1. Tap to Outlet Home Certification
SCTE DVAC Chapter 4/18/12
Larry Jump
JDSU
Field Applications Engineer

2. Today's Agenda Home Certification Overview Certifying the Home
What is Home Certification?
Why do we need it?
What is the technology?
Certifying the Home
Home Certification Challenges in the field
What affects Services
What can and should be done
Questions and Answers

3. Why Home Network Certification?
Estimated that 70-75% of all trouble calls are due to problems inside the home.
Estimated that between 90-95% of troubleshooting root cause of service issues inside a home is coax path related
Replacing connectors, splitters, faulty coax, etc…
Craftsmanship
This is consistent with both QAM and MoCA services
QAM signals are more susceptible to issues
QAM signals are maxed out
Now more susceptible to other issues
Greater customer satisfaction through a more reliable network
Home certification has been proven to reduce costly repeat truck rolls.

4. Why should we do this “certification”?
The best answer is:
– to provide short and long term customer satisfaction by:
Reducing repeat visits
Reducing overall truck rolls over time
Reducing unnecessary Refer to Maintenance calls
Providing test data to tech responding to escalation
Being prepared for future technologies
Another step closer to One and Done

5. Find and Fix Dilemma
Missing marginal installations often leads to 3-1 find and fix scenario
$125 install tech truck roll
$125 network tech truck roll
$125 service tech truck roll
Network Tech
Field
Tech
Field
Tech
3 truck rolls that should have only required 1, 3-1
At $125/roll, cost for repair was $375 or $250 extra cost!
At $100/month average customer revenue, and a 50% margin, that means that about 5 months of profit are gone from this customer
Saving only events per month, pays for a field instrument that can help prevent this scenario in less than 12 months.

6. What goes wrong?
Excessive attenuation caused by too many splitters or long cable runs
A drop amplifier that does not pass the entire required spectrum
Un-terminated splitters or outlets
Poor crimping or other connector issues
Cable faults or other conductor flaws
Many of these flaws are caused by poor craftmanship!

7. Why do we need to certify the home?
Upcoming technologies will require an even more robust home network.
MoCA supports a full-mesh network between all nodes, procedures must be modified to rate all segments, not just from the initial splitter to outlets but also STB-to-STB segments that may not include the initial splitter.
Any number of components could be the cause, including bad connectors and splitters, amplifiers, band pass filters, un-terminated cables or excessive noise, distortion or interference that affects the part of the spectrum.

8. Benefits of Certification
Customer doesn’t call Boss
Boss doesn’t get mad at tech
Tech doesn’t take it out on dog
Happy Customers
Happy Boss
Happy Dog
Happy Tech

9. Find Root Cause of Service Issues
Troubleshooting Philosophy:
Quickly find and fix the root cause of 80-90% of in-home related issues – the Coax
Allow operators to determine all Triple-Play & other newer services will work before connecting any CPE devices!
Certify the home’s coax plant over all frequencies is correct
It doesn’t matter what service is running on the coax
Future proof for eventual additional revenue

10. Testing is consistent across all techs and jobs
Why do we need to do this
Remember the Goal –
Help assure that work (service, install, etc.) is done correctly the first time, and verified with quantitative test data, hence reducing repeat service calls.
You can ensure that the proper tests are taken for every required job and the test data is recorded.
Testing is consistent across all techs and jobs
Test data is reconciled against the work order system Quality standards are enforced for each job

11. What is Home Cert? Testing Standardization Verification Assurance
Tap to TV, Modem, or Set Top Box
The span of the network the Service /Install Tech controls.
Using the test equipment provided
Standardization
All customers get the same tests All Techs run the same tests
Apple to Apples
Verification
Ensure that the testing was done correctly
Assurance
Ensure that corrective action is taken if required
Reporting
Provide compliance information to managers and technicians
Data Collection

12. Why this, instead of other back office tools?
Because you are the one with the tool belt
Because you can move the test equipment around while you troubleshoot.
Outlet to Ground Block to Tap
Know at once when you have fixed, or found the location of the problem
Provide measurement history at that location for future reference.

