ARRIS

ARRIS C4® CMTS:

RF TROUBLESHOOTING

Mike Elliott
ARRIS Technical Support
Overview

• This webcast will cover RF troubleshooting

techniques for the ARRIS C4 CMTS. We will
discuss how to identify RF problems and ways to
mitigate them. We will also cover DOCSIS RF
levels, Cable Access Module (CAM) operation and
sparing, RF noise mitigation features, SNR,
DOCSIS ping, cable flap lists and the Intelligent
Channel Optimizer (ICO).

• This Webcast will be focused on the 2012U CAM

capabilities and Firmware version 5.x
2
Agenda
• DOCSIS RF Levels
• 2D12U CAM RF Specs
• Ranging Process
• Modulation Profiles
• CAM Sparing
• SNR/MER
• Noise Types
• Show cable noise
• Remote query
• Forward Error Correction
• Ingress Cancellation
• Pre-Equalization
• DOCSIS Ping
• Cable Flap-List
• Modulation vs Noise
• Basic Troubleshooting
• ICO
• Q&A
3
DOCSIS RF Levels

• Downstream (Rx) Receive Power (Forward Signal) level:

- Modems input power range: -15 to +15dBmV
• Upstream (Tx) Transmit Power (Return Signal) level:
- QPSK Burst +8 to +58 dBmV
- 8 & 16QAM Burst +8 to +55 dBmV
- 32 & 64QAM Burst +8 to +54 dBmV

• Recommended upstream CM Tx signal levels are +35

dBmV to +50 dBmV.

• Signal levels not within the specifications listed above can

cause slow speeds connection problems, and connection
loss due to packet errors, packet loss, and/or constant
packet retransmission.

4
CAM Downstream RF Specifications
• Each Downstream supports:
- OS Frequency (OOCSIS): 91 to 857 MHz (fc)
• Integrated upconverter
- OS Frequency (EuroOOCSIS): 112 to 858 MHz (fc)
• Integrated upconverter
- OS variable output power: 50-61dBmV
- OS Automatic Gain Control (AGC)
- OS Modulation: 64QAM & 256QAM
- OS Interleave - depth in number of taps (8, 16,32,64, 128, or 12 for EuroOOCSIS)
• Default Interleave-depth is 32

• Note: Front panel OS test ports are -30dB and is only for verification of
OS power. This port is not intended for MER/BER measurements.
• Here is a useful CLI command to check the CAM downstream power -
This will provide the power level reading just before the CAM OS output
connector that connects to the backplane.
• C4# show controllers cable 2/0 downstream I include db
- Provisioned Power (tenth of dBmV): 610
- Measured Power (tenth of dBmV): 608
5
CAM Upstream RF Specifications
• 12 Upstream (US) receivers
• Range of upstream frequencies configurable for North America, Japan,
or Europe:
- - 5-42 MHz (DOCSIS)
- - 5-55 MHz (Japan)
- - 5-65 MHz (EuroDOCSIS)
• Flexible US/DS mapping - multiple US's per connector
• Multiple logical channels (2) per physical upstream channel
• Modulation types: TDMA/ATDMA/TDMA&ATDMA/SCDMA
• Symbol Rates: QPSK, QAM8, QAM16, QAM32, QAM64
• Channel Widths: 200kHz, 400kHz, 800kHz, 1600kHz, 3200kHz,
6400kHz
• Adjustable receive power
• Supports per Upstream Ingress Cancellation (ICB)
• Supports per Upstream Pre-Equalization
• Supports Forward Error Correction (FEC)
• Supports Upstream Interleaving
6
Ranging Process

• CM scans for a downstream channel

• CM synchronizes to the downstream channel
• CM locks on the time-base clock
• CM receives upstream parameters (UCO - US Channel
Descriptor)
• CM receives bandwidth allocation MAP
• CM performs ranging (power, timing and frequency
adjustments)
• CM establishes IP connectivity (DHCP)
• CM establishes Time of Day (TOD)
• CM acquires configuration file {TFTP)
• CM registers with the CMTS
• CM is operational

7
Ranging Process
• During modem initialization, the CM will range with the CMTS to fine-tune timing
offset, center frequency, and its upstream power level. Every time the modem
sends up a ranging request, the C4 will respond back with a ranging response,
asking the modem to adjust its upstream power, frequency, and/or timing offset.
When the upstream power level is within the desired/configured upstream power
level, within the desired timing offset, and within the desired center frequency,
the modem will be ranged and will then begin DHCP.

