Q. What is the Cisco Multimode Symmetric High-Bit-Rate DSL High-Speed WAN Interface Card?
A. This Enhanced high-speed WAN interface card (EHWIC) is a single-port, 4-pair WAN interface card offering G.SHDSL-based WAN connectivity using the 802.3ah Ethernet in the First Mile (EFM)-compliant extended-rate SHDSL EFM (2BASE-TL) technology and ATM mode for modular routers deployed in small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and enterprise branch offices. The symmetric DSL, G.SHDSL is an accepted worldwide technology standard based on ITU recommendation G.991.2. The G.SHDSL Enhanced (EHWIC) is designed to transport rate-adaptive symmetrical data across a single copper pair and EFM bonding with Annexes A, B, F, and G up to 4 x 5.696 Mbps. Please note that EHWIC-4SHDSL-EA is double wide EHWIC module. Please refer to http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/routers/access/interfaces/ic/hardware/installation/guide/oview_ic.html to get an overview of Cisco Interface Cards for Cisco Access Routers.
Q. What is the Cisco 888EA Integrated Services Router?
A. This Cisco Integrated Services Routers Generation 2 (ISR G2) fixed platform has an Multimode G.SHDSL port, 4 pair with EFM and ATM mode with the same G.SHDSL feature parity as the Cisco Multimode Symmetric High-Bit-Rate DSL High-Speed WAN Interface Card for the ISR G2 modular platforms.
A. EFM bonding based on IEEE 802.3ah is the method for bonding multiple DSL pairs for Ethernet transport to achieve higher data rates.
Q. What annexes do the EHWIC cards (EHWIC-4SHDSL-EA) and Cisco 880 Series Data Routers (C888EA-K9) support?
A. The G.991.2 standard has the following annexes:
• Annex A: This annex describes those specifications that are unique to SHDSL systems operating under conditions such as those typically encountered within the North American network. The clauses in this annex provide the additions and modifications to the corresponding clauses in the main body.
• Annex B: This annex describes those specifications that are unique to SHDSL systems operating under conditions such as those typically encountered within European networks. The clauses in this annex provide the additions and modifications to the corresponding clauses in the main body.
• Annex F: The clauses in this annex provide the additions and modifications to the corresponding clauses in the main body and Annex A for payload data rates up to 5696 kbps.
• Annex G: The clauses in this annex provide the additions and modifications to the corresponding clauses in the main body and Annex B for payload data rates up to 5696 kbps.
Q. What are the feature differences between the Cisco One-Port 4-Pair EFM HWIC-4SHDSL, Cisco One-Port 4-Pair ATM HWIC-4SHDSL, and Cisco Multimode One-Port 4-Pair EFM and ATM EHWIC-4SHDSL (HWIC-4-SHDSL-E, HWIC-4SHDSL, and EHWIC-4SHDSL-EA, respectively)?
A. Tables 1 and 2 list the differences.
Table 1. Differences Between G.SHDSL EFM/ATM and Multimode G.SHDSL WAN Interface Cards
Features
One-Port 4-Pair EFM HWIC-4SHDSL
One-Port 4-Pair ATM HWIC-4SHDSL
One-Port Multimode 4 Pair EHWIC-4SHDSL
Packet Transfer Mode (PTM)
Yes
No
Yes
ATM
No
Yes
Yes
EFM
Yes
No
Yes
Inverse Multiplexing over ATM (IMA)
No
Yes
Yes
Annexes A and B
Yes
Yes
Yes
Annexes F and G
Yes
Yes
Yes
M-pair bonding with Annexes F and G
No
Yes
Yes
EFM bonding
Yes
No
Yes
Connector
RJ-45
RJ-45
RJ-45
Dying Gasp
Yes
No
Yes
Wetting current
Yes
Yes
Yes
Line coding
16-TCPAM and 32-TCPAM
16-TCPAM and 32-TCPAM
16-TCPAM and 32-TCPAM-64
Rate adaptive
Yes
Yes
Yes
Auto-detection of pairs
No
Yes
Yes (Not supported in IMA mode)
Auto-detection with IMA (Annexes F & G)
No
No
Yes
Table 2. Differences Between G.SHDSL WAN Port in the Fixed Platforms
Features
Cisco 888E
Cisco 888
Cisco 888EA
PTM
Yes
No
Yes
Number of pairs
4
2
4
ATM
No
Yes
Yes
EFM
Yes
No
Yes
IMA
No
No
Yes
Annexes A and B
Yes
Yes
Yes
Annexes F and G
Yes
Yes
Yes
M-pair bonding with Annexes F and G
No
No
Yes
EFM bonding
Yes
No
Yes
Connector
RJ-45
RJ-11
RJ-45
Dying Gasp
Yes
No
Yes
Wetting current
Yes
Yes
Yes
Line coding
16-TCPAM and 32-TCPAM
16-TCPAM and 32-TCPAM
16-TCPAM and 32-TCPAM-64
Rate adaptive
Yes
Yes
Yes
Auto-detection of pairs
No
No
Yes
Auto-detection with IMA (Annex F and G)
