Established in January 2004, MoCA is an open, international technology standard body promoting networking of multiple streams of high definition video around the home using the existing coaxial cabling.

A home entertainment network is defined as multiple streams of standard and high definition content distributed anywhere, anytime.

Heretofore, sharing of high definition content, received from a typical pay TV service provider, has been difficult to distribute around the home. With MoCA, anyone can download high definition programming to their set top box, and through the user interface already resident in their remote control device, send that same content to any other room in the house.

We call it multiroom DVR. It is applicable for television programming, gaming, content sharing, and PC to TV and back again.

MoCA is led by a board of directors (Promoters) representing some of the most-respected names in broadband entertainment including Broadcom, Cisco, Cox Communications, Comcast, EchoStar, Entropic Communications, Motorola, NXP, Panasonic and Verizon.

There are approximately 55 members spanning representing digital entertainment distribution value chain, from service providers to OEMs to chip vendors to retail.

There are three membership levels, Promoter, Contributor and Associate.

Promoters are members of the board of directors. This level is available by invitation only. Promoter members meet formally once a month and are responsible for steering the overall direction of the alliance.

There is also a Contributor class. At this level, companies participate in the development of the specification, have voting rights within the work groups and are entitled to participate in all work groups.

Members are encouraged to upgrade from their current status, and companies new to the organization are welcome to join at this level as well.

Associate level members have access to the specification for product development purposes, but have no voting rights and cannot participate in working groups other than the Marketing Work Group.

A complete list of members and membership application forms can be found here

Membership is open, active and ongoing.

Benefits are measured in terms of the organizational structure itself and the technology standard it promotes.

The organization:

• Emerging as the standard for HD video distribution in the home.

• More than 55 certified products including set top boxes, broadband home routers, optical network termination (ONTs) units and Ethernet-to-coax bridges (also available via retail channels).

• Reasonable and non-discriminatory (RAND) licensing environment guaranteeing proliferation of the standard and no hidden costs.

• Member representation of all three pay TV segments (telco, cable and satellite).

• Liaisons with CableLabs and Korean Cable Labs.

• Inclusion in DLNA’s Interoperability Guidelines.

• Member of NCTA, CEA, CEDIA and OPASTCO

• Product available via retail.

The technology:

• No new wires.

• No interference with existing networks or consumer electronic devices.

• No service calls or lengthy installation manuals.

• Field tests conducted in 250 homes in U.S. proved conclusively more than 110 Mbps net throughputs in 97 percent of all outlets.

• MoCA 1.1 net throughput rates of 175 Mbps

• PQoS for bandwidth guarantees

• 16 node network extension

• Technology is in full deployment via Verizon FiOS TV (2.5 million subs)

- MoCA 2.0 in development (minimal 400 Mbps actual throughputs)

The MoCA 1.0 MAC/PHY spec was ratified two years ago. Products with MoCA 1.0 embedded are available from several companies and include set top boxes, routers and gateways, bridges and ONTs.

MoCA 1.1 extension has been ratified and offers additional benefits. These include parameterized quality of service (PQoS) for provisioning and bandwidth management of real time data requests for video applications.

MoCA 1.1 with packet aggregation also increases the net throughput performance from 110 Mbps to 175 Mbps.

MoCA is the only organization that actively promotes its net throughput metrics. While other may claim higher performance, these are generally theoretical bit rates. This is the difference between what is promised and what is received.

This new extension also increases the network from the current eight nodes to 16 nodes.

All these enhancements help network operators improve overall efficiency and manage total cost in their rollouts and service offerings.

Products with MoCA 1.1 are expected sometime in second half of 2008.

MoCA conducts certification waves on a regular basis. Any member can submit a product for certification. MoCA 1.1 certification is available now.

Products are subjected to a battery of tests to ensure interoperability with other certified products from other members.

