www.mocalliance.

org

TheStandardForHomeEntertainmentNetworking

FAQs
TheOrganization
1.WhatisMoCA? EstablishedinJanuary2004,MoCAisanopenindustryconsortiumandistheworldwidestandardfor homeentertainmentnetworking.ItistheonlysuchstandardinusebyallthreepayTVsegments cable,satelliteandIPTV. 2.Whatisahomeentertainmentnetwork? Ahomeentertainmentnetworkisdefinedasmultiplestreamsofstandardandhighdefinitioncontent distributedanywhere,anytimethroughoutthehome. ContentsharingexamplesincludemultiroomDVR,overthetop,(OTT),IPTV,movies,music,photosand gamingthatcanbeviewedinotherrooms. 3.WhatproblemisMoCAistryingtosolve? Movingthistypeofcontentseamlesslywithoutinterruptionhasbeenextremelydifficultand unsatisfactory.Inaddition,theTVisthelastCEdevicetobeconnected.But,videoisahighbandwidth, lowlatencyapplicationthatrequiresbothhighperformanceandhighreliability.MoCAistheonly standardthatappealstopayTVprovidersandsubscribersforprovidinghighdefinitioncontent distributionaroundthehome(fromTVtoTV,andPCtoTVandbackagain)withoutinterruption.MoCA callsthiswholehomeormultiroomDVR. 4.Whoarethemembers? MoCAisledbyaboardofdirectors(Promoters)representingsomeofthemostrespectednamesin globalbroadbandentertainmentincludingBroadcom,Cisco,CoxCommunications,Comcast,EchoStar, EntropicCommunications,Motorola,Panasonic,TridentMicrosystemsandVerizon. Thereareapproximately55membersrepresentingthedigitalentertainmentdistributionvaluechain, fromserviceproviderstoOEMstochipvendorstoretail.

5.Whatarethelevelsofmembership?Cananyonejoin? Therearethreemembershiplevels,Promoter,ContributorandAssociate. Promotersaremembersoftheboardofdirectors.Thislevelisavailablebyinvitationonly.APromoter membermustfirsthavebeenaContributormemberingoodstandingforoneyear.Promotermembers meetformallyonceamonthandareresponsibleforsteeringtheoveralldirectionofthealliance. Contributorlevelmemberscanparticipateinthedevelopmentofthespecification,canparticipateand havevotingrightswithinallworkgroups. Associatelevelmembershaveaccesstothespecificationforproductdevelopmentpurposes,andcan participateintheMarketingWorkGrouponly. Acompletelistofmembersandmembershipapplicationformscanbefoundat: http://www.mocalliance.org/aboutus/ourmembers.php Membershipisopen,activeandongoing.

Technology
6.Describethevariousversionsofthespecification. Therearethreeversionofthespecificationinoperation,MoCA1.0MoCA1.1,MoCA2.0.MoCA2.0was recentlyratified.MoCAhasalsobeenapprovedbyDLNAforinclusionintheirInteroperability Guidelinesasalayer2protocol. MoCA1.0: TheMoCA1.0offersgreaterthan100MpbsMACratesand270MbpsPHYrate.ProductswithMoCA 1.0embeddedareavailablefromseveralcompaniesandincludesettopboxes,routersandgateways, bridgesandONTs. TheOperatingfrequencyis8501500,wellabovetherangesemployedbyotherCEdevicesandservices. Thisisanotherbenefitofthetechnology,asitdoesnotinterferewithotherdevicesandservicesalready inuse. MoCA1.1: MoCA1.1isanextensiontoMoCA1.0andoffers175MpbsMACrates(PHYrateremainsthesame), parameterizedqualityofservice(PQoS)forprovisioningandbandwidthmanagementofrealtimedata requestsforvideoapplications,and16nodenetworkextension.AndletsnotforgettheMidRangeRF version CertifiedproductswithMoCA1.1arealsoavailableinquantity

MidRFAnnextoMoCA1.1 TheAlliancerecentlyapprovedanannextotheMoCA1.1specificationextendingtheoperating frequencyto500to1500MHz,fromthecurrent8501500MHzrange.Thisisofparticularvaluetothe satelliteoperatorswhotendtooperatetheirservicesinthecenterfrequencyrange. MoCA2.0: ThenextgenerationofMoCAtechnologyisratifiedandavailabletoallmembers.MoCA2.0offersthe following: Twoperformancemodes,BasicandEnhanced,with400Mbpsand800Mpbs,MACoractual throughputrates,respectively; Energysavingswithtwonewlowpowermodes,sleepandstandby; Expandedoperatingfrequencyfrom5001650 Improvedreliabilitywithonepacketerrorin100millionpackets,andalowerlatencyof3.5ms Backwardinteroperabilitywith1.0and1.1devices.MoCA2.0willrecognize1.0/1.1deviceson thenetwork,andvicaversa,withoutanyimpairmentordegradationtoperformance.