13. Summary so far Run the tests at jobs that require a test to be run
Results are compared to user defined Pass/Fail limits
Pass/Fail limits should be such that a fail means “must fix”
Fix problems uncovered
Or validate they need escalation ( via test at Tap)
Re-run test to verify correction of problems
Results are reported in terms of number of tests:
that actually were performed versus number that SHOULD have been performed
Number of tests passed
Reporting is available grouped by System, Manager, Supervisor, or Technician.
Goal is to achieve and maintain high compliance and passing numbers

14. By successfully implementing Home Certification
Reduce repeat rate – lowering repeats caused by marginal signal conditions
Create a system wide standard for acquiring & interpreting test results
Results in standard and consistent procedures that ensure quality based on quantitative test data
Improve productivity by reducing repeat service calls
Improve customer satisfaction levels, as customers do not have to keep experiencing the same problem
Provide a central repository for test data provides management reports, trends for data analysis, efficiency of technician and productivity

15. Reports

16. System Workflow Diagram
Daily electronic file with Work Order Information from billing system
Import Report
TPP Relational
Database
Web Server
Saved Test Results
sent at end of day.
Management Reports
Test Result Queries
Save test files taken at jobs into Folders

17. Stores test data, Compares test from meter with workorderdata
Another view
TAP
Drop Cable
High Pass
Filter
GROUND
BLOCK
DIGITAL SET-TOP
House
2-Way
Amplifier
Digital Voice
OLDER TV SET
COMPUTER
ETHERNET
Stores test data, Compares test from meter with workorderdata
Work Order File from Billing System
Workorder info from Billing System
TPP Relational
Database
Web Server

18. How Work Orders are matched with Test Results
CSG, DST, ICOMSs, Custom
Minor differences between vendors
Information in Work Order File:
assigned Tech, Work Order Type, job number, account number, completion codes, job status, and completion date, Node, system ID, etc.
Meter saves test named as account number or Job Number
Information from meter(saved tests):
Tech ID, Account Number or Job Number, Date/Time Saved, and of course, the test measurement data
Server: Application and
Database
Work order Info
Test Data

19. Meter Synchronization Process
Synchronization (upload) process allows tech to send data back to the server
Also allows channel plans, test plan setup and , limit plans to be sent to the meter.
Assure all meters use proper settings
Connect via the RF plant (DOCSIS channel) or Ethernet LAN, or available wireless networks.
The Certification test data is sent back and saved in Application Database and the Certification Reports are created from this database
Server: Application and
Database
2-way communication
RF, Wireless, or Ethernet

20. Testing RF networks in the Home
TAP
House
Drop Cable
OLDER TV SET
DIGITAL SET-TOP
COMPUTER
Digital Voice
GROUND
BLOCK
2-Way
Amplifier
High Pass
Filter
ETHERNET
3-Way
Splitter
ONLINE GAMING
eMTA-CABLE MODEM

21. Which outlet should we test?
The Basics…..Where
TAP
Drop Cable
High Pass
Filter
GROUND
BLOCK
DIGITAL SET-TOP
House
2-Way
Amplifier
Digital Voice
OLDER TV SET
COMPUTER
ETHERNET
Which outlet should we test?
Pretty much common sense -Voice -Data -Largest TV

22. The Basics…What do we test – RF Layer
Downstream RF
Level
C/N ( Analog – Remember Analog?)
Hum ( Analog – yep, still around, sometimes)
Video/Audio Carrier Delta ( difference)
MER
BER
(Drop Frequency Response)
Upstream RF
Upstream Tx Level
Upstream Tx Headroom

23. What is Comcast doing now?

24. The Basics…What do we test - DOCSIS
Downstream
Level
MER
BER
Registration
Configuration file, Gateway IP, Modem IP, BPI Status
DOCSIS 3 Bonding
Upstream
Channel assignment and Bonding
Packet Loss
Throughput ( Speed)
VoIPcheck – simulated Digital Voice Packets

25. Typical Ingress Test

26. What do we test - Ingress
Ingress can be included as one of the Home Certification tests
Can be run before or after the inside the home test
Attic
POTS 1 5 4 3 2

27. Testing the Home for Ingress Contribution
7 dB TAP
Disconnect drop from tap and check for ingress coming from customer’s home wiring
Return Equalizer
House
Drop Cable
OLDER TV SET
WIRELESS LAPTOP
If ingress is detected at tap end, repeat at ground block to localize
DIGITAL SET-TOP
COMPUTOR
High Pass
Filter
VoIP
GROUND
BLOCK
2-Way
Amplifier
ETHERNET
3-Way
Splitter
ONLINE GAMING
eMTA-CABLE MODEM
INGRESS SPECTRUM MEASUREMENTS

