The channel capacity of hybrid fiber/coax (HFC) networks

The hybrid fiber/coax (HFC) is emerging as an inexpensive architecture for providing broadband services to residences. It has optical fibers extending from the central office or headend to remote fiber nodes. Extending from the fiber nodes to the residences is a coaxial cable distribution bus. Multiplexing allows 100 to 500 users to share the bandwidth of each coax distribution bus. This architecture advantageously combines the long range of optical fiber with the high bandwidth and simple electrical interfaces of the coaxial cable. HFC will initially provide telephony and cable TV, but it also has sufficient bandwidth for future interactive and multimedia services. Many regional telephone companies, and most cable TV companies, in the US have committed to HFC. This architecture will be widely deployed well into the future, while the demand for residential bandwidth will increase. To meet this demand, there will be an increasing need for multi-user information theory and communication techniques to maximize the bandwidth and fully exploit the potential of this unique medium. This paper initializes exploration into maximizing the channel capacity of HFC.