On the Road to “Utopia” — 10G
By Jeff Finkelstein
“It shines like laser light
It’s in my dreams at night
’cause I’ve been all my life
On the road to utopia.”
- From the song “Road to Utopia” by Todd Rundgren on the “Adventures in Utopia” album
For those unfamiliar with Todd Rundgren, he is a singer, songwriter, and music producer who was famous for songs like “Can we still be friends,” “Hello it’s me,” “I saw the light,” and much more in a wide variety of styles. Of course, he is from Philly originally (notice the leitmotif). His music in many ways transcends the generations as he reinvents himself generationally. If you have never heard his music, it means you are likely not a boomer or Gen X, but I think if you find a few of his songs and give them a listen you may enjoy it.
My reason for using the song as a starting point, other than to reminisce about a different time where the music takes me, is that it provides some useful insights into professed utopian technological concepts or things we may consider so. Not too long ago I wrote about a similar subject in my Broadband Library 2017 Winter Edition article titled “SOS… Getting Help with the ‘Shiny Object Syndrome’.” The gist of that article was discussing how we get enamored with the latest and greatest technologies, but it is the stodgy old ways that help us take incremental steps into the future.
Why 10G?
When I first heard of 10G I first thought of it strictly as “markitecture” rather than “architecture.” If others have 5G, then obviously 10G has to be twice as good. In the same sense if you have a guitar amp that can go up to 11, that has to be better than one going up to 10 since 11 is one more than 10.
Now of course the “amp to 11” is a referential tribute to the classic mockumentary “Spinal Tap”. In that specific scene Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest) is telling the rockumentary director Marty DiBergi (Rob Reiner) about his Marshall amp having a volume setting up to 11. Marty asks why he doesn’t have 10 made louder and Nigel responds blankly, “these go to 11.” To his mind 11 is always better than 10.
As engineers we realize that the scale is often arbitrary and you could just increase the output on the 1-10 scale, but to others 11 is always one better than 10. The markitecture says that 11 is better than 10, therefore it must be true.
What is 10G?
First and foremost, 10G is not merely 10 gigabits per second, it is much more. The clearest definition I have heard for what 10G defines is from Phil McKinney and goes as follows: “10G is a collection of technologies that create a seamless experience all the way to the consumer.”
Using that as a baseline, 10G represents far more than just 10 gigabits per second, it is a directional goal that gives us a north star for the technologies we are currently using or future technologies we are considering. In order to create the “seamless experience” we need to consider the implications of the technology on the entire ecosystem, not just solving a specific problem.
To me 10G represents an evolution of cable technologies which provides a new user experience to our customers. DOCSIS® 4.0, low latency DOCSIS, proactive network maintenance, flexible MAC architecture, coherent optics, and more. Putting these together allows us as service providers access to a wide array of tools in our toolbox that we can put together in new and unique ways to meet the needs of our customers and their service demands.
Pitfalls of deploying new technologies
No technology exists in a vacuum, they all have impacts on adjacent technologies as well. For example, as we have been deploying sub-split devices in North America and elsewhere, if we begin putting high-split devices and turning up high-split in our plant there may (and likely will) be an impact in the sub-split to high-split region (42 MHz to 204 MHz) in neighboring houses if there is not sufficient isolation between the homes. There will also be an impact on the devices inside the same house as the high-split device which has to be considered.
To deal with the intra- and inter-home interference we may be tempted to replace the splitters in use with higher isolation ones. While that solves the interference challenge in the high-split region it also creates another problem by forcing higher modem transmits in the same band and increasing attenuation in the downstream. Adding a filter that blocks the high-split band in the homes impacted by the upstream transmission in this region is a simpler solution (and yes, it is harder to manage as we generally try to avoid using filters these modern days), but it does not require mucking about with the home that is using the high-split spectrum.
It is a good thing to remember “Jeff’s Rules of Technology,” in particular rule #8:
Rule #8: There is little as permanent as a temporary solution.
Be careful when solving one problem with a technology that has the potential to create issues with other deployed technologies. It may be my failing and rapidly aging memory, but I do not recall a time that I ever said, “Boy, I wish I did not spend so much time analyzing a new technology and its potential impacts to other adjacent technologies.”
A moment of Zen
I have no background in mindfulness. I tend to be scatterbrained in my approach to things and have to sort through a lot of random thoughts to get to the essence of what I am trying to say.
I do take yoga and Tai Chi classes as a way to stretch my rapidly aging muscles and to get my mind on something other than work and music. In each of those classes the instructor takes a few minutes at the beginning and the end of class to shift our focus to something as simple as breathing. In that moment where all we are focused on is the sound and pattern of our breaths, we have reached a very short moment of Zen.
My point of the Zen moment is that it is in the very moments when we are not focusing on the minutiae that we may see the big picture. 10G is not an end or a means to an end, it is a journey with many steps along the path. Each one of those steps involves a number of choices, each one impacting adjacencies in its own unique way, and each one of those impacted technologies create a seeming singular series of events that need to be considered and addressed.
The challenge is that we cannot see the future, but we can be prepared for the events we create as we deploy new technologies. And more importantly we need to allow ourselves a moment to enjoy the journey and laugh at ourselves when we make the inevitable mistakes along the way. No technology is perfect, and neither are we.
“And will I find what I’m after
Do I know what I’m after
Guess I’ll join in the laughter
On the road to utopia”
Jeff Finkelstein,
Chief Access Scientist,
Cox Communications
Jeff.Finkelstein@cox.com
Jeff Finkelstein is the Chief Access Scientist for Cox Communications in Atlanta, Georgia. He has been a key contributor to engineering at Cox since 2002 and is an innovator of advanced technologies including proactive network maintenance, active queue management, flexible MAC architecture, DOCSIS 3.1, and DOCSIS 4.0. His current responsibilities include defining the future cable network vision and teaching innovation at Cox. Jeff has over 50 patents issued or pending. He is also a long-time member of the SCTE Chattahoochee Chapter.
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