Router Hardware Management Guide for Cisco 8000 Series Routers

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NPU power optimization

Updated: July 1, 2026

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Describes the NPU power optimization feature, which lets an operator select a predefined power profile to reduce NPU power consumption based on network requirements.

NPU power optimization is a feature that lets you choose a predefined NPU power mode based on your network's individual requirements, and consequently reduces NPU power consumption.

Table 1. Feature history table

Feature Name

Release Information

Description

NPU Power Optimization

Release 25.4.1

Introduced in this release on: Fixed Systems (8010 [ASIC: A100])(select variants only*)

*This feature is supported on:

  • 8011-32Y8L2H2FH

  • 8011-12G12X4Y-A/D

NPU Power Optimization

Release 25.1.1

Introduced in this release on: Fixed Systems (8700 [ASIC: K100], 8010 [ASIC: A100])(select variants only*)

*This feature is supported on:

  • 8011-4G24Y4H-I

  • 8712-MOD-M

NPU Power Optimization

Release 24.4.1

Introduced in this release on: Fixed Systems (8200 [ASIC: P100], 8700 [ASIC: P100])(select variants only*); Modular Systems (8800 [LC ASIC: P100])(select variants only*)

*This feature is supported on:

  • 8212-48FH-M

  • 8711-32FH-M

  • 88-LC1-36EH

  • 88-LC1-12TH24FH-E

  • 88-LC1-52Y8H-EM

NPU Power Optimization

Release 7.3.15

This feature lets you choose a predefined NPU power mode based on your network's individual requirements, and consequently reducing NPU power consumption.

The hw-module npu-power-profile command is introduced for this feature.
Note
The Cisco 8010 Series Routers do not support this feature. For a list of supported features on the Cisco 8010 Series Routers, see Compatibility Matrix for Cisco 8010 Series Routers.

Cisco 8000 series routers use Cisco Silicon One series processors. Cisco Silicon One processors offer high performance, flexible, and power-efficient routing silicon in the market.

NPU power optimization feature helps to reduce NPU power consumption by running a processor in a predefined mode. There are three NPU power modes—high, medium, and low.

Based on your network traffic and power consumption requirements, you can choose to run the processor in any one of the these NPU power modes:

  • High: The router uses the maximum amount of power, resulting in the best possible performance.

  • Medium: The router power consumption and performance levels are both average.

  • Low: The router operates with optimal energy efficiency while providing a modest level of performance.

Note

We recommend that you work with your Cisco account representatives before implementing this feature in your network.

Configuration guidelines for NPU power optimization

These guidelines apply when you configure NPU power optimization feature:

NPU power mode configurations

  • On a Q200-based Cisco 8200 series chassis, you can configure an NPU power mode on the entire router.

  • On a Q200-based Cisco 8800 series chassis, you can configure an NPU power mode only on fabric cards and line cards.

Supported hardware and default modes

Supported Hardware

Default NPU Power Mode

Cisco 8200 32x400 GE 1RU fixed chassis (8201-32FH)

High

88-LC0-36FH without MACSec, based on Q200 Silicon Chip

Medium

88-LC0-36FH-M with MACSec, based on Q200 Silicon Chip

Medium

8808-FC0 Fabric Card, based on Q200 Silicon Chip

Low

8818-FC0 Fabric Card, based on Q200 Silicon Chip

Medium
Caution

We recommend that you use the default NPU power mode on your router.

Restrictions for NPU power mode

Support restrictions

  • The NPU power optimization is not supported on the Q100-based systems.

  • The NPU Power Profile mode is not supported on these Q200-based line cards:

Hardware and power profile modes restrictions

Hardware

Power Profile Mode

88-LC0-36FH-M

High

88-LC0-34H14FH

High

Configure NPU power mode

This task provides the procedures to configure and verify the NPU power mode on Cisco 8000 Series fixed and modular chassis.

Procedure

1.

Configure NPU power mode on a fixed chassis.

This example shows how to configure an NPU power mode on a fixed chassis:

Example:

Router(config)#hw-module npu-power-profile high
Router(config)#commit

Router(config)#reload
Note

Reload the chassis for the configurations changes to take effect.
2.

Use the show controllers npu driver command to verify the NPU power mode configuration. The NPU Power profile field defines the NPU power mode.

Example:

Router#show controllers npu driver location 0/RP0/CPU0
Mon Aug 24 23:29:34.302 UTC
==============================================
NPU Driver Information
==============================================
Driver Version: 1
SDK Version: 1.32.0.1
Functional role: Active,     Rack: 8203, Type: lcc, Node: 0
Driver ready      : Yes
NPU first started : Mon Aug 24 23:07:41 2020
Fabric Mode:
NPU Power profile: High
Driver Scope: Node
Respawn count     : 1
Availablity masks :
        card: 0x1,     asic: 0x1,    exp asic: 0x1
...
3.