28. Troubleshooting Tests
What other tests does the tech have to troubleshoot if there is a problem:
DQI
QAM Ingress
DOCSIS Tests
Smart Scan

29. Measurements over time

30. Ingress under QAM Measurements

31. Smart Scan

32. DOCSIS Measurements

33. Test setup configuration – Video Tests

34. Test setup configuration – Modem/DOCSIS tests

35. Test setup configuration – Ingress setup

36. Limit ( Pass/Fail) Values
Can be set for up to 8 locations

37. Understand the results screen – and act on what it tells you…
Understand the results screen – and act on what it tells you….know what failed and why

38. Certification: The tech needs to know how to…..
Know which job types to test
Know which outlet to test
Know which channel plan is the right one to use
Know how to name and save the test
Know how to understand what failed, if there is a fail
Know how to fix or report what failed, know how to escalate and verify why that escalation is needed.
Know how and when to synchronize the meter with the server.

39. New and upcoming?
MoCA
WiFi
DNLA

40. MoCA Parameters
MoCA uses the existing coaxial cable plant in a subscriber’s home as the connecting media for devices on a home network.
MoCA 1.1 provides a 16-node solution
175 Mbps will always be available to more than 95 percent of the nodes
BER target of 1 x 10-9.
Communication between devices on a MoCA network is controlled by a node designated as the network coordinator (NC)
Nodes need to be able to transmit RF carriers at 55 dBmV to overcome splitter port to port isolation. Sometimes 2 splitters.

41. An In-Home Network, Physical Layer
Attic
Crawl Space
Splitter NC

42. MoCA Node Discovery
A node joins a MoCA network by listening for a beacon signal from the NC
After receiving the beacon signal, a new node sends an admission request to join the network.
If no beacon is heard, the new node assumes it is the first and begins transmission of its own beacon.
MoCA 1.1 completes the probe and beacon tasks faster than its predecessor MoCA 1.0. This allows an increase in the maximum number of nodes from eight to 16 and provides a throughput increase from 100 to 175 Mbps network throughput for 95 percent of the nodes.

43. MoCA Optimization
In addition to cable, the subscriber’s plant also contains splitters and sometimes amplifiers. MoCA equipped devices also need to be able to communicate through high-isolation output ports, in the forward as well as reverse directions.
This is accomplished using a form of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) that is dynamically tailored to the individual paths in the subscriber’s coax network.
“Probe” signals are periodically sent to the MoCA nodes on the plant to determine frequency response at each of the OFDM subcarrier frequencies.
The optimal combination of constellation and frequency for each node is determined to achieve a BER of 1 x 10-9, resulting in constellations that can range from no symbols to 256-QAM
Because the electrical characteristics of the plant can change when the subscriber adds or removes devices, probes are sent on a periodic basis, and the OFDM scheme is changed as required.
Because the network can vary widely between any 2 nodes, probe signals are sent periodically to evaluate the physical network between them. The nodes then construct an appropriate modulation profile that optimizes performance. Each node’s modulation profile is optimized for each of the other individual nodes.

44. MoCA 1.1Physical Layer Operates between 850 and 1525 MHz
Each channel is 50 MHz wide in 1.1 or 100 MHz wide in 2.0
In some cases, more than 1 channel is used at the same time to allow transport of 2 different logical networks.

45. MoCA Frequency Allocations
MoCA 1.x Frequency View
Downstream Range
MoCA 1.x Range
Upstream Range
5 – 45 MHz
55 – 1000 MHz
850 – 1525 MHz
5 MHz
55 MHz
1 GHz
1.7 GHz
50 MHz
MoCA 2.0 Frequency View
Downstream Range
MoCA 2.0 Range
Upstream Range
The controller node in the network allocates a 50-megahertz channel between 850 MHz–1,525 MHz, in which all other nodes communicate. As seen in Figure 2, MoCA operates in a variety of bands that can be used by satellite providers, cablecos and telcos worldwide because it does not interfere with their current frequency plans for traditional broadcast TV service. In addition, multiple MoCA networks can operate on different bands on the same coaxial network.
5 – 45 MHz
55 – 1000 MHz
500 – 1650 MHz
5 MHz
55 MHz
1 GHz
1.7 GHz
100 MHz

46. MoCA MAC Layer
The NC determines how the nodes gain access the network to transmit and receive Ethernet frames.
2 types of MAC layer frames
Control frames contain management messaging
Bandwidth requests
Media Access Plans MAPs
Data frames contain the end user application data
When a node wants to transmit, it first sends the NC a bandwidth request. The NC regularly transmits MAPs which are available time slots on a given frequency. The NC not only tells the transmitting node when to transmit but also tells the receiving node when to expect the transmission.

