By Greg White & Karthik Sundaresan, CableLabs
Now that Low Latency DOCSIS (LLD) gear is certified and available, operators are beginning lab testing and field trials, and are working out how to deploy and configure the equipment to provide the best performance for their users. This paper provides guidance and best practices for network operators in the configuration and management of Low Latency DOCSIS services. It is essentially a cheat-sheet on the different provisioning modes available in LLD as well as a run-down of the various control knobs available to the operator - what they do, how they interact with one another, and what effect they have on the service characteristics. It introduces each of the features that make up LLD and lays out a template of recommended configuration settings, the reasons behind those choices, and how those choices might evolve over time. It provides MSOs with a step-by-step approach to turning on each of the LLD features to ultimately ensure that customers can enjoy the benefits of the technology. In addition, this paper discusses some of the end-to-end aspects of delivering on the low latency promise, such as DSCP and ECN traffic marking, and performance monitoring.