Monitoring Cable Technologies

Cable broadband communication operates in compliance with the Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) standard which prescribes multivendor interoperability and promotes a retail model for the consumer's direct purchase of a cable modem (CM) of choice. Figure 29-1 depicts the architecture of the cable broadband in compliance with this standard:

Figure 29-1 Cable Broadband Architecture

 

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DOCSIS defines two key devices necessary for broadband cable communication:

  • Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS) is a piece of equipment typically located in a cable company's headend or hubsite, and used to provide high speed data services, such as cable Internet or voice over Internet Protocol, to cable subscribers. A CMTS provides many of the same functions provided by the DSLAM in a DSL system. In order to provide these high speed data services, a cable company will connect its headend to the Internet via very high capacity data links to a network service provider. On the subscriber side of the headend, the CMTS enables the communication with subscribers' cable modems. A single CMTS can accommodate thousands of cable modems, and provides the connection point to the Internet backbone.
  • Cable Modem (CM) is a type of network bridge and modem that provides bi-directional data communication via radio frequency channels on a hybrid fiber-coaxial (HFC) and RFoG infrastructure. Cable modems are primarily used to deliver broadband Internet access in the form of cable Internet, taking advantage of the high bandwidth of a HFC and RFoG network. Usually located at the customer premises, terminates the cable line, and modulates/demodulates signals to and from the CMTS.

Data flowing from the CMTS to the Cable Modem is deemed downstream traffic. Data from the Cable Modem to the CMTS is upstream traffic. A DOCSIS binary configuration file provides the appropriate ISP parameters for cable modems to connect to the network.

There are two types of CMTS systems, which are explained below:

  • Integrated CMTS (I-CMTS)—In this type of CMTS, the contents of the downstream channel are directly modulated and transmitted by the Downstream RF Port.
  • Modular CMTS (M-CMTS)—In this type of CMTS, the contents of the downstream channel are encapsulated into a DEPI tunnel for transmission.

Cisco Systems offers a complete portfolio of standards-based cable products, solutions, and network management systems that enable integration of data, voice, and video services on a single multiservice cable IP network. For information on supported CMTS systems, refer to Cisco Prime Network 5.0 Supported VNEs.

These topics describe how to use the Vision client to manage cable networks. If you cannot perform an operation that is described in these topics, you may not have sufficient permissions; see Permissions for Managing Cable Technologies.

Viewing the Cable Broadband Configuration Details

You can view the following Cable technology configurations:

  • DTI Client—The DOCSIS Timing Interface (DTI) client collects DTI server master clock, DOCSIS timestamp, and Time of Day information from the DTI Server. It interfaces with the DTI Server to provide Time, Frequency and Management interfaces to the Modular Cable Modem Termination System (M-CMTS) device.
  • QAM Domain—Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) domain
  • MAC Domain—A MAC domain is a logical subcomponent of a Cisco CMTS router and is responsible for implementing all DOCSIS functions on a set of downstream and upstream channels. The CMTS MAC domain typically includes one or more downstream paths and one or more upstream paths. Depending on the CMTS configuration, the CMTS MAC domain can be defined to have its downstream on one cable interface line card with its upstreams on another card, or one or more CMTS MAC domains per cable interface line card.
  • Narrowband Channels—A Narrowband Channel is a logical representation of a non-bonded channel that is a standard DOCSIS 1.x/2.0 protocol downstream channel that contains one RF channel. The wideband protocol utilizes the existing narrowband downstream channel for carrying the MAC management and signaling messages and the associated narrowband upstream for return data traffic and signaling.
  • Wideband Channels—A Wideband Channel or Bonded Group (BG) is a logical grouping of one or more physical RF channels over which MPEG-TS packets are carried. Wideband channel carries DOCSIS bonded packets encapsulated in MPEG-TS packets from a WCMTS to one or more WCMs. The wideband channel, comprising of one or more RF channels on the EQAM device, is used for DS data traffic. The US channels on interface line cards—such as the Cisco uBR-MC3GX60V or Cisco uBR10-MC5X20—are used for US traffic.
  • Fiber Node—A Fiber Node allows the Multiple Server Operator (MSO) or service provider to configure the CMTS to be more intelligent by making Cisco IOS aware of how the cable plant is wired. The downstream channels of the cable plant must be accurately configured in the CMTS fiber nodes. This allows the CMTS to accurately signal the wideband modems on which the wideband channels are available to the modem.

 

Viewing the DTI Client Configuration Details

To view the DTI Client configuration details:

Step 1blank.gif Right-click the required device in the Vision client and choose Inventory.