47. In-Home Logical Layer Diagram
Attic
Node A
Node B
Node A can communicate directly with Node B with direction from the NC. NC
Crawl Space

48. MoCA 2.0 Details
MoCA 2.0 (June 15, 2010) - Similar to MoCA 1.1 but with the following differences:
Three new modes of operation:
Basline Mode:
400+ Mbps MAC throughput
700 Mbps PHY Rate
Single 100 MHz Channel
Enhanced Mode
800+ Mbps MAC throughput
1.4 Gbps PHY Rate
Two bonded 100 MHz Channels (“Channel Bonding”)
“Turbo” mode for a point-to-point configuration that allows:
500+ Mbps MAC throughput between two connected devices when operating in Baseline mode
1+ Gbps MAC throughput when operating in Enhanced mode
All three modes now have an extended frequency range
500 MHz through 1650 MHz (center frequencies)
Backward compatibility with MoCA 1.0 and 1.1 devices
MoCA 2.0 devices can operate at MoCA 2.0 speeds while MoCA 1.x devices are communicated to at their maximum respectable speeds on the same network
NOTE: MoCA 2.0 is different hardware than previous MoCA 1.1 HW versions

49. What does the future hold for home networks?
WiFi has already surpassed wired in home networks
Apple sold 3 million IPads within the 1st 3 months of it’s release
There are now approximately 108 million IPhones worldwide
While WiFi is widely used for data, up until now it has been deemed not reliable enough for video due to interference from such things as microwave ovens and cell phones.
802.11n now provides for data rates up to 600Mbs on a 40MHz wide carrier
802.11n also provides for the concept of multiple input multiple output (MIMO), providing for a maximum of four transmit antennas and four receive antennas.
802.11n also provides for Dynamic digital beamforming,it monitors and adjusts the Wi-Fi signals based on real-time events that could affect performance. In combination with the 4 x 4 antenna scheme, beamforming can provide a 12dB-to-25dB improvement in reliability
With these 2 innovations, video can now be delivered reliably over wireless
Who wouldn’t choose wireless over a cabled connection? I hardly ever sit at my desk anymore. Set top boxes with a wireless interface.

50. More not too distant future stuff, DLNA
Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) promotes wired and wireless interoperability of PCs, CEs, and mobile devices.
A DLNA device works like any other network device by discovering other DLNA-enabled hosts.
It learns their capabilities and exposes these features on the device's control display.
Through DLNA, a media server can be located and then summoned to play or display a stored family photo, movie, music file, etc.
DLNA-certified devices include TVs, PCs, set-tops, routers, game consoles, tablets, Blu-ray and DVD players, smartphones and audio receivers.
The organization says it has certified more than 9,000 different devices.
More than 440 million DLNA-certified devices were installed in users’ homes by the end of 2010

51. A Wireless In-Home DNLA Network
Wireless Router
Splitter
Crawl Space

52. Now – what are we NOT doing?
We are NOT certifying the whole house (just yet)
We ARE certifying an outlet
Which is way better than not certifying anything
The big reasons we don’t certify ALL outlets now is…….
We don’t know how many there are
We don’t want to spend the time doing all outlets
2-3 minutes per outlet, plus ingress scan, plus time to save, etc.

53. To completely verify the home network we would need to ….
Verify signal quality at the Ground Block or Point of Entry
Verify wiring from POE to each outlet
Loss
Noise/Ingress of each leg
Frequency response of each leg
If we meet specs at the POE and verify wiring performance from POE to outlet….then
We don’t need to run RF/MODEM tests at each outlet, do we?

54. Point of Entry (POE) Filter and Splitter Isolation
A MoCA filter (aka: POE filter) performs two jobs.
First it prevents the MoCA signal from entering a neighbors house by placing a filter at the input to the home network
Second it gives MoCA a point of reflection for the signal because it requires the signals to bounce from output port to output port.
There is approximately 30 dB of port to port isolation on a 2 way splitter
MoCA/POE
Filter
The filter restricts the high level MoCA signal from leaving the home network.
Port to port isolation is about 30 dB for a 2 way, 34 for a 4 way, and 38 for an 8 way.
55 dBmV in
30 db down from one
port to the other
POE
25 dBmV out

55. What if……we could test multiple outlets…at once?
TAP
Attic
Splitter
We could do all our up and downstream tests at the Ground block… X
Splitter
Crawl Space
…And then verify that we had good performance from the ground block to each outlet?
With 1 button push?