• The Insertion-interval is how often a modem is offered a broadcast ranging

opportunity
configure interface cable <slot>/<ds> cable downstream insertion-interval <0-200>
The default is 40, to speed up modem registration set to 10.

• After the CM has registered, the C4 will grant the CM periodic ranging
opportunities on the upstream. The process works as before until the CM is
within the acceptable limits. The frequency of these periodic ranging
opportunities is provisioned via:
configure interface cable <slot>/<ds> cable downstream ranging-interval <500-3500>
The default to 2400

8
Ranging Process

• The Station maintenance interval uses the IUC 4 burst

parameters defined in the modulation profile.
• If the modem is not within the thresholds with the first
station maintenance ranging burst (ranging continue as
opposed to ranging success), it stays on the ranging
polling queue and will get station maintenance
opportunities every <ranging-cycle> period of time until
it gets a ranging success.
• The ranging cycle time is configurable, but defaulted to
1.2 seconds (120 centi-seconds).
• It's not a good idea to play around with the ranging-
cycle time on a live site.

9
Modulation-profiles

• Modulation Profiles:
- Modulation Profiles define all the burst parameters for each upstream burst
type. Each Interval Usage Code (IUC) has a specific set of burst parameters.
- Profiles can be changed on the fly without modems dropping offline
- FEC can be modified for each IUC (usually only modified on short/long data
IUC's if needed)
- The C4 CMTS automatically generates default profiles for all modulation
types
C4# configure cable modulation-profile 2 tdma qpsk
C4# show cable modulation-profile 2

Modulation profile 2

Interval Chan Mod Pre Dif FEC FEC Ser Max Guar L Ser ---Atdma--- Prea -----Scdma-----
Usage Type Type Len Enc CW amb Bur Time C amb Int Int mble TCM Int Sp Sub
Code En Len Seed Siz Size S En Depth Block Type En Size En Cod

1 request tdma qpsk 64 F 0 16 338 0 8 F T

3 initial tdma qpsk 640 F 5 34 338 0 48 F T
4 station tdma qpsk 384 F 5 34 338 0 48 F T
5 short tdma qpsk 84 F 6 78 338 45 8 T T
6 long tdma qpsk 96 F 8 220 338 0 8 T T

10
Channel width & bit rates

TOMA
QPSK 16QAM
Channel Width Bit-rate {kbps) Bit-rate {kbps)
200 320 640
400 640 1280
800 1280 2560
1600 2560 5120
3200 5120 10240

ATOMA
BQAM 16QAM 32QAM 64QAM
Channel Width Bit-rate (kb~s) Bit-rate {kb~s) Bit-rate {kb~s) Bit-rate {kb~s)
200 480 640 800 960
400 960 1280 1600 1920
800 1920 2560 3200 3840
1600 3840 5120 6400 7680
3200 7680 10240 12800 15360
6400 15360 20480 25600 30720

SCOMA
BQAM 16QAM 32QAM 64QAM
Channel Width Bit-rate (kbps) Bit-rate (kbps) Bit-rate (kbps) Bit-rate (kbps)
1600 3840 5120 6400 7680
3200 7680 10240 12800 15360
6400 15360 20480 25600 30720
11
CAM Sparing
• CAM sparing minimizes traffic loss and customer impact in case of a module
failure.
• When an active CAM in a spare group fails, the spare CAM takes over almost
seamlessly.
• The cable modems that were connected to the upstream and downstream
channels on the failed CAM are immediately connected to the spare CAM.
• Cable modems do not have to re-range or re-register, and they incur minimal
data loss.
• Failback (The recovered CAM becomes active, taking over for the spare) from
the spare CAM to a recovered CAM can be set to take place automatically or
manually
- Spare-groups require all CAM rear PICs to be in place
- Approximately O.SdB of DS RF loss per slot when sparing and 0.1 dB of RF loss US
- DS & US RF is routed to/from spare CAM via the mid-plane through the rear PICs using RF
sparing relays
- RF Sparing relays are activated via the active SCM
- CAM Sparing is hitless (modems do not drop offline)
- CAM sparing can only be done by like cards: a 1Dx8U can spare for only a 1Dx8U and a
2Dx12U can spare only for a 2Dx12U. No mixing is allowed in the sparing groups

