A novel method of operating a Distributed Cable Modem Termination System is provided. Each branch CMTS node in a distributed CMTS supports a complete CMTS system and with full-spectrum ports. One or more MAC domains are defined at each branch CMTS node. A MAC domain defined at a branch CMTS node includes only service flows of the CMs that are connected to the branch CMTS node. Identifiers of service flows coming from a branch CMTS node are always unique, i.e., two different service flows of the branch CMTS would always have different SIDs, even if they belong to different MAC domains. On the other hand, service flows belonging to different branch CMTS nodes are free to reuse the same identifiers.
展开▼
