DOCSIS 3.1: scaling broadband cable to Gigabit speeds

The cable industry has recently released the DOCSIS® 3.1 specifications which are the fifth generation of the DOCSIS family of specifications. In this article, we introduce the building blocks of DOCSIS 3.1 and highlight the specific capabilities that will help broadband cable systems scale to support gigabit-per- second network speeds. While this article is a tutorial on DOCSIS 3.1, an important objective is to engage and motivate the academic community to participate in research related to emerging DOCSIS-based cable systems. We identify a set of open issues that represent challenges and opportunities for academic researchers to explore.