MoCA Overview in 200 Words

The Multimedia over Coax Alliance develops standards (called MoCA v1.0, v1.1, etc.) for home networking on 75 ohm analog cable TV coax. Established in 2004, MoCA is a well-respected organization with over 100 members. MoCA v1.0, released in 2006, provides up to about 100 Mbps. The MoCA v1.1 specification, ratified in 2008, provides data rates of up to about 175 Mbps.

MoCA’s key advantages in home networking are that it uses existing wiring and does not adversely affect cable TV service. This greatly simplifies in-home networking support for Fiber to the Home (FTTH). MoCA uses OFDM in a 50 Mhz band above the analog cable TV signal. Multiple 50 Mhz MoCA channels can be used within a home.

The largest deployment is in Verizon’s FIOS network. Verizon uses two MoCA carriers: one from the FIOS ONT to the broadband gateway, and one to distribute bandwidth within the home. Several MoCA chipsets are required per home, but it is still much less expensive than rewiring a home.

Entropic and Broadcom, which acquired Octalica in 2007, both manufacture MoCA chipsets. Over 20 million MoCA network nodes (e.g., home gateways and Set Top Boxes) have been shipped, mostly with Entropic chipsets, equating to perhaps 3.5 million homes served (multiple MoCA devices per home).

MoCA Home Network

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