12
SNR/MER

• US SNR is actually MER on the C4 CMTS

- MER is calculated based on the average "error-vector"
magnitude that the upstream receiver reports per-burst. This is
basically how far each demodulated QAM symbol was off from
the ideal QAM symbol.
• MER tells more about the quality of the RF burst
- SNR only gives the ratio of noise floor power to the peak US
burst power (its doesn't provide any information about the in-
channel impairments.
- There must be modems ranging on the US for MER to be
calculated and provide an output.
- When large amount of modems are registering, the channel
MER may report low due to the Initial ranging of the modems
(this time slot is contention based so there will be some
collisions causing lower MER until modems are
ranged/registered)
13
Noise Types
• Some common linear distortions:
- Micro-reflections: Caused by impedance mismatches that will reflect some of the incident
energy (US Burst) back to the source (cable modem).
- Group delay: When signals at some frequencies take longer to travel through a network than
other frequencies.
- Amplitude ripple/tilt: Caused by micro-reflections and poor frequency response.

• Some common non-linear distortions:

- CSO: Composite Second Order - is the ratio of carrier to Composite Second Order Beat
- CTB: Composite Triple Beat/Composite Third Order - is the ratio of carrier to Composite
Third order Beat.
- CPD: Common Path Distortion - Distortion products generated from the DS (6/8MHz)
interacting with corroded connections. These distortion products are found in the return
path.
- Ingress: A common type of noise found on HFC cable networks, occurs at a single spectral
frequency. Common sources of this type of noise include CB (citizen band) radios and other
communications devices
- Spurs: Spurious Emissions - Narrow band CW noise from external sources, CTO/CTB and
CPD
- Impulse: Short duration noise bursts that can be narrowband or broadband
• CSO & CTB: Both of these distortions are the result of multiple carriers experiencing second and third
order non-linearity, generating multiple distortion products.

14
show cable noise

• The CLI command "show cable noise" is clear on read

• Measures MER and FEC per logical US channel
• MER is calculated from the last 10,000 US symbols collected from all
IUC's
• There must be at least 1 modem on a logical US channel to calculate
MER/FEC.
- If there is less than 100 modems on an US or not much US traffic, ping a modem
or two with 5000 1000 byte packets to provide more bursts/symbols to calculate
the channel MER more accurately.
- Impulse noise can produce FEC errors when MER appears good.
- Short duration impulse noise may only corrupt some of the US bursts and will be
averaged out of the MER reading by all the bursts that are passed upstream
when there is no impulse present, showing a good MER reading. The codewords
that may get corrupted will show up as FEC_corrected or FEC_uncorrected
errors.
- FEC_corrected Errors and NO FEC_uncorrected indicates FEC is doing its job
but is a sign of noise issues in the plant. This should be addressed before
customers service becomes degraded.
- Microreflections listed in "show cable noise" are always zero (not supported)

15
show cable noise
C4# show cable noise cable 2

CAM/DS/US SNR(dB) MicroReflection FEC Unerrored FEC Corrected FEC Uncorrected

2/0/0.0 40.1 0 1151 0 0

2/0/1. 0 26.0 0 491 20 0
2/1/6.0 19.0 0 40232 223 34
2/1/7.0 31. 0 0 27544 151 209

C4# show interface cable 2

DS Op er Annex Freq (Hz) Mod Power Clone Spare LBal
true 0
State Type (. ldBmV) Enable Group Group
2/0 IS B(US) 321000000 q64 610 true 0
2/1 IS B(US) 627000000 q256 500
us Conn Oper Chan Freq (Hz) Channel Mini Mod Power Cable LB al
State Type Width Slot Prof (dBmV) Group Group
2/0/UO 0 IS tdma 35000000 3200000 4 2 0
2/0/Ul 1 IS atdma 20000000 6400000 2 114 0
2/l/U6 6 IS tdma 26900000 3200000 2 6 0
2/1/U7 7 IS tdma 30100000 3200000 4 6 0

16
show cable modem
C4# show cable modern OOOO.ca31.7352
Dec 3 11:33:48

Prim DOC Timing Rec

Interface State SID SIS Offset Power Qos CPE IP Address MAC address
--------- ---------- ---- --- ------ ----- -------------
2/0/0 Registered 4917 1.0 2010 0.0 QoSProf 1 0 192.168.136.6 0000. ca31. 7352 (Arris)

Total Offline Ranging RgAbort Ranged IPcornpl Bpiinit Online Denied

Found 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0

C4# show cable modern OOOO.ca31.7352 detail

Dec 3 11:32:29

2/0/0.0 CM 0000.ca31.7352 (Arris) Dl.O State=IPcornplete Dl.0/tdrna PrirnSID=4882

Timing Offset=2006 Rec Power= 0.00 dBrnV Proto-Throttle=Norrnal
Uptime= 0 days 0:00:11 IP=192.168.136.6 cfg=generic-docsis-2Meg-1-0.bin
Privacy=Initializing
u/d SFID SID State Sched Trnin Trnax DFrrns DBytes MFrrns MBytes CRC HCS
u 25945 4882 Activ BE 0 0 5 1327 - - 0 0
d 25946 *4882 Activ 0 0 1 64
Current CPE=O Max CPE=O

17
show cable modem summary
C4# show cable modern summary slot 2
Channel Conn Total Offline Ranging RgAbort Ranged IPcornpl Bpiinit Online Denied RngFlap PrvFlap RegFlap

2/0/0.0 0 20 0 1 0 1 3 0 15 0 0 3 1935
2/0/0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10
2/0/1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 151
2/1/6 6 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0
2/1/7 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------

2/0 Total 21 0 1 0 1 3 0 16 0 0 3 2096

2/1 Total 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0
2 Total 24 0 1 0 1 3 0 19 0 0 3 2096

Total 24 0 1 0 1 3 0 19 0 0 3 2096

To clear the flap-list and flap counts under the summary view use the following CLI.

C4# clear cable flap-list slot 2

Flap counts have been cleared for slot 2

Use ~clear cable flap-list all" to clear all flaps from the system.

18
show controllers downstream
C4# show controllers cable 2/0 downstream
Downstream Port 0

Port state: IS
Cable Standard: Annex B from ITU-J83
Frequency (Hz): 321000000
Insertion interval (centiseconds) : 40
Interleave depth (no of taps) : 32
Invited ranging attempts: 16
Modulation: q256
Provisioned Power (tenth of dBmV) : 610
Measured Power (tenth of dBmV) : 610
Power Fine Adjustment (steps) : 0
Ranging interval (centiseconds) : 2400
Sync interval (milliseconds): 10
UCD interval (milliseconds) : 1600
Max Round Trip Delay(microseconds): 1580
Ranging Cycles Int (centiseconds) : 120
Clone Group Enabled: True (Hard timeouts enabled for IM opport)
Load Balance Group Id: 200, 201, 202, 203
Level 3 overload threshold: 500
Max Allowable Normal Voice BW (%) : 90
Reserved Normal Voice BW (%): 0
Max Allowable Emergency Voice BW (%): 90
Reserved Emergency Voice BW (%) : 0
Max Allowed Total (Emergency + Normal) (%) : 90
Emergency Preemption: enabled
TFTP Enforcement: enabled
Dynamic Secret: disabled
Token Bucket Mode: shape
Automatic Gain Control: enabled

19
show controllers upstream
C4# show controllers cable 2/0 upstream 0
Upstream Port 0

Port state: IS
Assigned Upstream Connector: 0
Assigned Downstream Port: 0
Frequency (Hz) : 35000000
Channel width (Hz) : 3200000
Equalizer Coefficient State: off
Power ( dBmV) : 0
Max Power Adj Per Range Resp (1/4 dBmV) : 24
Ranging Power Thresh For Success (1/4 dBmV) : 48
Frequency priority list id:
Cable Group id: 1
Clone Group id:
Load Balance Group Id:
Level 3 Overload Threshold (%) : 1000
Max Allowable Normal Voice BW (%): 50
Reserved Normal Voice BW (%) : 0
Max Allowable Emergency Voice BW (%) : 70
Reserved Emergency Voice BW (%) : 0
Max Allowed Total (Emergency + Normal) (%): 70
Ingress Cancellation Interval: 100
Ingress Cancellation Size: 0
Logical Channel: 0 1 (continued output)
SCDMA active codes:
Channel State IS IS SCDMA codes per slot:
Channel Type: tdma tdma SCDMA frame size:
Modulation profile id: 2 6 SCDMA hopping seed:
FlexPath Only: no no Spectrum Group ID:
Ranging backoff range: 5 - 9 5 - 9 Spectrum Group State:
Data backoff range: 2 - 8 2 - 8
Map Size (800 microsecond ticks): 4 4
Slot Size (6.25 microsecond ticks): 4 4

20
show cable modem phy (remote-query)

• The "show cable modem phy" output will display the US MER for a
individual modem as well as CM and CMTS measurement levels.
• Capability to change the source ip of the snmp requests to the cable
modems which allows the cable filters to block requests from the
IPANY address 0.0.0.0 and udp port 162
C4# configure cable modem remote-query ?
<30-86400> - Seconds between two polling cycles of CM data collection
WORD - The read community string used for polling CMs
source-interface - Configure cable modem SNMP remote query source interface

C4# configure cable modem remote-query source-interface ?

cable - Configure cable modem SNMP remote query source interface to cable
fastEthernet - Configure cable modem SNMP remote query source interface to fastEthernet
gigabitEthernet - Configure cable modem SNMP remote query source interface to gigabitEthernet
loopback - Configure cable modem SNMP remote query source interface to loopback

C4# configure cable modem remote-query source-interface cable ?

<0-15>/<0-1>[.<0-254>] - CAM slot number/MAC domain number[.subinterface number]

C4# configure cable modem remote-query source-interface cable 1/0

C4# show ip interface brief
Interface Primary IP Admin Oper
State State
cable 1/0 192.168.136.1/24 Up IS <<< Remote query source interface
gigabitEthernet 14/1 192.168.134.2/30 Up IS

21
show cable modem phy (remote-query)

• The CMTS measurements and individual modem MER will still

display on a per modem basis without remote query enabled but
there will be no CM measurement data.
• MER is calculated per modem basis using the last 5 IUC4 Station
maintenance bursts

C4# show cable modern phy

Dec 2 11:22:23

Last Poll
Started: 2008 December 02 11:22
Completed: 2008 December 02 11:22

---- CMTS Measurements ----- --------- CM Measurements ---------

USPwr USSNR uReflec Timing USPwr DSPwr DSSNR uReflec Timing Last
Interface (dBrnV) (db) (dBc) Offset (dBrnV) (dBrnV) (db) (dBc) Offset Polled MAC address

2/0/0 0.0 38.7 0 1809 43.0 -17.1 30.5 22 11848 00:00 OOOO.ca30.0a70 (Arris)

22
Forward Error Correction (FEC)
• FEC T BYTE
- FEC Error Correction - The number of bytes that can be corrected per FEC code
word. For DOCS IS 1.0 and DOCS IS 1.1 mode, valid values are from 0 to 10
(decimal), where 0 means no FEC. For DOCSIS 2.0 A-TOMA mode, the valid
values are from 0 to 16 (decimal), where 0 means no FEC.
• FECK BYTE
- FEC Codeword Len - Size (in bytes) of the FEC code word. Valid values are from
16 to 253.
• Note: the following must be met:
(FECCodewordLen + 2*FECErrorCorrection) <= 255)
• Example configuration via CLI of short & long data IUC's FEC
parameters for profile 2
- (short data grant)
configure cable modulation-profile 2 iuc 4 fec-tbytes 6 fec-len 78
- (long data grant)
configure cable modulation-profile 2 iuc 5 fec-tbytes 8 fec-len 220

• Suggestion: Make a new profile with a unique modulation-profile number

and modify the FEC parameters in the new profile. After the desired
FEC values are set, apply the new modulation-profile to the US channel.

23
Ingress Cancellation (ICB)
• The 2Dx12U Ingress Cancellation feature provides administrative control over certain
proprietary capabilities of the Broadcom BCM3140 dual channel burst receiver. The BCM3140
has an ingress cancellation block that analyzes the noise environment of an upstream channel.
It then suppresses narrow-band ingress or adjacent-channel interference. Analysis only occurs
during unused burst intervals.

• The ingress-cancellation interval:

- Determines how often a grant is given specifically for ingress cancellation. The units of this parameter are
in milliseconds. Consequently, the default value of 100 means a grant is provided every 100 msec. Note,
the grant is a unicast grant to a SID that is reserved specifically for ICB (Ox1ffe). A value of 0 disables ICB.

