ORLANDO, Fla., TORONTO, and SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Cisco Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq:CSCO - News) today announced that Cogeco Cable selected the Cisco® ONS 15454 Multiservice Provisioning Platform (MSPP) ML-Series interface to more easily deploy new services on its network as the number of network devices and services grows. The ML-Series interface helps to enable Cogeco Cable to reduce the type and number of network elements required for Ethernet and Internet Protocol (IP) transport and to optimize its investment in transport bandwidth of Ethernet and IP traffic in its Ontario Division.

"We selected the ML-Series card because it will simplify our network by integrating IP, Ethernet, and Resilient Packet Ring features for multiple service delivery," noted Chris MacFarlane, vice president of IP Transport and Engineering, Cogeco Cable Canada Inc. "The cost savings, efficiency and service versatility for voice, video, and data traffic over one network provided an attractive solution."

Cogeco Cable sought a solution that could provide bandwidth per megabit unit when configured in a shared packet-ring configuration. In addition, Cogeco Cable wanted to provide quality of service (QoS) to its customers based on traffic types and service-level agreements (SLAs). Along with the ML-Series interface, Cogeco Cable is using the Cisco Transport Manager, the single integrated optical element management system for the entire Cisco COMET portfolio of optical networking products.

"The Cisco ONS 15454 ML-Series interface, the industry's highest-performance Ethernet and IP switching module, provides the next evolution of industry-leading multiservice platforms with next-generation SONET/SDH," said Jayshree Ullal, senior vice president and general manager, Optical Networking Group, Cisco Systems. "The Cisco ONS 15454 provides carriers with a single integrated platform for supporting true carrier-class metro-Ethernet and optical-transport services and applications."

The ML-Series interface integrates Layer 1, Layer 2 and Layer 3 switching in a Synchronous Optical Network/Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SONET/SDH) network and line-rate RPR. It interoperates with Cisco routers and switches to provide consistent end-to-end QoS through Cisco IOS® Software. Layer 2 and Layer 3 classification, policing and marking, and bandwidth-controlled queues are also featured. In addition, virtual local-area network (VLAN) Rapid Spanning Tree protocol is supported.

Cisco Systems Inc.