq responses MQI takes this into account too MQI = 10 MQI = 9 MQI = 8 MQI = 7 43 2012 JDS Uniphase Corporation JDSU CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION 43
Save and report on the results 2012 JDS Uniphase Corporation JDSU CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION 44
Questions? Jim Carvajal jim.carvajal@jdsu.com
Thank You! Jim Carvajal jim.carvajal@jdsu.com