No
No
Yes
Q. What are the key features of the Multimode G.SHDSL EFM and ATM port. (EHWIC-4SHDSL-EA and C888EA-K9, respectively)?
A. A summary of the features follows:
Feature Summary
• Offer standards compliance based on ITU-T Recommendation G.991.2
• Support G.SHDSL Annex A (U.S. signaling) and Annex B (European signaling)
• Support Annexes F and G
• Offer symmetrical WAN speeds up to 1 x 2304 kbps over a single copper pair, up to 2 x 2304 kbps over two copper pairs, up to 3 x 2304 kbps over three copper pairs, and up to 4 x 2304 kbps over four copper pairs using ITU-T G.992.1 Annexes A and B
• Offer symmetrical WAN speeds up to 1 x 5696 kbps over a single copper pair, up to 2 x 5696 kbps over two copper pairs, up to 3 x 5696 kbps over three copper pairs, and up to 4 x 5696 kbps over four copper pairs using ITU-T G.992.1 Annexes F and G
• Support EFM bonding: Up to four SHDSL pairs bonding are supported
• Symmetrical WAN speeds of 2.304 Mbps per pair up to 9.2 Mbps over four pairs on the 4-pair G.SHDSL WAN interface card by bonding with IMA
• M-pair bonding on the 4-pair G.SHDSL WAN interface card using Annexes F and G with symmetrical WAN
• Support Dying Gasp
• Support point-to-point configuration
• Support 802.1Q, QinQ, trunk, and VLAN tagging
• Support IP quality-of-service (QoS) features, 802.1P, and differentiated services code point (DSCP)
• Support 64- and 65-octet encapsulation
• Support 802.1ag Draft 8.1 Connectivity Fault Management (CFM)
• Support EFM (IEEE 802.3ah) operations, administration, and maintenance (OAM)
• Support Ethernet Link Management Interface (LMI)
• Support Ethernet OAM features:
– Discovery
– Remote failure indication
– Link monitoring
– Remote loopback (intrusive loopback)
• Support Bidirectional Forwarding Detection (BFD)
• Support maximum-transmission-unit (MTU) size of 1940 bytes
• Support Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) over Ethernet over Dot1q (PPPoEoDot1q)
• Offer ability to configure multiple G.SHDSL EFM HWICs per Cisco 1921, 1941, 2900, 3900, and 3900E
• Provide single RJ-45 connector
Q. What is the Multimode G.SHDSL chipset?
A. The G.SHDSL chipset is based on the Socrates-4e chipset from Lantiq.
Q. What type of lightening surge protection is supported?
A. The card is designed and tested to meet GR-1089 lightening surge type 1/3.
Q. Do the Multimode G.SHDSL EHWICs and G.SHDSL fixed ISR G2 router (C888EA-K9) work in central-office mode (back-to-back connection without a DSLAM)?
A. Not in Cisco IOS Software Release 15.2(2)T. It will be supported in the later releases.
Q. What Ethernet-over-Coaxial (EoC) messages are supported?
A. The Multimode G.SHDSL EFM and ATM mode comply with ITU-T specification G.991.2 to provide proper responses to DSLAM EoC requests.
Q. Is the firmware upgradable independently of Cisco IOS Software?
A. Yes. Please rename the firmware file to "shdsl_ea_fw.bin", put it in the flash memory, and reload the router. When the Cisco IOS Software image comes up, it will check if "shdsl_ea_fw.bin" is present in the flash memory. If present, this firmware will be loaded to the chipset; otherwise the firmware embedded in the Cisco IOS Software will be used.
Q. What is the mean time between failure (MTBF) for this HWIC?
A. MTBF for the Multimode G.SHDSL EFM and ATM mode (EHWIC-4SHDSL-EA) is 2,000,000 hours; for the Multimode G.SHDSL WAN port in the fixed platform (C888EA-K9), it is 200,000 hours; and for only the WAN card on this router, it is 1 million hours.
Q. What MIBs are supported?
A. The following MIBs are supported:
• Entity MIB
• Chassis MIB
• Interface MIB
• HDSL2-SHDSL-LINE-MIB (per the latest RFC 4319)
Q. Are new commands available to configure the G.SHDSL HWICs?