56. Mini-Probes… Each probe : has an F-Connector and a mini-USB port
its own unique identifier letter ( A, B, C, D, etc)
Sweeps Mhz – forward and reverse
Has FDR function to determine distance to faults
Has noise detection to listen for and detect ingress
Meter connects to one probe via USB, and controls test and displays results on screen.

57. Probe Setup
Attic
Crawl Space
Splitter
USB to
Mini-USB
Point of Entry
or Main Split
Put a probe at each location inside the home where a Set-top- box or Cable Modem will be located (or is desired to be tested)
Connect that probe to the POE looking into the home toward CPE (ie: drop cable, ground block, or main split)
Connect the probe to the meters USB port
SmartID for In-home wiring survey and test in order to allow fault finding of service distribution via technologies such as DOCSIS, QAM, and MoCA services
Allows tech to determine if a reported broadband error is due to the in-home distribution or the actual service delivery to the home by qualifying the coax paths.
Innovations with wiring testing also mean that DSAM can now trouble shoot and validate wiring connectivity and quality in a fraction of the time using SmartID advanced coax probes. Smart ID is providing in-home wiring certifying and fault finding capability for installers who need to verify installation quality or readiness for in home service distribution services or to trouble shoot existing cabling.
The Smart ID tags are active modules that allow for testing of coax performance and connectivity from point of entry to wall plate or outlet termination, operating in the 5-1,650MHz range. In addition the SmartIDs test and validate in-home wiring, for internal point to point (outlet to outlet) service distribution in order to prove wiring is capable of supporting MoCA services
Mapping wiring connectivity shows if there are any hidden issues like buried cables which are still connected and potentially not terminated correctly. It also allows for any faults to be pin pointed immediately without the need for the traditional segmentation fault finding.
DSAM acts as a config and results display unit, all tests are carried out by the Smart ID tags , DSAM connects to a single Smart ID tag via USB
POE = Point of Entry
CPE = Customer Premise Equipment

58. We want to …. Verify Frequency Response to and from each outlet
So lets sweep forward and reverse from 5 Mhz to 1500Mhz
Calculate loss from Ground Block to each outlet
Listen for ingress on each leg
With some built in intelligence we can map the wiring system too!

59. Sweep Trace – Freq Response
Shows POE to outlet frequency response for Forward and Reverse Sweeps
Why not do in one sweep?
We want good resolution at the reverse band edges
Upstream Freq Response
Downstream Freq Response – with MoCA filter in place

60. See each path’s frequency response
Sweep graphs can identify many issues in the coax network
Relative levels are shown at multiple frequencies to give users more information than numbers alone can express
By looking at the sweep response users can identify why the test failed the limits of the service plan:
Too much overall loss, adjacent points’ difference too great, overall highest loss to lowest loss (peak to valley) too great
Users can see and interpret from the sweep response signal degradation caused by:
Frequency cut offs due to poor splitters or inline filters
Amplifiers eliminating the return or MoCA bands
Excessive attenuation
Reoccurring standing waves
Frequency suck outs 60

61. Seeing how everything is connected
Shows what is connected
The probes should determine how what it sees is connected and where those elements have common connections
Each element can be shown on the topology map including: splitters, filters, amplifiers, and found mismatches
Users can easily identify if unexpected elements are discovered and trace where those elements are located before beginning to troubleshoot the coax network
Note: Not every topology can be mapped with 100% accuracy though most common configurations can. Filters and amplifiers in the path can lead to inaccurate common points being shown on the topology map and are highlighted yellow when present. 61

62. Run to run details

63. Whole home results screen…
For whole house certification – Keep It Simple
Summary results has all that is needed at a glance:
Pyramid screen
Overall pass/fail
Pass/fail for each upstream and downstream path from POE to each outlet
Ingress noise limit check
Pass/fail for MoCA (if desired) between all devices in the customer premise

64. Now – we have whole house Home Certification !
We can test RF downstream and upstream and DOCSIS at the ground block or point of entry, and then…
We can test multiple outlets and know how many were tested
One-Button test for all tested outlets saves time
Identify what the inside wiring problem is
Identify where the problem is
Identify hidden amps, splitters and filters
True “Whole House” Certification.

65. Don’t have regrets…..Certify the home!

66. Tech Support and information Web Page
Thank you!
Tech Support and information Web Page

67. Extra Slides

68. Well, we start off with the basics

69. 1 Drop – 1 Node – DO NOT NEGLECT DROP INGRESS MITIGATION!!
Reverse Spectrum shot at customer's drop

70. Troubleshooting MoCA
MoCA emulation is currently not solving service problems
Rate Tables between MoCA devices are already available via diagnostic pages on STB’s (CPE)
Rate Tables only provide techs with information of whether the MoCA problem still exists or not
Does not provide root cause breakdown or fault identification
Tech must guess as to what is causing the MoCA issue by visually tracing the coax, making changes, then retesting
Like DOCSIS – MoCA has been revised – Latest is MoCA 2.0 (Released June 2010)
All devices today are still on the MoCA 1.1 chipset hardware
New Hardware will be required to go to MoCA 2.0 – NOT a software upgrade
Most Operators will want MoCA 2.0 hardware when available in mass deployments
Capacity gains ensure future functionality support is easier to deploy
No chipsets/hardware currently exists for MoCA 2.0

71. JDSU SmartID™ - Advanced Coax Probes
Operator Issues:
Supervisors – Concerned when subscribers complain due to issues arising shortly after an installation or the first/second repeat truck roll
Technicians – Much of their time spent troubleshooting coax cable attempting to guess at possible solutions
MoCA – A new technology to the industry, therefore there is fear about the unknown and how to fix issues when they appear
JDSU Solution with SmartIDs:
Reduce largest cause of service repeat tickets
Increase Triple-Play and/or Multi-room DVR subscriber satisfaction through reduced repeat calls
Speedup troubleshooting by knowing what to fix
Qualify the coax is capable of handing all services, present and future
Saves operators money by combining with existing DSAMs and making techs more efficient
Differentiate between Triple-Play or MoCA impairments
MoCA is so new that many operators have no real experience or in depth knowledge of the technology. This fear has stemmed many questions as to how to validate that it works or test the service.
To validate its operations the technician doing the service call currently can look at the diagnostics of the Set Top Box to validate that all devices have been found on the network and from this same screen can see the quality of the service connections (view Rate Table).
MoCA, however, is more of an all or nothing type of service. If the devices can talk, the service works 9 times out of 10. If the devices can not talk, all bets are off on what is really going on. We have found that usually MoCA issues are created due to a coax network problem. If the tech can find the cause of the issue they can resolve nearly all MoCA issues. But that is indeed the problem, identifying that problematic element in the coax plant.
SmartIDs work by directing the technician to the location that is the cause of not only MoCA services but of also Triple-Play (voice, video, data) services as well.

72. MoCA CPE Diagnostics Information
Good for verifying if MoCA rates are acceptable or failing
Troubleshooting problems with MoCA equipment
Identifies which nodes it can not see
Can identify a problem exists (Tiling, Rate issues, MER, BER, etc…)
Rate Table does not help identify root cause of problems but identifies which leg problems may exist
MAC Addresses
Rate Table

73. Complete in home certification
Attic
Crawl Space
Splitter
USB to
Mini-USB
Point of Entry
or Main Split
This is a chargeable accessory (SmartID) for In-home wiring survey and test in order to allow fault finding of service distribution via technologies such as DOCSIS, QAM, and MoCA services
Allows tech to determine if a reported broadband error is due to the in-home distribution or the actual service delivery to the home by qualifying the coax paths.
Innovations with wiring testing also mean that DSAM can now trouble shoot and validate wiring connectivity and quality in a fraction of the time using SmartID advanced coax probes. Smart ID is providing in-home wiring certifying and fault finding capability for installers who need to verify installation quality or readiness for in home service distribution services or to trouble shoot existing cabling.
The Smart ID tags are active modules that allow for testing of coax performance and connectivity from point of entry to wall plate or outlet termination, operating in the 5-1,650MHz range. In addition the SmartIDs test and validate in-home wiring, for internal point to point (outlet to outlet) service distribution in order to prove wiring is capable of supporting MoCA services
Mapping wiring connectivity shows if there are any hidden issues like buried cables which are still connected and potentially not terminated correctly. It also allows for any faults to be pin pointed immediately without the need for the traditional segmentation fault finding.
DSAM acts as a config and results display unit, all tests are carried out by the Smart ID tags , DSAM connects to a single Smart ID tag via USB
Screen shot on bottom left shows 2 test results:
The first column of the pyramid shows results from tag A to all the other tags (R, L, I, F) for the forward and reverse paths in the MHz range
The remaining columns show the In-Home distribution result and is all the permutations of connections from every SmartID to every other SmartID in the selected MoCA range. Any 50MHz MoCA channel between 850MHz and 1.525GHz can be selected for testing/qualification (the example above shows the result for a single 50MHz MoCA channel MHz with a center frequency of 1150MHz)