Step 2blank.gif In the logical inventory window, choose Logical Inventory > DTI Client. The DTI Client details are displayed in the content pane.

Table 29-1 describes the DTI Client configuration details.

Table 29-1 DTI Client Configuration Details

Field
Description

DTI Server Details

Server Status

The status of the server, which can be any one of the following:

  • Free Run
  • Warm Up
  • Fast Tracking
  • Normal
  • Hold Over
  • Client Stable
  • Test

Root Server Clock Type

The clock type of the DTI Server, which can be any one of the following:

  • ITU Type 1
  • ITU Type 2
  • ITU Type 3
  • ITU STRATUM 3

Root Server Source

The clock source of the DTI server, which can be any one of the following:

  • Internal
  • External
  • GPS
  • None

Server Type

The type of DTI Server, which can be any one of the following:

  • Root
  • User Time
  • NTPV 4
  • GPS

Client Performance Stable

Indicates the stability of the performance of the DTI client.

Client Cable Advance Valid

Indicates the cable advance status of the DTI Server Frame.

TOD Setting Mode

The output of the Time of Day Setting mode (User time, NTP, GPS), which can be any one of the following:

  • Short
  • Verbose
note.gif

Noteblank.gif The output is based on the TOD message sent by the DTI Server.

Time of Day

The date and time of the clock.

DTI Client Port Status

DTI Client

The name of the DTI client, which when clicked will take you to the relevant slot under the Physical Inventory node.

DTI Client Status

The status of the DTI client, which can be any of the following:

  • Active
  • Standby

Connected

Indicates whether the DTI Server is active in the DTI client port.

 

Viewing the QAM Domain Configuration Details

To view the QAM domain configuration details:

Step 1blank.gif Right-click the required device in the Vision client and choose Inventory.

Step 2blank.gif In the logical inventory window, choose Logical Inventory > QAM Domain > QAM Domain name. The QAM Domain details are displayed north content pane.

Table 29-2 describes the QAM Domain configuration details.

 

Table 29-2 QAM Domain Configuration Details

Field
Description

QAM Domain ID

The unique identification code of the QAM domain.

QAM Domain

QAM Domain ID

The unique identification code of the QAM domain.

UDP Start Range

The starting port in the range of UDP ports for the video route.

UDP End Range

The ending port in the range of UDP ports for the video route.

QAM Block

The QAM block ID for the video route.

 

Viewing the MAC Domain Configuration Details

To view the MAC domain configuration details:

Step 1blank.gif Right-click the required device in the Vision client and choose Inventory.

Step 2blank.gif In the logical inventory window, choose Logical Inventory > MAC Domains > MAC Domain name. The MAC Domain configuration details are displayed in the content pane.

Table 29-3 describes the MAC Domain configuration details.

Table 29-3 MAC Domain Configuration Details

Field
Description

MAC Domain Name

The name of the MAC domain.

Domain Status

The status of the MAC domain, which can be any one of the following:

  • Up
  • Down
  • Administrative Up
  • Administrative Down
  • Unknown

Bundle

The bundle address associated with the MAC domain.

Active Remote DS

The downstream channel associated with the MAC domain.

Upstream Channels

US Channel ID

The unique identification code of the Upstream channel.

Status

The status of the upstream channel, which can be any one of the following:

  • Up
  • Down
  • Administrative Up
  • Administrative Down
  • Unknown

Port

The port to which the upstream channel is associated with.

Frequency

The frequency of the upstream channel.

Channel width

The width of the upstream channel.

Modulation

The modulation value of the upstream channel.

Backoff End

The backoff end time of the upstream channel.

Backoff Start

The backoff start time of the upstream channel.

Downstream Channels

DS Channel ID

The unique identification code of the Downstream Channel.

Associated Narrowband

The name of the narrowband channel that is associated to the downstream channel.

Port

The port to which the downstream channel is associated with.

Status

The status of the downstream channel, which can be any one of the following:

  • Up
  • Down
  • Administrative Up
  • Administrative Down
  • Unknown

Frequency

The frequency of the downstream channel.

Bandwidth

The bandwidth of the downstream channel.

Total Modem

The total number of modem for the downstream channel.

Modem Active

The number of modems active for the downstream channel.

Network Delay

The network delay (in terms of bits per second) in the downstream channel.

 

Viewing the Narrowband Channels Configuration Details

To view the Narrowband channels configuration details:

Step 1blank.gif Right-click the required device in the Vision client and choose Inventory.

