Cisco Delivers New Gigabit-Tier Technology

News Wire Feed Light Reading 9/25/2014

DENVER -- Cisco announced new technology today that will help cable multiple system operators (MSOs) to leverage their existing broadband infrastructure investment and offer a Gigabit-service tier. As the FCC initiated the "Gigabit City Challenge" to have at least one Gigabit community in all 50 states by 2015, communities nationwide accelerated efforts to get the highest Internet speeds possible for online multitasking and "multiscreening" video content. Cisco, a market and technology leader in cable broadband, is helping to prove there are no technological barriers to satisfy bandwidth demand.

With the availability of Cisco's new 6 Gigabit Shared Port Adapter (6G SPA), a software upgrade of the 3G SPA line card for its flagship Cisco® uBR10012 Universal Broadband Router (uBR10K) Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS), cable MSOs can optimize embedded cable access equipment to offer a Gigabit-service tier and deliver multiscreen video and broadband services.

Highlights:

Cisco's new 6G SPA increases the number of downstream channels available for the uBR10K, from a total of 1,152 to 1,728, without needing any additional rack space.

Cisco begins trials of the 6G SPA capabilities with several major global MSO customers over the next few months.

Up to eight SPA line cards can be used per Cisco uBR10K CMTS. Each 6G SPA card can support up to 144 downstream licenses per card, for a total of 1,152 6G SPA downstream channels per chassis.

6G SPA can be installed in conjunction with the uBR10K's standard line cards, which themselves can support up to 576 downstream channels per chassis, and the combination of line cards and 6G SPA upgrade provides an impressive total of 1,728 downstream channels per uBR10K chassis.

Cisco offers MSOs a flexible per-port, pay-as-you-go licensing structure to meet their individual bandwidth growth.

Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO)