Product Overview
The Cisco® XR 12000 Service Module Daughter Card for Performance Route Processor-3 (PRP3-SMDC, Figure 1) is the next-generation service module that inserts into the next-generation Cisco XR 12000 Performance Route Processor-3 (PRP-3).
Cisco PRP-3 is the premium route processor for the Cisco XR 12000 Series Routers, addressing the unique route processing requirements of carrier-grade IP and Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) packet infrastructures. Cisco PRP-3 has the unique capability to insert a daughter card, and this capability is used by the Cisco PRP3-SMDC (Figure 2).
Cisco PRP3-SMDC adds new capabilities by supporting carrier-grade Layer 3 to Layer 4 services. Services that are not traditionaly supported on the Line Card (LC), such as Carrier Grade Network Address Translation (NAT), can now be transparently provisioned on the Cisco PRP3-SMDC. All packets entering the router (LC) that require PRP3-SMDC processing will be diverted in hardware to the Cisco PRP3-SMDC, which will process the packet and route it back out.
At the center of the Cisco PRP3-SMDC is a 16-core Octeon processor that runs a version of Linux and is optimized for fast packet handling. While Cisco PRP3-SMDC runs Linux, all the configuration and management is handled in Cisco IOS® XR Software running on the route processor; the end-user experience does not change. The advantages of using the daughter card are that it naturally follows the route processor redundancy paradigm, and more importantly that it does not take up an additional slot that can house customer ports.
Cisco PRP3-SMDC is responsible for the following functions:
● Supporting up to 10 Gbps of service traffic per daughter card
● Running carrier-grade Layer 3 to Layer 4 services.
● Running certain types of protocol offloads that help boost Cisco XR 12000 Series scale
● Supporting all service layer configuration on Cisco IOS XR Software
Cisco XR 12000 PRP3-SMDC delivers enhanced performance and capabilities as listed in Table 1.
Table 1. Cisco XR 12000 PRP3-SMDC Features and Benefits
Feature |
Benefit |
High-speed fabric connectivity |
● Designed to support up to 10 Gbps traffic
● Provides transparent nonblocking low-latency packet forwarding
● Isolates control packets destined to Cisco PRP-3 to avoid impact
|
Dual modes (active-active and active-standby) |
● Offers active-standby redundancy for quick failovers
● Capable of supporting active-active redundancy mode to increase service handling bandwidth
|
Distributed forwarding plane architecture |
Supports a enhanced forwarding plane to route packets after service-related processing |
Control plane extensions |
Capable of extending certain control plane features, such as Bidirectional Forwarding Detection (BFD), to be offloaded to Cisco PRP3-SMDC to increase the control plane scale |
High application scale |
Houses 4G of dedicated memory, which is used to support high application scale |
Virtual output queuing and arbitration |
● Offers service intelligence with prioritization of traffic (unicast and multicast)
● Provides efficient congestion management mechanism and avoids problems related to head-of-line blocking
|
Unified management plane |
All configuration and management is done on Cisco IOS XR Software running on Cisco PRP-3. |
Some of the features that are planned to be supported on Cisco PRP3-SMDC include:
● Carrier Grade NAT44
● NAT64
● High availability
● IPv6 rapid deployment (6rd) border relay
● Stateless translator (XLAT)
● BFD offload
The software to run Cisco PRP3-SMDC is sold as separate license. This gives service providers the flexbility to enable and run services on the Cisco PRP3-SMDC when they need the services and not pay at the time when they order the daughter board along with the Cisco PRP-3.
Product Specifications
Tables 2 through 5 provide specifications for the Cisco PRP3-SMDC.
Table 2. Chassis Compatibility
Cisco XR 12816, XR 12810, XR 12416, XR 12410, XR 12406, XR 12404, XR 12016*, XR 12010, XR 12006, and XR 12004 Routers |
Note: Cisco PRP3-SMDC is supported with these chassis operating with Cisco IOS XR Software 4.1.1 and later.
*Cisco PRP3-SMDC is not supported in the Cisco XR 12016 configured with original fabric cards GSR16/80-CSC and GSR16/80-SFC, but it is supported on this chassis with enhanced fabric cards 12016E-CSC and 12016E-SFC.
Table 4. Physical and Environmental Specifications
7.66 x 1.10 x 10.8 in. (19.46 x 2.79 x 27.43 cm) (occupies single thin slot) |
|
Table 6 lists system requirements for the Cisco PRP3-SMDC.
Find warranty information on the Product Warranties page on Cisco.com.
To place an order, visit the Cisco Ordering Home Page. Refer to the part numbers in Table 7. To download software, visit the Cisco Software Center.
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The Cisco XR 12000 Series Routers are a portfolio of intelligent routing solutions that scale from 2.5-Gbps to n x 10-Gbps capacity per slot, supporting carrier-class IP/MPLS networks and accelerating the evolution toward IP Next-Generation Networks (NGNs). Built for investment protection, this portfolio delivers up to 1.28 terabits per second (Tbps) switching capacity with wire-speed feature performance, scalability, and graceful hardware and software upgrade paths.
For a detailed list of Cisco IOS XR Software features supported on these products, refer to the release notes of the appropriate version.