Step 2blank.gif In the logical inventory window, choose Logical Inventory > Narrowband Channels > Narrowband channel cable. The Narrowband channels configuration details are displayed in the content pane.

Table 29-4 describes the Narrowband channels configuration details.

 

Table 29-4 Narrowband Channels Configuration Details

Field
Description

Name

The name of the narrowband channel.

Channel Status

The status of the narrowband channel, which can be any one of the following:

  • Up
  • Down
  • Unknown

DS ID

The identification code of the downstream channel associated with the narrowband channel.

RF Channel ID

The identification code of the Radio Frequency (RF) channel associated with the narrowband channel.

Bandwidth

The percentage of bandwidth available for the narrowband channel.

Downstream ID

The link to the downstream channel that is associated to the narrowband channel.

Wideband Associations

Associated Entity

The wideband channel that is associated to the narrowband channel, which when clicked will take you to the relevant wideband channel configuration under the Wideband Channels node.

Bandwidth

The percentage of bandwidth available for the wideband channel.

 

Viewing the Wideband Channels Configuration Details

To view the Wideband channels configuration details:

Step 1blank.gif Right-click the required device in the Vision client and choose Inventory.

Step 2blank.gif In the logical inventory window, choose Logical Inventory > Wideband Channels > Wideband cable. The Wideband channels configuration details are displayed in the content pane.

Table 29-5 describes the Wideband channels configuration details.

 

Table 29-5 Wideband Channels Configuration Details

Field
Description

Wideband Name

The name of the wideband channel.

Status

The status of the wideband channel, which can be any one of the following:

  • Up
  • Down
  • Administrative Up
  • Administrative Down
  • Unknown

Bonding Group ID

The unique identification code of the bonding group.

note.gif

Noteblank.gif A bonding group is a logical grouping of one or more physical radio frequency (RF) channels over which wideband MPEG-TS packets are carried. By aggregating or "channel bonding" multiple RF channels, the wideband channel is capable of greater bandwidth capacity for downstream data traffic than a single narrowband channel.

Bundle

The bundle address associated with the wideband.

NB Channel Interface

The Narrowband (NB) channel interface associated with the wideband channel.

Reserved CIR

The Committed Information Rate (CIR) reserved for the wideband channel.

Total CIR

The total Committed Information Rate (CIR) associated to the Wideband channel available.

Multicasting Reserved CIR

Indicates the Reserved Committed Information Rate associated to the multicasting group of the Wideband channel.

Multicasting Total CIR

Indicates the Total Committed Information Rate associated to the multicasting group of the Wideband channel.

RF Channels

RF Channel ID

The unique identification code of the RF channel.

Port

The port to which the RF channel is associated with.

Bandwidth

The percentage of bandwidth available for the RF channel.

Channel Type

The type of the RF channel, which can be any one of the following:

  • Primary
  • Non-Primary

Frequency

The frequency (in terms of Mhz) allocated to the RF channel.

Modulation

The modulation (in terms of QAM) allocated to the RF channel.

Annex

The annexure that is allocated to the RF channel.

IP Address

The IP address that is assigned to the RF channel for downstream data transmission.

MAC Address

The MAC address that is assigned to the RF channel for downstream data transmission.

DEPI Remote ID

The Downstream External PHY Interface (DEPI) remote session ID that is assigned to the RF channel.

 

Viewing the Fiber Node Configuration Details

To view the Fiber Node configuration details:

Step 1blank.gif Right-click the required device in the Vision client and choose Inventory.

Step 2blank.gif In the logical inventory window, choose Logical Inventory > Fiber NOde. The Fiber Node configuration details are displayed in the content pane.

Table 29-6 describes the Fiber Node configuration details.

 

Table 29-6 Fiber Node Configuration Details
Field
Description

Fiber Node Number

The unique number assigned to the Fiber node.

Total DS Channels

The total number of downstream channels associated to the fiber node.

Total US Channels

The total number of upstream channels associated to the fiber node.

Status

The status of the fiber node, which can be any one of the following:

  • Valid
  • Invalid

 

Configure Cable Ports and Interfaces

These cable port and interface commands can be launched from the Vision client. Your permissions determine whether you can run these commands (see Permissions for Vision Client NE-Related Operations). To find out if a device supports these commands, see the Cisco Prime Network 5.2 Supported Cisco VNEs.

Configure Cable Ports

 

Command
Navigation
Description

Modify Port

Physical Inventory > Ethernet Slot > Navigate to Ethernet port > Commands > Configuration > Port

Controls a variety of RFGW port characteristics (status of port, IP address type and so forth).

