The Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) is an international standards consortium that publishes specifications for networking over

coaxial cable Coaxial cable, or coax (pronounced ), is a type of electrical cable consisting of an inner Electrical conductor, conductor surrounded by a concentric conducting Electromagnetic shielding, shield, with the two separated by a dielectric (Insulat ...

. The technology was originally developed to distribute IP television in homes using existing cabling, but is now used as a general-purpose

Ethernet Ethernet ( ) is a family of wired computer networking technologies commonly used in local area networks (LAN), metropolitan area networks (MAN) and wide area networks (WAN). It was commercially introduced in 1980 and first standardized in 198 ...

link where it is inconvenient or undesirable to replace existing coaxial cable with

optical fiber An optical fiber, or optical fibre, is a flexible glass or plastic fiber that can transmit light from one end to the other. Such fibers find wide usage in fiber-optic communications, where they permit transmission over longer distances and at ...

twisted pair Twisted pair cabling is a type of communications cable in which two conductors of a single circuit are twisted together for the purposes of improving electromagnetic compatibility. Compared to a single conductor or an untwisted balanced ...

cabling. MoCA 1.0 was approved in 2006, MoCA 1.1 in April 2010, MoCA 2.0 in June 2010, and MoCA 2.5 in April 2016. The most recently released version of the standard, MoCA 3.0, supports speeds of up to . This technology is not yet available in customer premises equipment.

Membership

The Alliance currently has 45 members including pay TV operators, OEMs, CE manufacturers, and IC vendors. MoCA's board of directors consists of

Arris In architecture, an arris is the sharp edge formed by the intersection of two surfaces, such as the corner of a masonry unit; the edge of a timber in timber framing; the junction between two planes of plaster or any intersection of divergent a ...

Comcast Comcast Corporation, formerly known as Comcast Holdings,Before the AT&T Broadband, AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation, not th ...

Cox Communications Cox Communications, Inc. (also known as Cox Cable and formerly Cox Broadcasting Corporation, Dimension Cable Services and Times-Mirror Cable), is an American digital cable television provider, telecommunications and home automation services comp ...

DirecTV DirecTV, LLC is an American Multichannel television in the United States, multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital Satellite television, s ...

Echostar EchoStar Corporation is an American telecommunications company, specializing in satellite communication, wireless telecommunications, and internet services. Echostar also provides multichannel video programming and mobile services through its ...

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...

, InCoax,

MaxLinear MaxLinear, Inc. is an American electronic hardware company. Founded in 2003, it provides highly integrated radio-frequency (RF) Analog signal, analog and Mixed-signal integrated circuit, mixed-signal semiconductor products for broadband communic ...

and

Verizon Verizon Communications Inc. ( ), is an American telecommunications company headquartered in New York City. It is the world's second-largest telecommunications company by revenue and its mobile network is the largest wireless carrier in the ...

Technology

Within the scope of the

Internet protocol suite The Internet protocol suite, commonly known as TCP/IP, is a framework for organizing the communication protocols used in the Internet and similar computer networks according to functional criteria. The foundational protocols in the suite are ...

, MoCA is a protocol that provides the

link layer In computer networking, the link layer is the lowest layer in the Internet protocol suite, the networking architecture of the Internet. The link layer is the group of methods and communications protocols confined to the link that a host is phys ...

. In the seven-layer

OSI model The Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model is a reference model developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) that "provides a common basis for the coordination of standards development for the purpose of systems inter ...

, it provides definitions within the

data link layer The data link layer, or layer 2, is the second layer of the seven-layer OSI model of computer networking. This layer is the protocol layer that transfers data between nodes on a network segment across the physical layer. The data link layer p ...

(layer 2) and the

physical layer In the seven-layer OSI model of computer networking, the physical layer or layer 1 is the first and lowest layer: the layer most closely associated with the physical connection between devices. The physical layer provides an electrical, mechani ...

(layer 1). DLNA approved of MoCA as a layer 2 protocol.MOCA FAQs
/ref> A MoCA network can contain up to 16 nodes for MoCA 1.1 and higher, with a maximum of 8 for MoCA 1.0.http://www.mocalliance.org/technology/Final_Best-Practices-for-Installation-of-MoCA_170516rev01.pdf The network provides a shared-medium, half-duplex link between all nodes using time-division multiplexing; within each timeslot, any pair of nodes communicates directly with each other using the highest mutually-supported version of the standard. MoCA-Timeline-v8-2017

Versions

; MoCA 1.0: The first version of the standard, MoCA 1.0, was ratified in 2006 and supports transmission speeds of up to 135

Mb/s In telecommunications, data transfer rate is the average number of bits ( bitrate), characters or symbols ( baudrate), or data blocks per unit time passing through a communication link in a data-transmission system. Common data rate units are mu ...

. ; MoCA 1.1: MoCA 1.1 provides 175 Mbit/s net throughputs (275 Mbit/s PHY rate) and operates in the 500 to 1500 MHz frequency range. ; MoCA 2.0: MoCA 2.0 offers actual throughputs (MAC rate) up to 1 Gbit/s. Operating frequency range is 500 to 1650 MHz. Packet error rate is 1 packet error in 100 million. MoCA 2.0 also offers lower power modes of sleep and standby and is

backward compatible In telecommunications and computing, backward compatibility (or backwards compatibility) is a property of an operating system, software, real-world product, or technology that allows for interoperability with an older legacy system, or with inpu ...

with MoCA 1.1. In March 2017, SCTE/ISBE society and MoCA consortium began creating a new "standards operational practice" (SCTE 235) to provide MoCA 2.0 with

DOCSIS Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) is an international telecommunications standard that permits the addition of high-bandwidth data transfer to an existing cable television (CATV) system. It is used by many cable televisio ...

3.1 interoperability. Interoperability is necessary because both MoCA 2.0 and DOCSIS 3.1 may operate in the frequency range above 1 GHz. The standard "addresses the need to prevent degradation or failure of signals due to a shared frequency range above 1 GHz". ; MoCA 2.5: MoCA 2.5 (introduced April 13, 2016) offers actual data rates up to 2.5 Gbit/s, continues to be backward compatible with MoCA 2.0 and MoCA 1.1, and adds MoCA protected setup (MPS), Management Proxy, Enhanced Privacy, Network wide Beacon Power, and Bridge detection. MoCA Access is intended for multiple dwelling units (MDUs) such as hotels, resorts, hospitals, or educational facilities. It is based on the current MoCA 2.0 standard which is capable of 1 Gbit/s net throughputs, and MoCA 2.5 which is capable of 2.5 Gbit/s. ; MoCA 3.0: The MoCA 3.0 standard has been released and increases the maximum throughput to 10 Gbit/s. However, this is not yet available to customers.

Performance profiles

Frequency band plan

Notes: * Channel C4 is commonly used for Verizon FiOS for the "WAN" link from the ONT to the router.Verizon Online FiOS FAQ → 3.2 MOCA
/ref> * Channels D1-D8 are commonly used for "LAN" links, between

set-top box A set-top box (STB), also known as a cable converter box, cable box, receiver, or simply box, and historically television decoder or a converter, is an information appliance device that generally contains a Tuner (radio)#Television, TV tuner inpu ...

es and the router. * E band channels are commonly used by DirecTV converter boxes. The DirecTV Ethernet-to-Coax Adapter (DECA) uses MoCA on this "Mid-RF" frequency band. * D10A 100 MHz wide means it goes up to 1675 MHz, so splitters need to be 5-1675 MHz.

References

External links

* {{Internet access Computer networking Computer network organizations Consumer electronics Ethernet standards