• The ingress-cancellation size:

- Refers to the size of the grant that is given for ingress cancellation. The units of this parameter is in terms
of mini-slots. The grant for ingress cancellation must contain enough mini-slots to transfer 256 symbols
plus one additional mini-slot for ingress cancellation to work properly. We recommend a default value of 0
which basically means that the software will automatically calculate this based upon the upstream
parameters. Otherwise a value that is too small will cause ICB to not work properly and a value that is too
large will waste upstream bandwidth.
- With a typical upstream configuration and using the default ICB parameters, this is typically a couple
percent of the upstream bandwidth.

• Configuring Ingress Cancellation (ICB)

configure interface cable 1/0 cable upstream 0 ingress-cancellation interval 100
configure interface cable 1/0 cable upstream 0 ingress-cancellation size 0

24
Pre-Equalization

• Adaptive equalization (Pre-Equalization): Counters the

affects of linear distortions: These impairments cause the
Upstream burst at the input to the CMTS to be
tilted/distorted.
• Pre-Equalization will "Pre" distort the modems US burst so it
arrives at the CMTS flat and "undistorted"
• Enabled on a per US basis

• To enabled/disable Pre-EQ:
configure interface cable <slot>/<mac> cable upstream <uport> pre-eq-enable <true I
false>

NOTE: 1.0 modems do not support Pre-EQ, most should

ignore equalization when its enabled but some have
been known to drop offline. If there are 1.0 modems
on the network, enabled in a maintenance window
and verify modem counts.
25
DOCSIS Ping
• Supported by Software Releases 5.1.x and higher
• Great for troubleshooting modem and plant issues
This feature provides CMTS administrators with a method of detecting intermittent plant issues by pinging a given
modem at the DOCSIS layer. It causes the C4 CMTS to schedule several station maintenance opportunities
and record the results. These results can be used to isolate issues between the CMTS and upstream
channels, nodes, or cable modems.

C4# ping docsis OOOO.ca31.7352 10 verbose

Providing 10 DOCSIS station maintenance opportunities, timeout is 1 sec:

Reply from 0000.ca31.7352 (Arris) tadj= -1 padj= 0.0 fadj= 0 response=success
a Reply from OOOO.ca31.7352 (Arris) tadj= 2 padj= 0.0 fadj= 0 response=success
Reply from 0000.ca31.7352 (Arris) tadj= -1 padj= 0.0 fadj= 0 response=success

• The command that follows is an example of DOCSIS ping in default (brief) mode with a count of 50:

C4# ping docsis 10.135.232.254 50

Providing 50 DOCSIS station maintenance opportunities, timeout is 1 sec:
fffa! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
Success rate is 94 percent (47/50)

- The characters displayed in the system response define the results of the range request received from each station
maintenance opportunity.

26
DOCSIS Ping (cont)

• The meaning of each character is as follows:

The range request received required no adjustments.

a The range request received required a timing adjustment greater
than 1/64th of a DOCSIS tick (6.25 microseconds), or a power
adjustment greater than 0.25dB, or a frequency adjustment greater
than 0 Hz, and the ranging response indicates success.
A The range request received required a timing adjustment greater
than 1/64th of a DOCSIS tick, or a power adjustment greater than
0.25dB, or a frequency adjustment greater than OHz, and the
ranging response indicates continue.
There was no range request received from a station maintenance
opportunity.
f Failure: the CM is offline.

• When determining the success rate, "!" and "a" are counted
as successes and "A ", "."and "f ' are counted as failures.
27
show cable flap-list
• The flap types are:
- Ranging Flap if the previous state is Ranging or RangingAborted
Provisioning Flap if the previous state is RangingComplete, IPComplete or AccessDenied
Registration Flap if the previous state is RegistrationComplete
By default the "show cable flap-list" will output all modems with non-zero flap counts by CM MAC
address. The "sort-flap" and "sort-time" are alternative sorting methods.
Another command which includes flaplist data is the "show cable modem summary". This
command displays the per-channel flap counts.
C4# show cable flap-list cable 13
Nov 18 18:24:51

