Overview The same coaxial cable that delivers regular cable TV can be used for connection to the Internet. These cables are capable of delivering data, video, and voice signals, and the service is offered by cable companies. A cable modem is required to access this broadband connection. Since the bandwidth is shared among users in a neighborhood, cable modem users my experience slower rate (less than 10 Mbps) during the peak hours due to the heavy traffic. Data should be encrypted before being transmitted to the users. A cable modem is a device that allows high-speed data access from a PC to the Internet via a cable TV (CATV) network. It is a modem in the true sense of the word — it modulates and demodulates signals — and it delivers Internet data to the desktop at blazing speeds. It simply uses the increased bandwidth of the TV cable instead of an ordinary phone line. Online access via cable modems allows PC users to download information from online services up to 1,000 times faster than today’s fastest telephone modems. Here’s a quick comparison between a cable modem and a typical traditional modem. Cable modem speeds range from 500 Kbps to 10 Mbps. A traditional V.90/56K modem tops out at only 56,000 bits per second. That’s a difference of 444,000 bits per second. Hardware companies are presently developing 30 Mbps cable modems — which are thousands of times faster than ordinary telephone modems. For Internet access along cable lines, North America uses the Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) and Europe uses the Digital Audio Video Council (DAVIC) standards. Market Research According to Gecko Research, 600,000 users in the U.S. are currently using cable modem services. This represents a penetration of 4% of the 15 million potential customers. International Data Corporation predicts the worldwide installed base of DSL modems from the total Internet connectivity methods to be growing rapidly from 4.3% in 2000 to 7.7% in 2002. Market Drivers Increasing popularity of the Internet, Increasing demand for high speed access to Internet, Rapid entrance of AT&T and other players into the cable business, Increasing use of cable modem services by small businesses and SOHOs, Growth in telecommuting, Increasing availability of multimedia and interactive applications requiring high-bandwidth capabilities, Cable is available to the majority of households, Cable modems were the first to market and have the largest customer base, The increasing acceptance of DOCSIS standard, Increased deployment of hybrid fiber coax systems, Aggressive marketing of cable modem services stimulates demand Market Inhibitors Limited availability of cable modem services to residential customers and businesses, Speed decrease due to shared nature of cable modem services, Relatively expensive cost of service, Expensive cost of equipment purchase and installation, Competition from ADSL services, Concerns over data security, Limited choices of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) due to fight over open access, Low upstream transmission speeds discourage the usage of cable modem services Xilinx Solutions Xilinx provides significant value in a cable modem when used to interface various ASSPs together, resolving differences in their interface control signals. The in-system programming capability of Xilinx devices enables features to be upgraded while the product is in the field, as well as speeding the time-to-market for the product. The Spartan™-II FPGA or XC9500XL™ CPLD devices are ideal candidates for this low-cost application. As cable modems grow up into residential gateways they will support multiple home networking interfaces. Spartan-II FPGAs provide system integration and interconnectivity to these interfaces, hence decreasing time-to-market, increasing time-in-market, and facilitating rapid product proliferation in this market. Please view the presentation to see how Xilinx solutions can help you build products for this fast evolving market place.