Tuesday, October 17th 2023
Comcast and Broadcom to Develop the World's First AI-Powered Access Network With Pioneering New Chipset
Comcast and Broadcom today announced joint efforts to develop the world's first AI-powered access network with a new chipset that embeds artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) within the nodes, amps and modems that comprise the last few miles of Comcast's network. With these new capabilities broadly deployed throughout the network, Comcast will be able to transform its operations by automating more network functions and deliver an improved customer experience through better and more actionable intelligence.
Additionally, the new chipset will be the first in the world to incorporate DOCSIS 4.0 Full Duplex (FDX), Extended Spectrum (ESD) and the ability to run both simultaneously, enabling Internet service providers across the globe to deliver DOCSIS 4.0 services using a toolkit with technology options to meet their business needs. DOCSIS 4.0 is the next-generation network technology that will introduce symmetrical multi-gigabit Internet speeds, lower latency, and even better security and reliability to hundreds of millions of people and businesses over their existing connections without the need for major construction of new network infrastructure.
On October 12, Comcast announced that it will begin to introduce the first customers in the world to Internet services powered by DOCSIS 4.0 using FDX. While the company will continue to leverage FDX, the collaboration with Broadcom will provide Comcast and other operators with additional options in the pursuit of delivering the best possible connectivity experience.
"The Xfinity 10G Network leverages the latest advancements in edge compute, digital optics and real-time, actionable telemetry to meet and exceed our customers' constantly evolving connectivity needs," said Elad Nafshi, Chief Network Officer, Comcast Cable. "With this new Unified DOCSIS4 chipset from Broadcom, we can broadly deploy transformational AI network capabilities alongside symmetrical multi-gig speeds. FDX is the best technology for Comcast, but this groundbreaking unified chipset will provide the entire industry with options when upgrading their nodes, amps, and cable modems for DOCSIS 4.0."
The new end-to-end chipsets will be the industry's first to incorporate AI and ML capabilities that will transform the operations and customer experience functions by:
"By enabling a toolkit that includes FDX, ESD or both simultaneously, this new Unified DOCSIS4 chipset incorporates the advantages of both technologies and will enable economies of scale as well as a common retail modem for the industry," said Rich Nelson, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Broadband Video Group, Broadcom. "The edge network and in-home capabilities of this chipset will improve network intelligence and reliability to create an improved broadband experience with enhanced privacy protection and cyber security for the consumer."
Comcast and Broadcom are designing and building the new chipset based upon CableLabs' DOCSIS 4.0 specifications. The companies have a history of working together to introduce innovations that have pushed the industry to the next generation of connectivity. In 2021, Comcast conducted the world's first full duplex multi-gigabit symmetrical test on Broadcom-built silicon. In January 2022 the companies tested the first Full Duplex DOCSIS 4.0 system-on-chip (SoC) cable modem that delivered symmetrical speeds faster than 4 Gbps. Later that year, Comcast successfully tested the final technical component of necessary to deliver multi-gig symmetrical speed powered by DOCSIS 4.0 throughout its network with 10G smart amps built on a Broadcom-developed reference design.
The companies expect to begin trials early in 2024 and to begin deploying the new chipset in live networks before the end of the same year.
Source:
Comcast
Additionally, the new chipset will be the first in the world to incorporate DOCSIS 4.0 Full Duplex (FDX), Extended Spectrum (ESD) and the ability to run both simultaneously, enabling Internet service providers across the globe to deliver DOCSIS 4.0 services using a toolkit with technology options to meet their business needs. DOCSIS 4.0 is the next-generation network technology that will introduce symmetrical multi-gigabit Internet speeds, lower latency, and even better security and reliability to hundreds of millions of people and businesses over their existing connections without the need for major construction of new network infrastructure.
"The Xfinity 10G Network leverages the latest advancements in edge compute, digital optics and real-time, actionable telemetry to meet and exceed our customers' constantly evolving connectivity needs," said Elad Nafshi, Chief Network Officer, Comcast Cable. "With this new Unified DOCSIS4 chipset from Broadcom, we can broadly deploy transformational AI network capabilities alongside symmetrical multi-gig speeds. FDX is the best technology for Comcast, but this groundbreaking unified chipset will provide the entire industry with options when upgrading their nodes, amps, and cable modems for DOCSIS 4.0."
The new end-to-end chipsets will be the industry's first to incorporate AI and ML capabilities that will transform the operations and customer experience functions by:
- Making smarter network performance decisions using network diagnostics insights produced by both local and cloud AI.
- Enhanced monitoring and issue detection using bandwidth-efficient telemetry data.
- Transforming network maintenance of the network using real time issue localization plus predictive and self-healing network intelligence.