Pre-Flap Time Since Latest ( Flaps

Interface State State Last Flap Uptime SM Rsp % PowerAdj Range Prov Reg MAC address
--------- ---------- ---------- ----------- ----------- ----------- --------
13/0/0 Offline Ranging 0:01:26 0:00:40 92.0851 3006 647 0 7 xxxx.xxxx.xxxx (Vendor_X)
13/0/0 Offline Ranging 0:00:52 0:00:39 74.3699 4313 8986 0 0 xxxx.xxxx.xxxx (Vendor_X)
13/0/0 Registered Registered 24:55:57 20:58:32 99.5135 0 0 6 58 xxxx.xxxx.xxxx (Vendor_X)
13/0/0 Registered Registered 27:19:02 27:19:02 98.0988 43 2 1 2 0015.a2ba.177c (Arris)
13/0/0 Registered Registered 6:20:44 6:20:44 99.5334 19 0 0 3 0015.a303.9003 (Arris)
13/0/0 Registered Registered 130:43:51 130:41:31 99.6997 0 0 0 3 0015.a3el.6d96 (Arris)
13/0/0 Registered Registered 15:34:26 15:34:26 99.3821 0 0 0 1 0015.ce4c.Ocee (Arris)

C4# configure cable flap-list power-adjust threshold ?

<10-100> - The threshold (int TenthdB) used to monitor the power adjust in the flap list.

Default value is 3dB

C4# show running-config full verbose I include power-adjust
configure cable flap-list power-adjust threshold 30

28
show cable flap-list
C4# show cable flap-list ?

cm-mac - Filter on CM MAC address

cm-ip Filter on CM IP address
vendor - Filter on CM vendor name
state - Filter on CM state
cable - Filter on CAM interface identifier
upstream - Filter on upstream identifier
cpe-mac - Filter on MAC address of CPE under CM
cpe-ip Filter on IP address of CPE under CM
max-lines - Maximum number of CMs to display
sort-flap - Sort CMs by decreasing flap count
sort-time - Sort CMs by increasing latest flap time
min-fcount - Filter on minimum flap count
max-ftime - Filter on maximum latest flap time (in minutes)
H.H.H - Filter on CM MAC address
A.B.C.D - Filter on CM IP address
slot - Filter on CAM interface identifier
registered - Filter on registered CMs
unregistered - Filter on all but registered CMs
count - Display only CM count totals
lchan - Filter on logical channel number
min-error Filter on minimum combined CRC and HCS error count
off line - Filter on offline CMs
- Output modifiers

29
show cable flap-list

• Another command which makes use of flaplist information is

the "show cable modem offline" command. This command
displays only modems which are currently offline.
C4# show cable modem offline
Dec 3 14:09:39

Off line Last Previous Timing Rx

Interface Time UpTime State Off set Power MAC address
--------- ----------- ----------- ---------- ------ -----
2/0/0 0:00:08 0:01:16 IPcomplete 0 0.3 OOOO.ca31.7676 (Arris)
2/0/0 0:01:25 0:01:18 IPcomplete 0 0.3 OOOO.ca44.fc65 (Arris)
2/0/0 0:02:13 0:01:15 IPcomplete 0 0.2 OOOO.cac3.28d2 (Arris)
2/0/0 0:01:13 0:01:16 IPcomplete 0 0.0 0011.e3dc.b997 (RCA/Thomson)

Total Offline Ranging RgAbort Ranged IPcompl Bpiinit Online Denied

Found 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

• Also note that the Interface, US, Timing Offset, and Rx

Power are based on the last communication with the cable
modem.
30
show cable flap-list
• Ranging Flap:
- A Ranging Flap indicates the cable modem did not successfully complete the
Initial Ranging process before flapping. A Ranging Flap means the CM Status did
not successfully reach ranging complete before the flap was detected.
- Last Up Time -A very small value (1-2 seconds) may indicate the cable modem
did not receive the RNG-RSP message. A more typical value (15-20 seconds)
may indicate a ranging adjustment problem.
- The upstream receive power level. See debugging tips below.
• Some potential causes for a Ranging flaps are:
• Too much or too little attenuation
• Interference
• Amplifier degradation
• Poor upstream or downstream connections
• Downstream sync loss
• Thermal sensitivity
• Mis-configured RF paths

• Provisioning Flap:
- A Provisioning Flap indicates the cable modem did successfully range but flapped
before successfully registering

31
show cable flap-list
• Registered Flap:
- A Registered Flap indicates the cable modem has flapped after successfully
reaching registration complete.

• Key information:
- Current state of the modem, whether the modem is still offline or has re-
registered.
- If the modem is offline, then the LastUpTime indicates how long the cable modem
was online (registered) before the flap.

