Vecima debuts Generic Access Platform (GAP) node

Oct. 13, 2021
With full support for DOCSIS 4.0 and 1.8 GHz RF, the Entra EN9000 will initially be available as a 4-port, Remote MACPHY (R-MACPHY) enabled Cable Access node.

Vecima Networks Inc. (Victoria, BC) has this month unveiled what it says is "the world’s first" commercially available Generic Access Platform (GAP) node.

Vecima says its EN9000 GAP node, part of the company's Entra Unified Access portfolio of products, will be available for select customer lab engagements in the first half of 2022.

Per an announcement by the company:

The culmination of several years of effort, the standards-defining, GAP-compliant components were published by the SCTE on September 1st, 2021.

SCTE 273-1 outlines the specifications for the GAP enclosure, while SCTE 273-2 details the requirements for interchangeable modules within that GAP enclosure. Use cases envisioned for GAP include Cable Access, Fiber Access, Wireless Access, and future applications.

The Entra EN9000 will initially be available as a 4-port, Remote MACPHY (R-MACPHY) enabled Cable Access node.

With full support for DOCSIS 4.0 and 1.8 GHz RF, the EN9000 also allows for full spectrum DOCSIS 3.1 and up to 4x4 node segmentation when enabled with Vecima’s recently announced next-generation EMM324 RMD Cable Access module.

According to Vecima, with up to 10 Gbps delivered downstream and 1.5 Gbps delivered upstream in a single, high-split DOCSIS 3.1 service group, the EN9000 delivers an unprecedented 40 Gbps downstream and 6 Gbps upstream in a single, four service group DAA Cable Access node.

“We’re a proud contributor to the GAP standards work, and continue to believe open, interoperable access networks are a requirement as our industry moves towards 10G,” said Colin Howlett, CTO at Vecima. “The EN9000 is a natural evolution of the work Vecima has done for years ensuring Distributed Access Architectures don’t become the closed, legacy networks of the past. GAP and the EN9000 are the logical advancement, from a hardware perspective, of the strategy we’ve pursued since the genesis of DAA.”

“Vecima is extremely excited to bring the Entra EN9000 to the Service Provider Access market,” added Ryan Nicometo, SVP and GM of

Vecima’s Video and Broadband Solutions business. “Our mission of enabling limitless broadband access is greatly enhanced by standards like GAP and the EN9000 platform. Closed access ecosystems inherently limit growth by stifling innovation. GAP is a paradigm shift for the industry, both in terms of hardware openness and capacity delivered.”

Learn more about Vecima’s Entra product portfolio at https://vecima.com/solutions/distributed-access/