Configure NPU power mode on a modular chassis.

This example shows how to configure an NPU power mode on a fabric card and a line card:

Example:

Router(config)#hw-module npu-power-profile card-type FC high
Router(config)#hw-module npu-power-profile card-type LC low location 0/1/cpu0
Router(config)#commit
Note

For the configurations to take effect, you must:

  • Reload a line card if the configuration is applied on the line card.

  • Reload a router if the configuration is applied on a fabric card.
4.

Verify the NPU power mode configuration on a modular chassis. Use the show controllers npu driver location command to verify the NPU power mode configuration. The NPU Power profile field defines the NPU power mode.

Example:

Router#show controllers npu driver location 0/1/CPU0

Functional role: Active,     Rack: 8808, Type: lcc, Node: 0/RP0/CPU0
Driver ready      : Yes
NPU first started : Mon Apr 12 09:57:27 2021
Fabric Mode: FABRIC/8FC
NPU Power profile: High
Driver Scope: Rack
Respawn count     : 1
Availablity masks :
        card: 0xba,     asic: 0xcfcc,    exp asic: 0xcfcc
Weight distribution:
        Unicast: 80,      Multicast: 20
+----------------------------------------------------------------+
| Process | Connection | Registration | Connection | DLL         |
| /Lib    | status     | status       | requests   | registration|
+----------------------------------------------------------------+
| FSDB    | Active     | Active       |           1|  n/a        |
| FGID    | Active     | Active       |           1|  n/a        |
| AEL     | n/a        | n/a          |         n/a|  Yes        |
| SM      | n/a        | n/a          |         n/a|  Yes        |
+----------------------------------------------------------------+

Asics :
HP - HotPlug event, PON - Power On reset
HR - Hard Reset,    WB  - Warm Boot
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Asic inst. | fap|HP|Slice|Asic|Admin|Oper | Asic state | Last |PON|HR |  FW  |
|  (R/S/A)   | id |  |state|type|state|state|            | init |(#)|(#)|  Rev |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 0/FC1/2    | 202| 1| UP  |s123| UP  | UP  |NRML        |PON   |  1|  0|0x0000|
| 0/FC1/3    | 203| 1| UP  |s123| UP  | UP  |NRML        |PON   |  1|  0|0x0000|
| 0/FC3/6    | 206| 1| UP  |s123| UP  | UP  |NRML        |PON   |  1|  0|0x0000|
| 0/FC3/7    | 207| 1| UP  |s123| UP  | UP  |NRML        |PON   |  1|  0|0x0000|
| 0/FC4/8    | 208| 1| UP  |s123| UP  | UP  |NRML        |PON   |  1|  0|0x0000|
| 0/FC4/9    | 209| 1| UP  |s123| UP  | UP  |NRML        |PON   |  1|  0|0x0000|
| 0/FC5/10   | 210| 1| UP  |s123| UP  | UP  |NRML        |PON   |  1|  0|0x0000|
| 0/FC5/11   | 211| 1| UP  |s123| UP  | UP  |NRML        |PON   |  1|  0|0x0000|
| 0/FC7/14   | 214| 1| UP  |s123| UP  | UP  |NRML        |PON   |  1|  0|0x0000|
| 0/FC7/15   | 215| 1| UP  |s123| UP  | UP  |NRML        |PON   |  1|  0|0x0000|
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

SI Info :
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|   Card  | Board      | SI Board | SI Param | Retimer SI    | Retimer SI    | Front Panel   |
|         | HW Version | Version  | Version  | Board Version | Param Version | PHY           |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|  FC1    |  0.22      |     1    |     6    |       NA      |       NA      |       NA      |
|  FC3    |  0.21      |     1    |     6    |       NA      |       NA      |       NA      |
|  FC4    |  0.21      |     1    |     6    |       NA      |       NA      |       NA      |
|  FC5    |  0.21      |     1    |     6    |       NA      |       NA      |       NA      |
|  FC7    |  0.21      |     1    |     6    |       NA      |       NA      |       NA      |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Functional role: Active,     Rack: 8808, Type: lcc, Node: 0/1/CPU0
Driver ready      : Yes
NPU first started : Mon Apr 12 09:58:10 2021
Fabric Mode: FABRIC/8FC
NPU Power profile: Low
Driver Scope: Node
Respawn count     : 1
Availablity masks :
        card: 0x1,     asic: 0x7,    exp asic: 0x7
Weight distribution:
        Unicast: 80,      Multicast: 20