• Some potential causes for a Registered flap are:

- Subscriber reset or powered modem off
- Modem went out of ranging success threshold(s) (see Ranging Flap causes)
- Downstream signal quality problems
- Overloaded bandwidth problems
- Failure to complete BPI setup
- Failure to complete MTA provisioning

32
RF Troubleshooting
• Nodes with customer complaints and/or connectivity issues should be
investigated by first checking the channel MER and FEC counts.

- Helpful commands to debug:

• show cable noise
• show cable modem summary
• show cable modem phy
• show cable modem detail
• show cable modem errors
• show cable modem errors min-error 5
• show interface cable x/y
• show cable flap-list

- The magnitude of the problem can be verified by pinging a few modems on the
problem nodes to see if some or all packets are being dropped. The noise level
may be bad enough to stop data from flowing but not bad enough to cause the
modem to flap, this can happen when running 16QAM or higher modulations. This
is due to the fact the station maintenance burst always uses QPSK, which is the
most robust modulation type in the presence of noise.

33
RF Troubleshooting
• Evaluate SNR and FEC errors
• Utilize the ARRIS ICO or ASA to monitor upstream for noise issues
• Spare the CAM over to verify CAM is/is not the issue
• Change the US frequency to another part of the spectrum to see if there is an in-
band noise
• Reduce the US channel width
• Change the modulation profile to a more robust modulation type (QPSK for
example) to help reduce packet errors while troubleshooting noise problems
• Increase the configured US RX power level to increase SNR
• Move RF plant to another connector on the CAM PIC and see if the issue
follows
• The upstream cable can be disconnected and reconnected; this may help noise
issues by resolving a poor coax connection
• Connect a six foot plant to the upstream in the headend with a few modems and
see if noise is still present
• Swap out the CAM PIC (inspect backplane and PIC connectors for damage
before adding new PIC)

34
C4 Preventive CMTS Maintenance

• Basic C4 CMTS preventive maintenance to prevent

• •
noise issues:
- Verify ALL unused F connectors are terminated with 75
ohm terminators (especially front panel DS test ports)
- Make sure all front and rear cards/PICs are seated
properly
- Verify chassis is well grounded
- Keep RF cables properly dressed and tight
- Keep all RF noise sources away from C4 CMTS chassis

35
Intelligent Channel Optimizer (ICO)
• HFC & DOCSIS Performance Diagnostic Tool
- Non-Service Impacting Real-time HFC Spectrum Analysis on All Active C4 DOCSIS Upstreams
- Assists in Isolating Impairments of the HFC or Service Per Upstream Port
- Trouble Shooting Tool to Improve Mean Time to Diagnose/Repair (MTTD I MTTR)
- Provides Remote Visibility & Real-Time Measures of Noise Margin & Impairments

• C4 Configuration Optimizer Tool

- Assess affects of Actual or Current Noise Conditions (AWGN, Ingress, & Impulse Noise)
- Examines and Suggests C4 Configuration Enhancements to Optimize Network Performance
- Simulates C4 Configuration Enhancements Without Placing Changes In-Service
- Enables the Operator to Select a CMTS Configuration to Immediately Improve Network Performance
(perhaps delaying or avoiding truck rolls to Re-establish Service Performance)

• Performance Modeling & Planning Tool

- Aids in Modeling & Planning for the use of Very High Order Modulation (QAM) Schemes, Channel Modes
(A-TOMA, S-CDMA, etc), Channel Width, & Frequency Selection
- Provides Assurance that Spectrum is Fully Optimized with Minimal Risk to Operations & Services
- Models affects of Hypothetical Noise Conditions (AWGN, Ingress, & Impulse Noise) on Network & Service
Performance
- Based on Hypothetical Noise Conditions, Channel Modulation, Mode, Width, and Frequency Determine
the Optimized C4 Configuration Settings

36
Intelligent Channel Optimizer (ICO)

• Runs on any Windows XP Computer

• Communicates with C4 CMTS via SNMP, Telnet or
Ssh
• Taps FFT Spectrum Analyzer on any Upstream
Receiver
· Analyzes Upstream Noise (AWGN, Ingress or
Impulse)
• Predicts Packet Error Rate (PER) Performance
• Suggests ways to Increase Data Rate
• Provides optimized modulation profiles
• Gives the engineer the ability to see the US In-Channel
noise floor characteristics
37
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