For certification, MoCA uses an independent testing facility called, Technical Systems Inc., NTS, (NASDAQ: NTSC), a leading provider of quality, conformance and certification testing, quality registration and managed services. NTS is the exclusive lab for certification of MoCA products. More information about NTS is available at www.ntscorp.com

Certification generally takes about two weeks. Upon completion and passage of certification, members can display the MoCA Certified logo on their products.

Detailed information regarding certification procedures and cost is available to MoCA members only.

Initially, the killer app is multi-room DVR. But there is also multi player gaming, video and photo sharing around the home, and video and photo transfer from PC to TV.

MoCA is in full deployment through Verizon’s FiOS TV program. FiOS TV currently has more than 2.5 million subscribers.

Recently, TimeWarner Cable, Cox Communications and Bright House Networks all publicly committed to implementing MoCA technology in their networks.

There are more cable subscribers in Europe than the US (about 70 million to 65 million). If there are more than two outlets in the home (and in many cases this is unknown), than there is potential to deploy MoCA technology.

MoCA enjoys membership by many European OEMs and CAIW, a cable MSO in The Netherlands.

MoCA has a liaison agreement in place with Korean Cable Labs (KLABs) and expects to see the technology used in South Korea sometime in the future.

MoCA fully acknowledges that if there is no coax, there is no market for the standard. But if you can get a TV signal through the existing coax, then MoCA will work.

While wireless networking has garnered the headlines and is increasingly prevalent if not prominent in people’s homes, it is still primarily a data-based experience. It would be great for one standard to provide the ultimate solution for home networking, but that just ain’t so.

While it is presumed that many readers have a wireless network in their home already, it is also possible that they have experienced less than adequate coverage. There are interference and security issues to be worked out. The 802.11n specification that is in process extends the range of the network. While this will improve reception, it also increases the range by which others can gain unauthorized access to your network if not properly secured, inviting intruders, security breaches and intellectual property theft. This is not an environment in which service providers or end consumers are comfortable.

In addition, WiFi operates in an unlicensed spectrum, so sources of interference cannot be controlled. These include microwave ovens, cordless phones, Bluetooth, baby monitors and neighboring WiFi networks.

Despite some of the issues surrounding wireless networks, it is hard to beat mobility as a compelling benefit. Wireless networks will continue to play a vital role in the hybrid digital home network.

Powerline technologies also provide a compelling benefit in terms of ubiquity (numerous electrical outlets in every room) and ease of use. However, powerline does suffer from interference problems and cannot match reliable performance of MoCA technology.

It should be noted many of the wired and some of the emerging niche wireless standards bodies are claiming to work over their native medium and coax. We think this just proves our point.

Most other technologies and mediums, wired and wireless included, were designed with data transfer as their primary objective, and are more than adequate for such applications. Video, however, is another matter. Video delivery, especially delivery of high definition programming, is far more difficult and unreliable over any current wireless or wired technology or medium, save one--coax.

Reliability and uninterrupted delivery of video is mandatory or the entire viewing experience is affected. We may tolerate a dropped cell phone call—and can redial and complete the conversation— Interrupted video ruins the experience by disrupting the plot continuity or spoiling that suspenseful moment.

For a satisfactory video viewing experience, there must be a guarantee of reliability. While most wired and wireless networks deliver data extremely well, errors can still occur with video. If sending data and errors occur in loading a web page, or receiving email, or if service is interrupted, the packet (information) is resent. However, for streaming video and audio throughout the home, lost packets can result in skipped frames, garbled sound or blank pictures.

Cable, satellite and even telecom operators have been using existing in-home coaxial wiring to distribute analog video throughout the home for years. Coaxial cable already exists in more than 90 percent of U.S. households and many countries in Europe and Asia. It is understood by service providers and consumer alike that coax is for video!

