Cisco NCS 1010 and NCS 1020 Datapath Configuration Guide, IOS XR Releases 26.x.x

License consumption use cases

Updated: June 19, 2026

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This section lists the scenarios in which advanced licenses are consumed for OLT and ILA cards in NCS 1010 systems, detailing how licensing varies based on feature activation.

In NCS 1010, advanced licenses are consumed based on the features configured.

For an OLT card, the number of advanced licenses consumed equals the number of essential licenses present when certain advanced features are enabled.
For an ILA card, only one advanced license is consumed regardless of the number of essential licenses present, when advanced features are enabled.

Examples of license consumption use cases:

License consumption when tone rate is configured for connection verification

When you configure tone rate for connection verification, license consumption is determined by the device type. These examples show how the license summary output changes when the tone rate configuration is present or removed.

This sample shows the configuration of tone rate for connection verification.

RP/0/RP0/CPU0:ios(config)#controller ots 0/0/0/3
RP/0/RP0/CPU0:ios(config-Ots)#tone-rate 25
RP/0/RP0/CPU0:ios(config-Ots)#tone-frequency 191.175  
RP/0/RP0/CPU0:ios(config-Ots)#tone-pattern abcd1234
RP/0/RP0/CPU0:ios(config-Ots)#commit

This sample displays the license summary output after configuring the tone rate. In addition to the essential licenses, there are the same number of advantage licenses consumed as essential licenses.

RP/0/RP0/CPU0:ios#show lic platform summary 
Thu Aug 28 14:16:21.188 IST
Collection: LAST: Thu Aug 28 2025 14:15:23 IST
            NEXT: Thu Aug 28 2025 14:16:23 IST
Reporting:  LAST: Thu Aug 28 2025 14:15:23 IST
            NEXT: Thu Aug 28 2025 14:16:23 IST
SIA Status: In Compliance
                                                                   Count
Feature/Area     Entitlement                                     Last Next
============ =================================================== ==== ====
FCM 1        NCS1010 - Essentials Tier - Optical Line Terminal R    3    0
FCM 1        NCS1010 - Essentials Subscription - Optical Line Te    3    0
FCM 1        NCS1010 - Advantage Tier - Optical Line Terminal RT    3    0
FCM 1        NCS1010 - Advantage Subscription - Optical Line Ter    3    0

This sample displays the license summary after the tone rate configuration is removed. Only essential licenses are consumed when the tone rate is removed.

RP/0/RP0/CPU0:ios#show lic plat sum
Thu Aug 28 15:00:41.565 IST
Collection: LAST: Thu Aug 28 2025 15:00:22 IST
            NEXT: Thu Aug 28 2025 15:01:22 IST
Reporting:  LAST: Thu Aug 28 2025 15:00:22 IST
            NEXT: Thu Aug 28 2025 15:01:22 IST
SIA Status: In Compliance
                                                                   Count
Feature/Area     Entitlement                                     Last Next
============ =================================================== ==== ====
FCM 1        NCS1010 - Essentials Tier - Optical Line Terminal R    3    0
FCM 1        NCS1010 - Essentials Subscription - Optical Line Te    3    0

License consumption for overlapping Nyquist channels

When Nyquist channels are configured for omnidirectional cross-connection, both an Essentials license and an Advantage license are consumed for every overlapping Nyquist channel, one of each per channel.

Sample configuring the overlapping Nyquist channel.

RP/0/RP0/CPU0:ios#config
RP/0/RP0/CPU0:ios(config)#hw-module location 0/0/NXR0 terminal-ampli grid-mode flex
RP/0/RP0/CPU0:ios(config-hwmod-olt-flexi)#channel-id 191 centre-freq 192.3625 width 50
RP/0/RP0/CPU0:ios(config-hwmod-olt-flexi)#channel-id 192 centre-freq 192.4125 width 55
RP/0/RP0/CPU0:ios(config-hwmod-olt-flexi)#channel-id 193 centre-freq 192.4625 width 50
RP/0/RP0/CPU0:ios(config-hwmod-olt-flexi)#commit

This sample displays the overlapping channels highlighted.

