Cisco ASR 9900 Series Route Processor RP3-X

The Cisco^® ASR 9900 Route Processor 3-X (ASR 9900 RP3-X) is the latest generation system processor for the Cisco ASR 9912 Router and ASR 9922 Router, supporting high-density 100 and 400 Gigabit Ethernet line cards and provides backward compatibility with the Cisco ASR 9000 Series third and fourth generation family of line cards. The Cisco ASR 9900 RP3-X system architecture is designed to accommodate new programmable deployment models and convergence of Layer 2 and Layer 3 services, as required by today’s wireline, Data-Center-Interconnect (DCI), mobile transport and 5G applications.

The ASR 9900 RP3-X brings the time-tested and robust carrier-class capabilities of Cisco IOS^® XR Software to the Carrier Ethernet edge. The operating system supports true software process modularity, and it allows each process to run in separate protected memory, including each routing protocol, along with multiple instances of control, data, and management planes supported. The software also supports distributed route processing.

Cisco ASR 9900 Route Processor RP3-X – SE, Premium

Cisco ASR 9900 Route Processor RP3-X – TR, Premium

The Cisco ASR 9900 RP3-X is designed to deliver the high scalability, performance, and fast convergence required for today’s and tomorrow’s demanding video, cloud, and mobile services. These features provide exceptional scale, service flexibility, and high availability:

●      Switch fabric architecture along with Cisco ASR 9900 Fabric Cards:

◦    Distributed switch fabric architecture

◦    Control of up to seven Cisco ASR 9900 Switch Fabric Cards to provide scalability and high availability on Cisco ASR 9922 Router and ASR 9912 Router chassis

◦    Multistage low-latency nonblocking architecture

◦    Service intelligence and traffic prioritization

●      Superior network timing capabilities with support for:

◦    Global Positioning System (GPS) via Time of Day (ToD), 10-MHz and 1-PPS interfaces

◦    Building Integrated Timing Supply (BITS) interfaces

◦    Precision Time Protocol (PTP), or IEEE 1588-2008, through dedicated 10/1-Gbps Optical port

◦    G.8273.2 Boundary Clock Class C

Route-Processor types

The Cisco ASR 9900 Route Processor is available in service-edge-optimized and packet-transport-optimized models. The service-edge-optimized version offers higher amount of memory that is essential for large-scale comprehensive service deployment. Both versions of the route processor support service-optimized, as well as transport-optimized, line cards. Different line cards can be mixed on the same chassis for greater flexibility.

Features and benefits of the ASR 9900 RP3-X are listed in Table 1.

Table 1.        Features and Benefits of ASR 9900 RP3-X in XR 7.6.2 or Later

Table 2 lists all the hardware available for the ASR 9900 RP3-X.

Table 2.        ASR 9900 RP3-X Hardware

Table 3 lists the technical specifications for the ASR 9900 RP3.

Table 3.        Technical Specifications for ASR 9900 RP3-X Hardware

Software

The Cisco ASR 9000 Series Aggregation Services Router delivers superior scale, service flexibility, and high availability into access and aggregation networks. It is powered by Cisco IOS XR Software, an innovative self-healing, distributed operating system designed for always-on operation. Cisco IOS XR Software supports a Software-Maintenance-Update (SMU) capability, which allows bug fixing or even small feature releasing without interrupting existing services. It also supports Field-Programmable Device (FPD) upgrades, which can be used to update Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and more, while systems are running.

Cisco ASR 9000 Series Carrier Ethernet applications include business services such as Layer 2 VPN (L2VPN) and Layer 3 VPN (L3VPN), Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), Content-Delivery Networks (CDNs), and mobile backhaul transport networks. Features supported include Ethernet Services; L2VPN; IPv4, IPv6, and L3VPN; Layer 2 and Layer 3 Multicast; IP over Dense Wavelength-Division Multiplexing (IPoDWDM); SyncE; PTP, Ethernet Operations, Administration, and Management (EOAM) and Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) Operations, Administration, and Management (OAM); Layer 2 and Layer 3 Access Control Lists (ACLs); Hierarchical Quality of Service (H-QoS); Segment Routing (SR), Segment Routing v6 (SRv6), RSVP- and SR-Traffic Engineering; TI-LFA and RSVP-based FRR; EVPN; Multichassis Link Aggregation (MC-LAG); Integrated Routing and Bridging (IRB); Cisco Nonstop Forwarding (NSF) and Nonstop Routing (NSR); Point-to-Multipoint Traffic Engineering (P2MP-TE); and mLDP; Lawful Intercept; Smart Call Home (SCH).

The Cisco ASR 9000 Series Multiservice Edge (MSE) and Ethernet MSE (E-MSE) capabilities allow enterprises to offer powerful business VPN services with strong Service-Level Agreement (SLA) enforcement. Such services typically require simultaneous scale increases across multiple dimensions, for example, the number of Virtual Route Forwarding (VRF) interfaces, IPv4 and IPv6 route scaling, Bidirectional Forwarding Detection (BFD) sessions, and instances of Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) Cisco NSR interfaces. A Cisco ASR 9900 system configuration requiring high multiple-dimensional scale requires the Service-Edge (SE) optimized route processor model to support the increased system scale.

Timing synchronization is an integral part of traditional circuit-based networks, so the availability of equivalent functions in next-generation Ethernet-based architectures has quickly become a critical requirement. The Cisco ASR 9900 chassis have GPS, and BITS connections on the route processor, along with SyncE and PTP support natively on the line cards, which gives mobile providers ample options for time and frequency synchronization. Additionally, the Cisco ASR 9900 Route Processor supplies centralized clocking functions throughout the system, providing consolidated timing distribution and recovery to and from the line cards.

Product specifications

Table 4 provides details about the ASR 9900 RP3-X, which supports the Cisco ASR 9912 and Cisco ASR 9922 chassis, therefore providing common sparing. Both Cisco ASR 9922 and ASR 9912 systems are designed to the same high standards of performance and reliability. They feature the same power and thermal innovations, and they can share route processors, line cards, Power Entry Modules (PEMs), and power supplies, for greater flexibility in your network planning.

Table 4.        Product Specifications in XR 7.6.2 or Later

Cisco Services for Cisco ASR 9000 Series Route processors

Through a lifecycle services approach, Cisco delivers comprehensive support to service providers to help them successfully deploy, operate, and optimize their Cisco Prime^™ Evolved Programmable Networks. Cisco Services for Cisco ASR 9000 Series Aggregation Services Routers provide the services and proven methodologies that help assure service deployment with substantial return on investment, operational excellence, optimal performance, and high availability. These services are delivered using leading practices, tools, processes, and lab environments developed specifically for Cisco ASR 9000 Series deployments and post implementation support. The Cisco Services team addresses your specific requirements, mitigates risk to existing revenue-generating services, and helps accelerate time to market for new network services.

For more information about Cisco Services, contact your local Cisco account representative or visit: https://www.cisco.com/go/spservices.

Ordering information

Table 5 provides ordering information for the Cisco ASR 9900 Route Processor 3.

Table 5.        Ordering Information

To place an order, visit Cisco Ordering Homepage and refer to Table 5.

Product sustainability

Information about Cisco’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives and performance is provided in Cisco’s CSR and sustainability reporting.

Table 6.        Product sustainability

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For more information

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/routers/asr-9000-series-aggregation-services-routers/index.html.

Document history

Table 7.        Document history