74. Certify each Coax Path Independently
Qualification Screen shows Pass/Fail
If all metrics pass the coax paths are good for the services its was tested against
If a failure exists then further action is required
The columns on the left indicate which parameters failed for the movable bold box – Different paths may have different results
Additional detail about the failure can be collected from the Detail and the Network Overview screens – Accessible by pressing View
A frequency response graph can be used to help determine why the result was failing the limits set by the test
vf The first column of the pyramid shows results from tag A to all the other tags (R, L, I, F) for the forward and reverse paths in the MHz range
The remaining columns show the In-Home distribution result and is all the permutations of connections from every SmartID to every other SmartID in the selected MoCA range. Any 50MHz MoCA channel between 850MHz and 1.525GHz can be selected for testing/qualification (the example above shows the result for a single 50MHz MoCA channel MHz with a center frequency of 1150MHz)

75. Seeing how everything is connected
Network Overview shows what is connected
The SmartIDs can determine what it believes is connected and where those elements have common connections
Each element is shown on the topology map including: splitters, filters, amplifiers, and found mismatches
Users can easily identify if unexpected elements are discovered and trace where those elements are before beginning to troubleshoot the coax network
Note: Not every topology can be mapped with 100% accuracy though most common configurations can. Filters and amplifiers in the path can lead to inaccurate common points being shown on the topology map and are identified when present.

76. Deeper Dive into the Network
Detail view shows additional information about the network
Probe paths are isolated for a deeper view about the tested coax network
Individual coax segment information is shown – Lengths and element information are indicated
Additional text is presented to help indicate failed service tests
Potential causes of the failures and impedance mismatches are shown on the screen as faults (exclamation points) as well as the distance from other elements to the potential faults are shown
Elements such as filters, amplifiers, and splitters are also shown with more detail in this view

77. See each path’s frequency response
Sweep graphs can identify many issues in the coax network
Relative levels are shown at multiple frequencies to give users more information than words alone can express
By looking at the sweep response users can identify why the test failed the limits of the service plan
Users can see and interpret from the sweep response signal degradation caused by:
Frequency cut offs due to poor splitters or inline filters
Amplifiers eliminating the return or MoCA bands
Excessive attenuation
Reoccurring standing waves
Frequency suck outs

78. Lets have some review of MER…
“MER” is to Digital, what signal to noise is for analog
MER is affected by high noise, low signal
Also ANY other impairments
MER readings are relatively immune to “brief bursty” interference
MER is a predictor of BER
40db is the highest you will see.
256 QAM needs 29dB or better to work.
64 QAM needs 25dB or better to work.
Add 3db to above figures to allow headroom.

79. Lets Talk a little BER BER responds to changes a faster than MER
BER is ESTIMATED
Its not like BERT testing where data is looped back
A 256QAM channel transmits at a symbol rate of 5M symbols per second
Bit rate = 8 bits per symbol X 5M symbol per second =40M bits per second
Error Incident = Bit rate X BER = Errors Per Second

80. MER and BER Cliff Effect
1.10-1
1.10-9
4.10-4 2
23.5 40
4QAM
16QAM
64QAM
256QAM
MER
BER
A small variation in MER (+/- 1 dB) will cause a large variation in BER measurement.
Using BER for trouble-shooting and fault location is not repeatable and very inaccurate.

81. Testing multiple outlets in less steps
TAP
Drop Cable
eMTA-CABLE MODEM
High Pass
Filter
GROUND
BLOCK
3-Way
Splitter
House
2-Way
Amplifier
Then verify we can deliver that quality from here to each outlet
Test RF quality, upstream levels, DOCSIS test here