RP/0/RP0/CPU0:IOS#show hw-module location 0/0/nXR0 terminal-ampli
Thu Aug 21 17:42:52.551 IST

Legend:
NXC      - Channel not cross-connected
ACTIVE - Channel cross-connected to data port
ASE        - Channel filled with ASE
FAILED - Data channel failed, pending transition to ASE
PENDING_ACTIVATION - Data Channel pending transition to ACTIVE/FAIL

Location:             0/0/NXR0

Status:               Provisioned

ASE Total Power:      15.70 dBm

Flex Grid Info

Channel Number      Centre Frequency(THz)       Channel Width(GHz)    Channel Status    Overlapping Channels
1                   193.100000                  75.000                ACTIVE              - ,   -
2                   193.900000                  75.000                ACTIVE              - ,   -
3                   195.000000                  75.000                ACTIVE              - ,   -
4                   194.400000                  75.000                ACTIVE              - ,   -
5                   196.100000                  75.000                ACTIVE              - ,   -
6                   195.950000                  75.000                ACTIVE              - ,   -
7                   195.600000                  75.000                ACTIVE              - ,   -
8                   195.450000                  75.000                ACTIVE              - ,   -
191                 192.362500                  50.000                NXC                 - , 192
192                 192.412500                  55.000                NXC                191 , 193
193                 192.462500                  50.000                NXC                192 ,   -

This sample displays the license summary output after configuring the Nyquist channels. In addition to the essential licenses, an equal number of advantage licenses are consumed.

P/0/RP0/CPU0:ios#show lic platform summary                               
Thu Aug 21 17:45:11.120 IST
Collection: LAST: Thu Aug 21 2025 17:44:33 IST
            NEXT: Thu Aug 21 2025 17:45:33 IST
Reporting:  LAST: Thu Aug 21 2025 17:44:33 IST
            NEXT: Thu Aug 21 2025 17:45:33 IST
**********************************IMPORTANT************************************
SIA Status: Out of Compliance(Remaining Grace Period: 87 days, 23 hours)
            Number of SIA license(s) used is more than available. 
            SW Upgrade will still be allowed as Grace Period is remaining
*******************************************************************************
                                                                   Count
Feature/Area     Entitlement                                     Last Next
============ =================================================== ==== ====
FCM 1        NCS1010 - Essentials Tier - Optical Line Terminal R    8    0
FCM 1        NCS1010 - Essentials Subscription - Optical Line Te    8    0
FCM 1        NCS1010 - Advantage Tier - Optical Line Terminal RT    8    0
FCM 1        NCS1010 - Advantage Subscription - Optical Line Ter    8    0
FCM 1        Essentials Subscription - CCMD - SIA                   1    0
FCM 1        Essential Tier- CCMD RTU                               1    0

License consumption for OTDR scan data

When an OTDR scan status changes to Data Ready, the system determines license consumption based on device type. For each completed scan, the same number of Advantage licenses are consumed as Essential licenses.

This output shows a typical result when OTDR scan data status indicates “Data Ready".

RP/0/RP0/CPU0:P2B_DT_02_PTP0#show controllers ots 0/0/0/0 otdr-info tx 
Tue Aug 26 16:06:56.896 IST
        Scan Direction: TX
        Scan Status: Data Ready
        Total Measured Loss: 0.000000 dB
        Total Measured Length: 9.640000 m
        Optical Return Loss: 23.0 dB
        SOR file: /harddisk:/otdr/P2B_DT_02_PTP0_OTDR_Ots0_0_0_0_TX_20250826-160640.sor
        Total Events detected: 2
        Scan Timestamp: Tue Aug 26 16:06:40 2025 UTC
        Event Type Legend:  NR:Non-Reflective  R:Reflective  FE:Fiber-End  ER:Excess-Reflection EA:Excess-Attenuation

        Event#      |  Detected Event(s)       |  Location(m)     |  Accuracy(m)     |  Magnitude(dB)   |  Attenuation/km(dB)
        1           |  R FE                    |  9.6400          |  2.00            |  -25.81          |  0.00            

        2           |  NR FE                   |  9.6400          |  2.00            |  0.00            |  0.00

This output displays the license summary. The summary shows the consumption for Essentials and Advantage licenses.

