Function virtualization for multimedia network topology adaptation

A network architecture includes a gateway that terminates broadband service at a particular location, e.g., at the entry to a house or business. The gateway may execute a MoCA network controller (NC) that manages a network of MoCA nodes connected by cable connections. The gateway distributes content to the MoCA nodes on the network, using a logical star topology over the physical tree topology connections. The NC allocates greater downlink (gateway to MoCA node) bandwidth compared to uplink (node to gateway) bandwidth. Because the gateway terminates the broadband service, the network architecture frees very significant spectrum over the cable connections, permitting, for instance, the transmission of hundreds of Mbps of broadband content streams to the MoCA nodes.