Coaxial cable is ideal for carrying electrical signals because it is a shielded wire, meaning that the signal being carried is not subject to interference from outside sources. Because coax is designed to carry TV signals, coax outlets have historically been placed in close proximity to the consumer’s desired TV viewing locations such as the living room, family room and bedroom. Many service providers are already reaping the benefits of coax-based networking technology enabling them to send multiple streams of high-definition content to practically any room in the house.

Unlike wireless networks which require sophisticated encryption schemes and lengthy setup, MoCA encrypts the signals automatically. MoCA transmits signals over a shielded cable, ensuring that data, personal information and digital media are safe from interference and theft. By combining shielded wiring, easy isolation from neighbors and automatically enabled security protocols, MoCA technology is a safe and secure component of hybrid home networks.

In addition, transmitting signals over coaxial cabling allows MoCA to operate at much higher frequencies than other technologies such as wireless or powerline networks which are prone to interference. Wireless networks predominantly operate in the same frequency spectrum (2.4 GHz) as cordless handsets, microwaves and other wireless networks.

MoCA is essentially IP over coax on steroids, thus IPTV is looked at as a natural migration for delivery of HD content from any broadband connection using the Internet Protocol.

Products (Ethernet to coax bridges, or ECBs) are available now through retail channels from Actiontec, D-Link and Netgear. Please visit their respective web sites for more information.

MoCA has a new web site, using video as the prime communications vehicle, for purposes of educating consumers of the benefits of a home entertainment network. Please visit, www.connectmystuff.org.

The coax splitters used in homes are really directional couplers designed to isolate splitter outputs and prevent signals from flowing room/outlet to room/outlet. This isolation is for two reasons, a) reduce interference from other devices and b) maximize power transfer from Point of Entry (POE) to outlets for best TV reception.

The MoCA standard is specifically designed to go backward through splitters (insertion) and go from splitter output to output (isolation). All outlets in a house can be reached from each other by a single isolation jump and a number of insertion jumps. Each isolation jump has an attenuation of 25dB and each insertion jump attenuates approximately 3dB. MoCA has a dynamic range in excess of 55dB while supporting 135Mbps throughput. Therefore, MoCA can work effectively through a significant number of splitters.

MoCA is highly reliable as it is a managed network unlike other home networking technologies. It is specifically designed to support streaming video without packet loss providing very high video quality between outlets.

Digital cable programming is delivered with threshold Packet Error Rate (PER) of below 1e-6. The home network should have similar or better performance so as not to impact the video and entertainment experience.

When supporting UDP and 1394 protocols there is no request and retransmission of packets above the Link/MAC layer, so that this PER must be constantly maintained at the MAC layer by the home network. A home network with potential collision access will have a very difficult time achieving 1e-6 PER with any significant loading of its data rate.

A fully coordinated collision free MAC as defined in MoCA, is practically a necessity for the home networks to achieve this PER for the desired data rates. In addition to a PER < 1e-6, the home network must deliver delay and jitter consistent with the services it carries.

Voice applications would like to see the delay budget allocated to home networking to be 10 msec or less. Jitter must be smoothed out in buffers at the transmitter and receiver. Such buffers must be a fraction of the total allowed delay. MoCA is specifically designed to address these Quality of Service (QOS) levels.

In extensive and independent field trials, MoCA demonstrated more than 110Mbps of throughput in more than 97 percent of outlets tested. These trials proved reliability and performance. Got to have both or it is an incomplete solution, and therefore not a solution at all.

These are important metrics for a number of reasons. First, the net throughput is guaranteed is more than capable of handling multiple HD streams. Second, the ubiquity indicates that minimal new wiring is required, and only then in a small percentage of homes. This eliminates costly truck rolls by the service provider, which is an equally undesirable scenario by the consumer/subscriber.

Equally important, is these benchmarks are provide a high degree of confidence that this is a retail capable technology.

MoCA 1.1 recently upped the ante with incorporation of packet aggregation which yields net throughputs of 175 Mbps.

