Table of Contents

Product Overview
Key Features and Benefits

Interconnecting Cisco IGX 8400 Switches

Specifications
Ordering Information

Cisco IGX 8400 Series — Multiservice WAN Switches

Product Overview

The Cisco IGX 8400 series of multiservice switches enable enterprise customers to support WAN data, voice and video applications. The Cisco IGX 8400 series includes IGX 8410 (8-slot), IGX 8420 (16-slot), and IGX 8430 (32-slot).

The Cisco IGX 8400 series supports a wide range of interfaces - including legacy data, voice, and Frame Relay, to ATM. Port interfaces range from 1.2 kbps to OC-3c/STM-1, and network or trunk interfaces range from T1/E1 to OC-3c/STM-1, providing an ideal fit for any environment.

The Cisco IGX 8400 series of multiservice switches provides advanced traffic management features and multiplexing techniques in order to deliver industry-leading levels of bandwidth utilization and efficiency. The voice compression, silence suppression, and fax relay capabilities of the IGX deliver additional bandwidth savings of up to 80-percent for voice traffic.

Originally designed for service providers, the Cisco IGX 8400 series offers carrier-class reliability, ensuring that vital business applications are always available. All Cisco IGX 8400 series common equipment can be configured redundantly for maximum platform reliability. New software releases can be remotely downloaded onto the redundant processor for background installation while traffic continues to run. The Cisco IGX 8400 series features an advanced distributed intelligence algorithm that enables the network to automatically route new connections and, if necessary, reroute traffic around failures in network facilities.

Key Features and Benefits

• IP+ATM Integration

• Multiservice Integration

  • Consolidates multiple WAN infrastructures

  • Supports all current and future applications, reducing network operation costs and increasing WAN bandwidth savings due to statistical multiplexing

• Bandwidth Efficiency

  • Maximizes efficiency of expensive WAN circuits for data, voice, and video traffic, thereby reducing recurring bandwidth costs

• Performance and QoS Guarantees

  • Delivers increased user satisfaction, high performance, and full control over network resources with per-virtual circuit (VC) queuing, per-VC rate scheduling, and multiple classes of service (CoS) to guarantee QoS levels for the individual applications Supports all applications, according to their specific requirements, using advanced traffic management and CoS features

• Flexible, Scalable Network Design

  • Offers multiple form factors and configurations for adapting to specific customer needs Integrates seamlessly with existing Cisco IGX 8400 series, Cisco BPX 8600 series, and MGX 8800 series networks

• End-to-End Integration

  • Extends WAN backbone to branch offices, providing high service levels regardless of location Provides value-added interworking between existing Cisco routers and LAN switches for seamless traffic flow between LAN/campus and WAN environments

  • Reduces operational efforts with integrated network management systems Offers one-stop shopping and a single Cisco of contact

ATM Services The Cisco IGX 8400 series provide standards-based ATM interfaces that offer broadband interconnect, such as for routers and ATM LANs, and offer narrowband interconnect to access devices. Cisco IGX 8400 also implements the ATM Forum`s ABR traffic management capabilities. In addition to CBR, VBR-RT, VBR-NRT, UBR, and ABR, Cisco IGX 8400 implements up to 16 refined CoS to ensure that traffic enters the network with its unique requirements. Cisco IGX 8400 also provides deep and dynamic buffers (holding up to 128,000 cells per ATM module) that accommodate traffic bursts without disruption to the application.

In addition, Cisco IGX 8400 implements Stratm ABR to manage the traffic so as to avoid congestion and to ensure fair and optimal use of bandwidth. This fully standards-based solution includes all ABR implementations, including EFCI (Explicit Forward Congestion Indication) marking, ER (Explicit Rate) marking, and VS/VD (Virtual Source/Virtual Destination). Note, many switches implement only EFCI or ER marking, both of which rely on end-user devices to resolve congestion. By using VS/VD, Cisco IGX 8400 breaks the feedback loop into segments, providing a congestion control firewall that insulates the network from misbehaved applications. It also allows for ABR service deployment utilizing existing non-ABR end equipment. The results of Cisco`s ABR implementation include no cell loss in the network, 50% lower delays, and 35% more goodput when compared to less sophisticated ATM implementations.

Access devices and the Cisco IGX 8400 backbone can be connected through a leased line or though a public Frame Relay or ATM WAN. Depending upon the Cisco IGX 8400 modules used to connect to the access device, different levels of interworking are feasible. Data applications can be based on Ethernet or Token Ring LANs, as wells as Frame Relay, ATM, and legacy protocols.

