What is network reliability?
A reliable network is a resilient, self-monitoring and self-healing network that always works as it should without sudden glitches, slowdowns, freezing and other annoying interruptions. To increase reliability, we must make sure that every portion of the cable network—from coax to optical fiber to Wi-Fi—and all its software and hardware components are always well maintained and perform as intended. And if problems do occur, they need to be caught and fixed early before impacting the user experience.
Why is reliability in the network important?
As more and more connected devices are added to home and small business networks, consumers’ reliance on an uninterrupted and secure internet connection will continue to grow. Stakes are raised even more by all the emerging innovations in remote patient monitoring, telerobotic surgery, autonomous cars, home security and other fields where a reliable and continuous connectivity is not only nice to have—it is critical.
What problem are we solving?
A cable network is a complicated system. Software, hardware, back-office systems, operations, engineering—these are just a few of many network components that must work well to ensure a reliable connection. Resilience to failure is the essence of CableLabs’ Proactive Network Maintenance (PNM) efforts—a revolutionary business philosophy that leverages a mix of techniques including network monitoring, machine learning and more to automatically predict, detect and solve impending network issues before they impact the user experience.
How will we get there?
End-to-end Proactive Network Maintenance
We are working on PNM solutions for all parts of the cable network, from wired DOCSIS 3.1® technologies to Wi-Fi to fiber optics, by ensuring that any service degradations are identified and corrected fast.
Proactive Network MaintenanceIndustry-wide adoption of best PNM practices
We believe that as cable networks evolve, so should the industry’s PNM practices. For example, Wi-Fi issues—something that’s been very difficult to predict in the past—can now be addressed with a Wi-Fi PNM mechanism that collects Wi-Fi data from wireless routers. CableLabs has collaborated with the Wi-Fi Alliance to introduce PNM to the Wi-Fi industry. CableLabs continues to develop PNM practices for all the cable industry’s technologies.
Wi-Fi AllianceShifting Wi-Fi into a New Gear
Dual Channel Wi-Fi™ helps alleviate Wi-Fi congestion by allocating a secondary channel dedicated to downstream data of selected applications, improving both overall Wi-Fi performance and customer satisfaction.
Dual Channel Wi-Fi