Modify Cable Port

Physical Inventory > Chassis > Slot > Subslot > Cable > Commands > Configuration > Port

Controls a variety of CMTS device port characteristics (status of port, bundle ID and so forth).

Configure Downstream Port

Physical Inventory > Chassis > Slot > Subslot > Cable > Commands > Configuration > Downstream

Configure and enable the downstream ports on the CMTS card (such as the Cisco uBR 10000 card). Configure parameters like modulation rate, downstream interleave depth in number of rows of code words, and so on.

Create Upstream Port

Modify Upstream Port

Physical Inventory > Chassis > Slot > Subslot > Cable or Ethernet port > Commands > Configuration > Upstream

Create or modify an upstream port.

Configure Cable Interfaces

 

Command
Navigation
Description

Create IP Interface

Logical Inventory > Routing Entities > Routing Entity > Commands > Configuration

Configure IP interface as part of the routing entity for the selected device.

Modify IP Interface

Delete IP Interface

Logical Inventory > Routing Entities > Routing Entity > Select an interface > Commands > Configuration

Changes or removes descriptive information that is displayed in GUI clients when the interface is selected.

View Upstream and Downstream Configuration for Cable

Use the following command to view the cable upstream and downstream configuration. Your permissions determine whether you can run these commands (see Permissions for Vision Client NE-Related Operations). To find out if a device supports these commands, see the Cisco Prime Network 5.2 Supported Cisco VNEs.

 

Command
Navigation
Description

Show > Upstream

Show > Downstream

Physical Inventory > Ethernet Slot > Navigate to Ethernet port > Commands > Configuration > Port

View the configured upstream and downstream rate for the selected cable.

Configure and View QAM

The following commands configure the Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) domain for the RF channel. Your permissions determine whether you can run these commands (see Permissions for Vision Client NE-Related Operations). To find out if a device supports these commands, see the Cisco Prime Network 5.2 Supported Cisco VNEs.

Configure RF and Frequency Profiles

 

Command
Navigation
Description

Create RF Profile

Modify RF Profile

Delete RF Profile

NE > Commands > Configuration > RF Profile

Configures a combination of RF attributes to be used across all line cards in the chassis.

Delete Frequency Profile

Create Lane

Create Block

NE > Commands > Configuration > Frequency Profile

Configure the frequency profile at the port level.

These user-defined frequency scheme provides flexibility to define each lane and block start frequencies. These frequency profiles can then be applied to the port in this scheme.

Configure QAM Port and Channel

 

Command
Navigation
Description

Modify QAM Port

Modify QAM Channel

Physical Inventory > Chassis > Slot > QAM > Commands > Configuration

Modify the QAM port and channel.

View QAM Configurations

 

Command
Navigation
Description

Show > RF Profile

Show > Frequency Profile

NE > Commands

Display RF and Frequency profiles created on the device.

Show > QAM Port

Show > QAM Channel

Physical Inventory > Chassis > Slot > QAM > Commands

Displays cable information configured on the QAM channel and port.

Configure DEPI and L2TP

These commands configure the Downstream External PHY Interface (DEPI) and Layer 2 Tunnel Protocol (L2TP). The table below lists the navigation of each of these commands. Your permissions determine whether you can run these commands (see Permissions for Vision Client NE-Related Operations). To find out if a device supports these commands, see the Cisco Prime Network 5.2 Supported Cisco VNEs.

Configure DEPI Class and Tunnel

 

Command
Navigation
Description

Create DEPI Class

Delete DEPI Class

Create DEPI Tunnel

Modify DEPI Tunnel

Delete DEPI Tunnel

NE > Commands > Configuration > DEPI

Configures template of DEPI control plane and tunnel configuration settings.

Configure L2TP Class

 

Command
Navigation
Description

Create L2TP Class

Modify L2TP Class

Delete L2TP Class

NE > Commands > Configuration > L2TP

Configures a template of Layer 2 Tunnel Protocol (L2TP) control plane configuration settings.

View DEPI Tunnel, DEPI Session, and L2TP Class

 

Command
Navigation
Description

Show > L2TP Class

Show > DEPI Tunnel

Show > DEPI Session

Show > Cable DEPI Session

NE > Commands > Configuration

Displays Layer 2 Tunnel Protocol control plane configuration settings.

Displays DEPI tunnel configuration settings.

Displays DEPI session information and DEPI sessions configured on the line card.