- Protecting network facilities and customers with improved cybersecurity intrusion detection.
- Assisting customers more effectively through local and cloud-based AI.
- Monitoring home IoT devices for connectivity disruptions.
"By enabling a toolkit that includes FDX, ESD or both simultaneously, this new Unified DOCSIS4 chipset incorporates the advantages of both technologies and will enable economies of scale as well as a common retail modem for the industry," said Rich Nelson, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Broadband Video Group, Broadcom. "The edge network and in-home capabilities of this chipset will improve network intelligence and reliability to create an improved broadband experience with enhanced privacy protection and cyber security for the consumer."
Comcast and Broadcom are designing and building the new chipset based upon CableLabs' DOCSIS 4.0 specifications. The companies have a history of working together to introduce innovations that have pushed the industry to the next generation of connectivity. In 2021, Comcast conducted the world's first full duplex multi-gigabit symmetrical test on Broadcom-built silicon. In January 2022 the companies tested the first Full Duplex DOCSIS 4.0 system-on-chip (SoC) cable modem that delivered symmetrical speeds faster than 4 Gbps. Later that year, Comcast successfully tested the final technical component of necessary to deliver multi-gig symmetrical speed powered by DOCSIS 4.0 throughout its network with 10G smart amps built on a Broadcom-developed reference design.
The companies expect to begin trials early in 2024 and to begin deploying the new chipset in live networks before the end of the same year.
17 Comments on Comcast and Broadcom to Develop the World's First AI-Powered Access Network With Pioneering New Chipset
Merchants feel justified increasing prices when they use trendy buzzwords.
This is not exclusive to the consumer electronics industry. Humans have been doing this since the dawn of civilization.
I'm not against AI (or more accurately machine learning right now) if it improves things. ML is here to stay and is really still in its infancy. Don't worry, not everything will change overnight.
Companies have already been using it for years in indirect ways that consumer aren't aware of, like Walmart using ML algorithms to improve supply chain logistics. In this particular case, Comcast wants to use AI (both local and cloud based) to improve their network. Who doesn't want a better broadband service? You?
This will not be the last time ML cores end up in a new ASIC.
Complain all you want the next time someone announced "AI this" or "AI that" but you're going to be really, Really, REALLY busy for the next ten years.
And yes everyone will be doing it. Doesn't stop it from being dumb.
Seriously, just wire fucking fiber already :facepalm:
They really need something to improve speeds on existing infrastructure while they slowly upgrade connections while pushing most of the cost to the end user. Look at Google Fiber. Almost all of the deployments were in new developed communities, not upgrades of existing infrastructure.
Same thing with Time-Warner's VOD experiment back in the Nineties. It was a new development in Orlando, FL.
Remember that most of the rest of the world will be on twisted pair and coax for decades. It's not just about little rich spoiled brats in 'Murika who "need" fiber. Tons of people in the USA who live in apartments, condominiums, co-ops, and other similar common interest communities.
As much as I'd like fiber, the HOA isn't going to let the service provider cut a 200 yard trench through a large parking lot, a couple of sidewalks, past some mature trees, etc. That's the reality for a hundred million Americans, probably more.
The problem is that the system is corrupt to it's core, ISPs have mapped out the zones where they operate so there's no competition at all and continue to invent excuses to just keep milking the existing installation and wasting the money that should have gone towards upgrading the network on stupid and terrible "investments" that go nowhere.
Yes, the service provider might be able to run fiber above ground to the property line. But the property line is at the street curb. The HOA will not allow a line to traverse the parking lot for 200 yards. There needs to be a pole on the property (probably several based on the distance). Who maintains that? Who trims the tree canopy as it grows close to the cable? Besides, it's butt ugly, the HOA has CC&Rs to prevent this sort of thing happening, like power lines to a resident's carport for an electric charger, network cable, etc.
All of a sudden you have 30, 40 units erecting poles, and a criss-cross web of cables and wires above ground. That's why there are CC&Rs in the first place. The HOA isn't going to give up a bunch of easements to random residents who want fiber to the home.
This isn't some sort of high rise building. There are over 150 units, mostly in buildings with 8-10 units per building.
All of this is elementary.
You don't seem to know anything at all about CIDs. And this isn't some sort of bizarre living arrangement exclusive to California lotus-eaters. CIDs are one of the most common types of residential property in the USA.
No one at my complex is getting FTTH until the entire complex is wired for it. And I guarantee that the residents will not vote to pay a special assessment to pay for that. There are enough people on fixed income plus frugally minded people to shoot that down. If fiber is that important to you, go buy a single family dwelling where you can do what you describe.
Lol, even Google couldn't get fiber installed in to the homes in their HQ's city of Mountain View for all of the reasons I stated.
