Upstream expansion past the current 45MHz or 65MHz to increase available upstream bandwidth has been discussed for many years, but now it’s about to become a reality. The standards are all finished and hardware is becoming available. But before a successful real world deployment can happen, a plethora of operational challenges must be assressed.
This paper gives an overview of the
causes for concern, presenting set top box sensitivity testing results, as well as other characterization tests. Results from testing of existing taps are used to explain potential neighborhood effects of expanded upstream deployment that could pose operational headaches if not addressed proactively.