The Cisco® Interface Flexibility (I-Flex) design combines shared port adapters (SPAs) and SPA interface processors (SIPs), taking advantage of an extensible design that facilitates service prioritization for voice, video, and data services. SPAs provide the physical interfaces for router connectivity ranging from copper, Channelized, Packet over SONET/SDH (PoS) and ATM. The Cisco ASR 9000 Series SIP provides the physical termination for the SPAs and accepts up to four half-height and two full-height Cisco SPAs. Customers can take advantage of improved slot economics resulting from modular port adapters that are interchangeable across Cisco routing platforms. The I-Flex design maximizes connectivity options and offers powerful service intelligence through programmable interface processors that deliver line-rate performance. I-Flex enhances speed-to-service revenue and provides a rich set of quality-of-service (QoS) features for premium service delivery while effectively reducing the overall cost of ownership. Figure 1 shows the Cisco ASR 9000 Series SIP.
Figure 1. Cisco ASR 9000 Series SPA Interface Processor
Modular port adapters and programmable interface processors, which are interchangeable across Cisco carrier routing platforms, help customers protect network investments and reduce total cost of ownership. The Cisco SPA/SIP portfolio offers a rich set of quality-of-service (QoS) features for premium service delivery.
Features and Benefits
The Cisco SPA/SIP portfolio offers many advantages, including:
• Industry's most modular, flexible, intelligent interface processors:
– Powerful flexibility provides mix-and-match interface types on the same interface processor for consistent services, independent of access technology.
– Pioneering programmable interface processors provide flexibility for the service diversity required in next-generation networks.
– The innovative design provides intelligent delivery of services without compromising on performance.
• Increased speed to service revenue:
– Interface breadth (copper, Channelized, PoS and ATM) on a modular interface processor allows service providers to more quickly roll out new services, helping ensure that all customers large and small receive consistent, secure, and guaranteed services.
– High-density Small Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP) interfaces are featured for high-port-count applications with reach flexibility. Future optical technology improvements can be adopted using existing SPAs.
Cisco offers a wide range of services programs to accelerate customer success. These innovative services programs are delivered through a unique combination of people, processes, tools, and partners, resulting in high levels of customer satisfaction. Cisco services help to protect your network investment, optimize network operations, and prepare the network for new applications to extend network intelligence and the power of your business. For more information about Cisco Services, refer to Cisco Technical Support Services or Cisco Advanced Services.
