Although Cisco has shown upstream Docsis 3.0 channel bonding in tandem with TI, the company still expects to submit the uBR10012 CMTS for "Bronze" qualification this October when CableLabs launches Certification Wave 56, the first Wave that will officially test CMTSs and modems for Docsis 3.0 qualification and certification.

    To push the CMTS qualification needle, CableLabs announced a tiered CMTS testing plan in April, allowing vendors to submit products for "Bronze," "Silver," or "Full." (See CableLabs Accelerates Docsis 3.0 Testing .)

    Cable Labs has not publicly disclosed which features are included in each tier, but people familiar with the process say Full will include the whole spec, while Bronze will support downstream channel bonding and IPv6; and Silver will introduce upstream channel bonding and the spec's Advanced Encryption System (AES). (See Go for the Bronze! )

    Amon gCMTS vendors, Casa is believed to be one -- and possibly the only one -- that expects to go for Full Docsis 3.0 CMTS qualification right out of the blocks. Casa president and CEO Jerry Guo confirmed in an email that his company has demonstrated upstream channel bonding in a lab setting, but he wasn't ready to disclose its plans for Wave 56.

    Although CMTS vendors don't have to incorporate the whole spec yet just to gain a piece of Docsis 3.0 qualification, the tiered approach won't go on in perpetuity. It's said that Bronze and Silver testing will sunset on March 2009. After that, all CMTS vendors will have to shoot for Full qualification. Cable modem vendors must test against the full specs starting with Wave 56.

    Conexant Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CNXT - message board) and Broadcom Corp. (Nasdaq: BRCM - message board) are also developing Docsis 3.0 CPE chipsets. Other than confirming that Cisco is working with all Docsis chipset vendors, Yesnosky declined to say how far along Cisco was with each of them or what their respective plans are for Wave 56.