 RP/0/RP0/CPU0:P2B_DT_02_PTP0#show lic platform sum
Tue Aug 26 16:11:14.273 IST
Collection: LAST: Tue Aug 26 2025 16:10:43 IST
            NEXT: Tue Aug 26 2025 16:11:43 IST
Reporting:  LAST: Tue Aug 26 2025 16:10:43 IST
            NEXT: Tue Aug 26 2025 16:11:43 IST
SIA Status: In Compliance
                                                                   Count
Feature/Area     Entitlement                                     Last Next
============ =================================================== ==== ====
FCM 1        NCS1010 - Essentials Tier - Optical Line Terminal R    3    0
FCM 1        NCS1010 - Essentials Subscription - Optical Line Te    3    0
FCM 1        NCS1010 - Advantage Tier - Optical Line Terminal RT    3    0
FCM 1        NCS1010 - Advantage Subscription - Optical Line Ter    3    0

These are sample outputs where the OTDR scan is stopped.

RP/0/RP0/CPU0:ios#otdr-stop controller ots 0/0/0/0 tx 
Thu Aug 28 14:05:44.405 IST
OTS OTDR Scan Stopped at TX
RP/0/RP0/CPU0:ios#RP/0/RP0/CPU0:Aug 28 14:05:45.218 IST: osa_driver[271]: %PLATFORM-OSA-6-OTDR_SCAN_STATUS_INFO : OTDR scan status changed: Ots0/0/0/0 direction: TX status: Otdr Scan Stopped scan mode: Auto

P/0/RP0/CPU0:ios#show controller ots 0/0/0/0 otdr-info tx
Thu Aug 28 14:08:09.117 IST
        Scan Direction: TX
        Scan Status: Stopped 
        Total Measured Loss: 0.000000 dB
        Total Measured Length: 9.640000 m
        Optical Return Loss: 23.0 dB
        SOR file: /harddisk:/otdr/P2B_DT_02_PTP0_OTDR_Ots0_0_0_0_TX_20250826-160640.sor
        Total Events detected: 2
        Scan Timestamp: Tue Aug 26 16:06:40 2025 UTC
        Event Type Legend:  NR:Non-Reflective  R:Reflective  FE:Fiber-End  ER:Excess-Reflection EA:Excess-Attenuation

        Event# |  Detected Event(s)  |  Location(m)     |  Accuracy(m)     |  Magnitude(dB)   |  Attenuation/km(dB)
        1      |  R FE               |  9.6400          |  2.00            |  -25.81          |  0.00            

        2      |  NR FE              |  9.6400          |  2.00            |  0.00            |  0.00

This output displays the license summary. Only Essentials licenses are consumed, as shown in the summary.

 RP/0/RP0/CPU0:ios#show lic plat sum
Thu Aug 28 14:08:28.524 IST
Collection: LAST: Thu Aug 28 2025 14:08:22 IST
            NEXT: Thu Aug 28 2025 14:09:22 IST
Reporting:  LAST: Thu Aug 28 2025 14:08:22 IST
            NEXT: Thu Aug 28 2025 14:09:22 IST
SIA Status: In Compliance
                                                                   Count
Feature/Area     Entitlement                                     Last Next
============ =================================================== ==== ====
FCM 1        NCS1010 - Essentials Tier - Optical Line Terminal R    3    0
FCM 1        NCS1010 - Essentials Subscription - Optical Line Te    3    0

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