Current Internet access via a 33.6 or 56 Kbps modem is referred to as "voice-band" modem technology. Like voice-band modems, cable modems modulate and demodulate data signals. However, cable modems incorporate more functions suitable for today’s high-speed Internet services.

In a cable network, data from the network to the user is referred to as downstream, whereas data from the user to the network is referred to as upstream. From a user perspective, a cable modem is a QAM receiver capable of delivering up to 30 to 40 Mbps of data in one 6-MHz cable channel. This is approximately 500 times faster than a 56 Kbps modem. Data from a user to the network is sent in a flexible and programmable system under control of the head-end. The data is modulated with data rates from 320 Kbps up to 10 Mbps. The upstream and downstream data rates may be flexibly configured using cable modems to match subscriber needs. For instance, a business service can be programmed to receive as well as transmit higher bandwidth. A residential user, however, may be configured to receive higher bandwidth access to the Internet while being limited to a low-bandwidth transmission to the network.

A subscriber can continue to receive cable television service while simultaneously receiving data on cable modems to be delivered to a PC with the help of a simple one-to-two splitter (Figure 1). The data service offered by a cable modem may be shared by up to sixteen users in a LAN.

Because some cable networks are suited for broadcast television services, cable modems may use either a standard telephone line or a QPSK/16 QAM modem over a two-way cable system to transmit data upstream from a user location to the network. When a telephone line is used in conjunction with a one-way broadcast network, the cable data system is referred to as a telephony return interface (TRI) system. In this mode, a satellite or wireless cable television network can also function as a data network.

At the cable head-end, data from individual users is filtered by upstream demodulators (or telephone-return systems, as appropriate) for further processing by a cable modem termination system (CMTS). A CMTS is a data switching system specifically designed to route data from many cable modem users over a multiplexed network interface. Likewise, a CMTS receives data from the Internet and provides data switching necessary to route data to the cable modem users. Data from the network to a user group is sent to a 64/256 QAM modulator. The result is user data modulated into one 6- MHz channel, which is the spectrum allocated for a cable television channel such as Star News, CNN or MTV for broadcast to all users

A cable head-end combines the downstream data channels with the video, pay-per-view, audio and local advertiser programs that are received by television subscribers. The combined signal is then transmitted throughout the cable distribution network. At the user location, the television signal is received by a set-top box, while user data is separately received by a cable modem box and sent to a PC.

A CMTS is an important new element for support of data services that integrates upstream and downstream communication over a cable data network. The number of upstream and downstream channels in a given CMTS can be engineered based on serving area, number of users, data rates offered to each user and available spectrum (Figure 3).

Another important element in the operations and day-to-day management of a cable data system is an element management system (EMS). An EMS is an operations system designed specifically to configure and manage a CMTS and associated cable modem subscribers. The operations tasks include provisioning, day-to-day administration, monitoring, alarms and testing of various components of a CMTS. From a central network operations center (NOC), a single EMS can support many CMTS systems in the geographic region.

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