Cisco Systems introduced a scaled-down version of its CRS-1 Carrier Routing System with only four slots, with each slot capable of switching up to 40 Gbps.
The four-slot CRS-1 is aimed at cable operators for “super” and large headends, as well as for regional points of presence (POPs), and data center peering sites.
Operators can combine the CRS-1 for core routing, connecting to a Cisco 7600 at the edge, which in turn would connect with cable modem termination systems (CMTSs).
And if the headend is from Cisco’s Scientific Atlanta unit, and the cable modem termination systems (CMTSs) are Cisco’s, then that’s all the better, from Cisco’s point-of-view.
The four-slot model enables providers to deploy CRS-1s more broadly and at a lower entry cost, allowing rapid deployment and continued expansion of IPTV, digital video and other advanced business and residential IP services.
By 2010, service providers are expected to deliver at least 25 Mbps per home, and as much as four times that. Each home could consume as much as a terabyte of data a month. “Twenty homes may consume as much as the entire Internet backbone circa 1995,” said Mark Milinkovich, Cisco’s director of service provider solutions marketing.
Adding the four-slot CRS-1 model can helps service providers, including cable operators, begin to prepare for that level of traffic, starting with a modestly-sized unit (compared to previous eight- and 16-slot models) that can be expanded as need arises.
Cisco said Sprint has been evaluating the CRS-1 since 2004 and will deploy it beginning in CYQ4 2006. The new four-slot chassis will enable Sprint to deploy 40 Gbps routing more broadly and at a lower cost.