FPGA Firmware Differences
This page lists some of the major functional differences between the various FPGA functions on the Cisco Nexus 3550-F Fusion (formerly ExaLINK Fusion) and Cisco Nexus 3550-F Fusion HPT (formerly ExaLINK Fusion HPT) products.
Cisco Nexus 3550-F Fusion
This table is based on Nexus 3550-F firmware version 1.9.0.
Feature |
Function mux |
Function switch |
Function switch-1g |
Function fastmux |
mux objects |
Unlimited * |
Unlimited |
Unlimited |
4 |
switch objects |
No |
Unlimited with switch license ** |
Unlimited with switch license ** |
No |
patch/tap objects |
Yes (<5ns) |
Yes (<5ns) |
Yes (<5ns) |
Yes (<5ns) |
mirror objects |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
10G port support |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
1G port support |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
No |
VLAN support |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Num upstream mux ports |
4 |
Unlimited |
Unlimited |
4 |
Num mirror objects with timestamping output |
4 |
4 |
0 |
Minimum cut-through latency (+/- ~3ns) |
92ns
(down-up, 10G-10G, no VLAN) |
86ns
(mux-object, 10G-10G, no VLAN) |
86ns
(mux-object, 10G-10G, no VLAN) |
39.00ns (+/- 0.25ns) |
102ns
(up-down layer2 mode, 10G-10G, no VLAN) |
95ns
(switch object, 10G-10G, no VLAN) |
95ns
(switch object, 10G-10G, no VLAN) |
Maximum cut-through latency (+/- ~3ns) |
92ns
(down-up, 10G-10G, no VLAN) |
120ns
(48 port mux object, 10G-10G, no VLAN) |
120ns
(48 port mux object, 10G-10G, no VLAN) |
55.50ns (+/-0.25ns) |
102ns
(up-down layer2 mode, 10G-10G, no VLAN) |
126ns
(48 port switch object, 10G-10G, no VLAN) |
126ns
(48 port switch object, 10G-10G, no VLAN) |
FPGA on-chip packet buffering |
>=1.2MByte |
>=1.5MByte |
>=0.75MByte |
>=64KByte |
Software sending messages through dataplane(e.g. LLDP, BGP, IGMP) |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
* There is a limitation of 4 upstream ports with mux firmware. Please refer to Mux objects for further details.
** A switch license is required to create switch objects. A switch license is included when ordering the Nexus 3550-F in the Switch SKU.
Cisco Nexus 3550-F Fusion HPT
This table is based on Nexus 3550-F HPT firmware version 1.12.0.
Feature |
Function hpt |
Function hpt-40g |
mux objects |
No |
No |
switch objects |
No |
No |
mirror objects |
1 |
1 |
patch/tap objects |
Yes (<5ns) |
Yes (<5ns) |
Max number of 1G input ports |
40 |
0 |
Max number of 10G input ports |
40 |
24 |
Max number of 40G input ports |
0 |
4* |
10G output ports |
1-8 (User selectable) |
1-8 (User selectable) |
Deep buffering |
32GByte DDR4 |
32GByte DDR4 |
Timestamp precision |
<100ps |
<100ps |
* 40G inputs only supported on QSFP Line Cards ports.