ZyXEL Communications P-971M 2.1.5 Security, 2.1.6 Channels

P-971M User’s Guide

2.1.5 Security

Your cable modem has features built-in to run Baseline Privacy (BP). BP is used as a privacy mechanism to protect user data flowing across the cable network and to prevent unauthorized access to the CMTS data flowing across the network. BP also supports access control lists (ACLs), filtering, tunnels, spoof protection, and source IP filtering on the RF subnets to prevent users from using IP addresses that are invalid. BP security information must be included in your cable operator’s configuration file to enable security. If your cable operator did not supply this information in the configuration file BP security is Disabled. Further information can be found in DOCSIS 2.0.

2.1.6 Channels

Your P-971M uses different communications methods if it is receiving information from the cable operator, or if it is sending information to the cable operator. These are called the Downstream Channel and Upstream Channel respectively. The channel numbers and frequencies are advertised by the CMTS during the initial booting of the P-971M; these may also be set in the configuration file.

Table 1 Connection Screen Summary

LABEL	DESCRIPTION
Acquire	The P-971M has Locked onto the downstream channel. The status message will
Downstream	display the frequency in hertz.
Channel	The channel lock is In Progress. The status message will display the frequency in
	hertz.
Connectivity	The P-971M is Operational and the status is OK.
State	The P-971M connectivity is In Progress. See the description for Connectivity State.
Boot State	The boot state of the P-971M is Operational.
	The boot state of the P-971M is In Progress. See the description for Boot State.
Configuration File	A configuration file (cmb.cfg) was successfully downloaded from the upstream cable
	operator’s CMTS, and installed on your P-971M. The status message displays OK.
	The P-971M is attempting to negotiate and download a configuration file from your
	cable operator’s CMTS. The status message displays In Progress.
Security	Baseline privacy security is enabled and the status message displays Enabled. The
	comment field displays BPI.
	The baseline privacy security is Disabled and the status message displays
	Disabled.
Downstream	This is the data path used by the CMTS for sending information to your P-971M.
Channel
Lock Status	The P-971M is either Locked or Not Locked on to the channel advertised by your
	cable operator’s CMTS.
Channel ID	A standard channel number from the DOCSIS 2.0 specification. Channel numbers
	and channel frequencies are specified in pairs in DOCSIS 2.0.
Downstream	A standard channel frequency (in hertz) from the DOCSIS 2.0 specification.
Frequency
SNR	The Signal to Noise Ratio (in decibels/mili-volt), the ratio of signal power to channel
	noise power. This value is set by the CMTS.

27 Chapter 2 Connection Screen.