Intel Corporation and MaxLinear today unveiled the next phase in the Intel® Puma™ platform family, the 32-channel Intel® Puma™ DOCSIS® 3.0 SoC combined with the 32-channel MxL268 Full-Spectrum Capture™ tuner.

Following the widely deployed Intel® Puma™ 6 product family supporting 16 and 24 downstream DOCSIS 3.0 platforms launched in 2012, this latest platform extends DOCSIS 3.0 gateway capabilities to 32 channels, supporting data rates up to 1.6 Gbps. This pin-compatible upgrade path from 16 to 24 to 32 channels will help cable system manufacturers meet consumer demand for faster broadband speeds. Providing a unified Intel Puma 6 development environment for every speed node allows operators to seamlessly extend their current gateway investments. Additionally, this solution provides future network compatibility with DOCSIS 3.1, which includes a requirement for up to 32 single carrier QAM channels.

"By listening to our customers, we have been able to satisfy the market need and quickly bring a 32-channel solution to complement our Puma 6 family to market," said Ran Senderovitz, vice president and general manager of Intel's Service Provider Division. "In a great collaboration with MaxLinear, OEMs and service providers can now upgrade their existing Intel Puma 6 gateways easily with cross-platform electrical, mechanical and software consistent silicon and platforms."

Intel Puma 6 and the MxL268 achieve a speedy 1.6 Gbps by bonding up to 32 DOCSIS 3.0 channels. This 32-channel system design delivers 33 percent more downstream bandwidth in the same power envelope.

"Working with Intel to develop the fastest data rate DOCSIS 3.0 platform is an exciting milestone for MaxLinear," said Brian Sprague, MaxLinear's vice president and general manager for Broadband and Consumer Products. "The flexibility of our Full-Spectrum Capture technology across 16-, 24-, and 32-channel designs is a great example of the value MaxLinear brings to operators launching next-generation DOCSIS cable modem and gateway products."

The Intel Puma family system architecture provides OEMs with flexibility to easily customize their products to fit a wide range of MSO-required and optional features such as high data rates, wireless communications, power-down modes and telephony support. Intel and MaxLinear were the first to deploy 16- and 24-channel DOCSIS 3.0 technology and are extending that innovation into 32-channel cable gateways and modems.

Cable operators and OEMs can view the live platform demonstration at Intel's IBC booth located in Hall 14 location L20.