No other consortium that we are aware of publicly discloses the results of their field trials, and many have not done extensive real world testing. Nor are any of the standard bodies that we are aware of willing to admit their net throughput numbers for public consumption. What are they hiding?

Right now, the industry benchmark for minimal guaranteed throughputs is 100 Mbps. This is considered a minimum necessary for carrying of multiple streams of high definition content. Verizon’s FiOS is capable of delivering 100 Mbps to and around the home.

Home networks must support the peak data rate per stream, and those streams can peak simultaneously. The vast majority of broadcast content in the U.S. today is MPEG2.

Measurements of streams from the top four service providers showed that SDTV MPEG2 broadcasts are variable bit rate with average data rates between 2 and 3 Mbps, and peak rates around 9 Mbps. VOD SDTV streams tend to be constant at bit rates between 4 and 5 Mbps. However HDTV MPEG2 streams can carry requirements from the content providers if a minimum of approximately 12 Mbps is allocated.

Measurements of programs in San Diego showed that non-ATSC HDTV MPEG2 streams carry average data rates between 10 and 18 Mbps, and peak rates between 13 and 19 Mbps. Advanced coding schemes may reduce these average bit rates by a factor of 2. However, the peak rate is not reduced by as much as the average rate.

Fast-forward and reverse, and other trick modes, can increase the peak data rate by a factor of 3 or more if continuous streaming video is desired during the trick mode. If decimated, fast slide show looking trick mode is acceptable, then data rates stay comparable. Service providers will still need to make terrestrial or network ATSC content available to their subscribers. So even if an advanced codec brings the service provider’s data rate down for HDTV, the subscriber may sometimes home network ATSC.

Service providers must allocate the home networking data rate for ATSC streams at 19 Mbps regardless of their own HDTV data rates. A usage scenario consisting of 1 HDTV stream, 1 ATSC stream, 2 SDTV double hops, and broadband at 10 Mbps, for example, requires allocation of 50 to 84 Mbps for play, and 50 to 148 Mbps if all streams did trick mode at the same time.

A usage scenario with 3 ATSC streams and broadband at 3 Mbps requires allocation of 60 Mbps for play, and 60 to 123 Mbps for trick modes. None of these numbers include another typically > 10% protocol and management overhead from the application. An additional 30 percent or more of a stream can also be needed to fill IPSTB buffers at channel changes in order to reduce channel change times.

As has been proven, you can never have enough bandwidth.

Drop cables and multitaps isolate coax between homes. Multitaps give varying amounts of isolation between tap ports that vary with frequency, and can be insufficient to fully isolate homes in the 860 – 2000 MHz band. Multitaps come in 2, 4 and 8 tap versions, the majority being 2 and 4 tap multitaps. Coax can support reliable 100 Mbps in a 50 Mhz bandwidth or less, enabling more than 8 channels/homes to exist independently above 850 Mhz.

If necessary, physically isolating homes on coax requires that simple 850 MHz low pass filters be installed between the multitap and the POE. Since there are more channels supported than shared homes on a multitap, each home can be operated on its own frequency, eliminating the need for physical isolation filters until the neighborhood is heavily penetrated with multiple channels per home, and usage rates indicate more channels than are available within the total bandwidth. Thus, in combination with encryption, coax supports private independent networks that are not degraded by neighboring homes.

Absolutely. MoCA utilizes DES to provide baseline privacy similar to cable modems.

DRM lies in the software layer above MoCA. MoCA provides Layer 2 transport with QOS over existing home coaxial network.

No. MoCA operates in the protected environment of the in-home coax cable.

Yes. ADSL and VDSL services typically enter the home on a twisted pair, operating in a frequency band from a few hundred kilohertz to 8.5MHz for ADSL and 12MHZ for VDSL. As services reach the home on via xDSL, they may be routed via MoCA technology and the in-home coax to the video devices. Since MoCA operates at frequencies well above the xDSL spectrum, the opportunity for interference between the networks is minimal.