7.DoesMoCAworkonanytypeofcoax? Yes.ThesimpleruleisthatifyoucanreceiveaTVsignalfromtheoutlet,itcansupportMoCA. MoCAfieldtestedthetechnologyinalltypesofcoaxenvironments.Withnoremediation,MoCA obtainedbetterthan110Mbpsnetthroughputin97percentofalloutlets.Withminorfilter remediation,MoCAobtainedthisperformancelevelin100percentofalloutletswithnodegradationof signal. 8.Isthereapreferrednetworkaccesstechnology? No.MoCAworkswithanynetworkaccesstechnologyincludingfibre,DOCSIS,IPTVandanyothermeans usedtoprovideprogrammingtothehome.

TheMarket
9.Whataresomeapplications? Therearenumerousapplicationsthatrevolvearoundmovingcontentaroundthehomeincludingmulti roomDVR,multiplayergaming,OTT(overthetop)andvideoandphototransferfromPCtoTV,and backagain.

10.WhatcompaniesaredeployingMoCA? MoCAisinfulldeploymentthroughVerizonsFiOSprogram,DIRECTVandCoxCommunications. Comcast,TimeWarnerCable,BrightHouseNetworks,Sunflower,BuckeyeSystems,RogersCablearein latestagetrialsandexpectedtorolloutmultiroomDVRanytime. 11.IsthereamarketforMoCAinternationally? Yes. Europe: TheconventionalwisdominEuropewasthattherewasnotenoughcoaxperhouseholdtosupporta businesscaseforMoCA.Inanefforttodispelthatmyth,MoCAconductedasurveyoffourcountriesin EuropeUK,France,TheNetherlandsandPolandandfoundmorethantwooutletsperhomein50 percentofthosesurveyed.Wehavesincefoundoutthatthesenumbersmayactuallybetoolow,and manyoperatorsinEuropeareconvincedthatthereisenoughcoaxtoeconomicallyjustifytheuseof MoCAintheirnetwork. Detailsofthestudyareavailabletomembersonly.Anewsreleaseannouncingresultscanbefound here: http://www.mocalliance.org/news/pr_100315_MoCA_Finds_Significant_Market_in_Europe_for_Coaxial _CableBased_Home_Networking.php. MoCArecognizesthatwhilemultiroomDVRisstillearlyformostsubscribersinEurope,thetechnology doesserveasahomenetworkingbackboneduetoitshighperformanceandreliability. Asia: MoCAhasaliaisonagreementinplacewithKoreanCableLabs(KLABs)andexpectstoseethe technologyusedinSouthKoreainthenearfuture. Whileitisstillearlyintermsofmarketandcustomerrecognitionofhomeentertainmentnetworking, MoCAisintrialswithaMSOinthisregionandmanyothersarecurrentlyevaluatingthetechnology. 12.WhatdifferentiatesMoCAfromotherhomenetworktechnologies? Wirelessbasednetworkingoffersportabilityandpowerlinetechnologyoffersubiquity.Bothare increasinglyrelevantvaluepropositions.However,whenitcomestovideodistributionasdrivenby thepayTVoperators,reliabilityisthenumberoneconsideration. MoCAtechnologyistargetedforhighbandwidthlowlatencyapplicationssuchasHDvideo.Other technologystandardsaremorethanadequateforvoiceanddataapplications.MoCAfully acknowledgesthevalueofWiFiAllianceandHomePlugPowerAlliance,forinstance,andexpectsall three,includingMoCA,toexistintheblendedhome.

13.Isthereaproductcertificationprogram?Howlongdoesittakeandhowmuchdoesitcost? MoCAconductscertificationwavesonaregularbasis.Anymembercansubmitaproductfor certificationanytime.MoCA1.0and1.1certificationareavailablenow. Productsaresubjectedtoabatteryofteststoensureinteroperabilitywithothercertifiedproductsfrom othermembers. Forcertification,MoCAusesanindependenttestingfacilitycalled,TechnicalSystemsInc.,NTS, (NASDAQ:NTSC),aleadingproviderofquality,conformanceandcertificationtesting,quality registrationandmanagedservices.NTSistheexclusivelabforcertificationofMoCAproducts.More informationaboutNTSisavailableatwww.ntscorp.com Certificationgenerallytakestwoweeks.Uponcompletionandpassageofcertification,memberscan displaytheMoCACertifiedlogoontheirproductsaswellasbeshownbyMoCAattradeshowsandon theMoCAwebsite. DetailedinformationregardingcertificationproceduresandcostisavailabletoMoCAmembersonly. 14.WhatisMoCAspositionregardingIPTV? MoCAisessentiallyIPovercoaxandisrelevantinanyIPTVenvironment. 15.Whenwillproductsbeavailablethroughretailchannels? Products(Ethernettocoaxbridges,orECBs)areavailablenowthroughretailchannelsfromActiontec, DLinkandNetgear.Pleasevisittheirrespectivewebsitesformoreinformation. MoCAisalsoworkingwiththehometheatreinstallercommunityandhasjoinedCEDIAtoenablethese providerstoretrofithomeswithoutexposingwallsunnecessarilyandprovidingafullyenabledhome entertainmentnetworkingenvironment.