Fiber isn't a viable option for many American households. The only options are to harness existing cable infrastructure, harness existing twisted pair infrastructure, or to utilize wireless networks. Also not on the table is the ability to erect fixed wireless antennas (the size of stop signs).
Clearly you aren't familiar with multi-unit dwelling construction from this era.
The telephone lines are in the narrowest of conduits as part of the original construction. In fact, there is so little room that the coax for cable television was installed (sometime in the Eighties) in separate conduits. No one in the Sixties predicted thick, bulky, stiff coax and they most certainly didn't predict fiber optic lines, Cat6e, PoE, whatever.
Newer developments (from the Nineties onward) will probably have better conduits but builders have a strong tendency to keep costs low. They don't think about putting in lots of roomy conduits for future network upgrades. Joe Nerd Homeowner might think about it, but not some builder trying to erect 80-100 units to get to market quick.
Much of the coax laid during the initial cable TV deployment was really shoddy, again very, Very, VERY cheaply done. And that's not just the wire, it's the conduits, boxes, outlets, etc. A lot of these connections didn't have proper junction boxes screwed into a stud. They just poked holes through the wall at a convenient place and put an outlet plate with drywall anchors. If you've ever watched a home improvement show on TV, these installations are always the ugly "before" pictures.
Of course, this was all par for the course at the time. And not just telecommunication lines. Same with the rest of the construction: cheap, cheap, cheap. Mixet faucets, Hotpoint appliances, cheapest valves, miles of Romex wires, Federal Pacific electrical panels (later recalled, company went bankrupt), et cetera. Electrical conductors in the house weren't strategically planned: the units' branch wiring was for the shortest and straightest throws to cut cost and time.
The expression "best practices" was never uttered by any builder during this era. Practically everything was done as cheap as possible, just good enough for whatever weak building code was in force at the time.
Yes, not everyone in really remote areas have fibre, but most people do today and more fibre is being put in the ground every day.
It can be done, but yes, it's going to take time and this is not something that happened over night here either.
It's not about the logistics of digging trenches, dropping in conduits, etc. The major fiber infrastructure has been around since the late Eighties and early Nineties (dark fiber, etc.).
There are always multiple -- some often very complicated -- that influence these situations.
One big one is that unlike many governments, governments in the USA (both US federal and individual states) do not see broadband Internet as a critical public utility. Rather than have taxpayers foot the bill, they have left broadband as a commercial enterprise.
Remember that the USA -- unlike most European countries -- never had state-run telecommunications. It has always been a business since the early Alexander Graham Bell days which became AT&T ("Ma Bell"), the eventual monopoly. That monopoly was broken up about forty years ago (Regional Bell Operating Companies, RBOCs, or "Baby Bells") but the industry has remained privatized.
So the main challenge is to convince the people (taxpayers, telecom industry, politicians) that increasing taxes to have the state subsidize Internet connectivity is a good thing.
I touched on this earlier, something like 95% of the telecom companies' capital investment is the subscriber loop, the "last mile". Who is going to pay for those upgrades?
I live in one of the most technologically savvy cities in the USA (one of the myriad Silicon Valley towns) and I can't get Fiber To The Home because of various roadblocks and the lack of a government mandate for FTTH everywhere. But above all, it's the lack of support by American society that broadband Internet should be a public utility, like clean water, electricity, sewage systems, etc.
Most Americans would flip out if they hear what the typical tax rate is for Scandinavian citizens.
It's worth pointing out that most of today's broadband monopolies started out as individual regional companies that became what they are today via growth and M&A activity. Even wealthy, tech-savvy, suburban communities like Palo Alto were unable to maintain sovereignty of their cable co-ops (Palo Alto sold out to AT&T about 25 years ago and they were probably one of the last survivors in the area).
This is also compounded by the fact that over time, regional cable companies also became content providers by winning the rights to local sports broadcasts as well as other media content. AT&T has been affiliated with Time-Warner and Discovery. Comcast with NBCUniversal. This wasn't how it was at the beginning.
I will reiterate that the American telecommunications landscape in 2023 is very complex. It's not solved by pointing one finger at the federal government saying, "You need to subsidize FTTH." It's a century old industry that is now intertwined with the entertainment industry.
Anyhow, the reality in 2023 is that the USA is full of towns with cable monopolies and these companies need to work on ways to improve broadband speeds to most of their existing customers with the existing infrastructure. That's what this new DOCSIS 4.0 standard is for.
I'm using a small regional DSL provider for my ghetto Internet service (I gave the cable company the boot ten years ago). While I won't be the beneficiary of this new DOCSIS 4.0 technology, I welcome innovation in broadband technology because FTTH isn't anywhere in my immediate future nor is an open, competitive landscape of broadband service providers.