Frame Relay Services The Cisco IGX 8400 series provide standards-based Frame Relay interfaces to interconnect routers, SNA/SDLC networks, or any other Frame-based device. Cisco`s implementation of Frame Relay goes beyond the standards as the following key Cisco IGX 8400 Frame Relay service characteristics illustrate.

• Frame Relay uses Cisco`s patented ForeSight traffic management capabilities that are only known in ATM networks. Combined with Cisco IGX 8400`s deep and dynamic buffers, ForeSight offers unmatched performance for Frame Relay traffic. Moreover, Frame Relay interfaces can extend ForeSight traffic management capabilities to connected Cisco routers.

• Frame Relay uses virtual connections over the physical connections. Each of these virtual connections has its own set of parameters (e.g., Committed Information Rate, Committed Burst, and Excess Burst) that determine the amount of bandwidth.

• Frame Relay Link layer protocols forgo time-consuming error correction algorithms, leaving these to be performed at higher protocol layers. Greater performance and efficiency is therefore possible without sacrificing data integrity.

• Frame Relay includes a CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check) algorithm for detecting corrupted bits so bad data can be discarded.

• Cisco IGX 8400 supports dial-up Frame Relay, SNA networking, and frame forwarding. For locations that need ATM broadband speeds, the Cisco IGX 8400 offers Frame Relay to ATM service interworking.

• Because the IGX includes Enhanced Local Management Interface (ELMI), you only need to configure the Cisco IGX 8400 Frame Relay port; the Frame Relay parameters are automatically sent and set on the Cisco router ports. This capability enables the Cisco IGX 8400 switch and router to dynamically exchange traffic shaping information for various permanent virtual connections on the interface. Cisco routers can then dynamically configure their traffic shaping parameters, thereby reducing operational effort and eliminating potential errors that may be caused by a mismatch in the manual configuration of the router and WAN switches.

Frame Relay to ATM Service Interworking — The Cisco IGX 8400 supports a standards-based interworking that segments and maps variable length Frame Relay frames into ATM cells, enabling transparent connectivity between large ATM and small Frame Relay locations, independent of the wide-area access protocol.

Dial-up Frame Relay — The Cisco IGX 8400 switch enables remote sites to connect to Frame Relay networks on an as-needed basis using switched (dial-up) lines. Dial-up Frame relay provides a cost-effective remote access option enabling you to pay only for the bandwidth used.

Frame Forwarding — Cisco IGX 8400 Frame Relay modules enable efficient transport of frame-based protocols, such as SDLC, X.25, or any other HDLC-based protocol, over Frame Relay interfaces (ranging from 9.6 knps to 16 Mbps).

Examples of applications generating frame-based traffic:

• Mainframe or host connected via X.25 / HDLC SNA/SDLC links

• Routers interconnected via PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol) — Video CODECs that use a frame-based protocol

• With frame forwarding, all valid HDLC frames are forwarded (tunneled) from one Frame Relay port to another port without Frame Relay headers processing or LMI control. Frame forwarding takes full advantage of the efficiency provided by Cisco IGX 8400`s bandwidth management and low delay characteristics of cell switching.

• Expanded Frame Relay Port Capacity Cisco`s Port Concentrator Shelf (PCS) dramatically increases Frame Relay Cisco IGX 8400 series switch port capacity and speed up to 44 ports. For example, an IGX 8410 (8-slot) switch can now support up to 264 ports using the PCS. Using an IGX 8420 (16-slot) or IGX 8430 (32-slot) with the PCS expands Frame Relay port capacity to more than 1,200 physical ports on one node. This expansion of port density exponentially improves capacity while driving down per-port costs.

• Voice Services — The Cisco IGX 8400 series switch transports voice over ATM networks, optimizing performance and bandwidth efficiency. Functionality includes standards-based voice compression, silence suppression or Voice Activity Detection (VAD), echo cancellation, fax and modem detection, and voice switching. The Cisco IGX 8400 switch offers high-quality voice carried over digital interfaces using CAS (Channel Associated Signaling) or CCS (Common Channel Signaling).

• Voice Transport — The Cisco IGX 8400 switch offers efficient, high-quality voice connectivity to PBXs across the wide-area backbone. Using compression, VAD, and cell switching, the Cisco IGX 8400 switch can provide up to 240 active voice channels on a single T1/E1 line.

  • The Cisco IGX 8400 switch effectively manages the priority, delay, delay variation, and echo cancellation requirements that are essential for voice networks, thereby providing toll-quality voice across the ATM network. For international networks, the Cisco IGX 8400 switch supports A-law and mu-law encoding conversion.

  • To maximize the efficiency of available bandwidth, voice interfaces support a variety of alternatives to PCM encoding, such as the following standards-based compression algorithms that are selectable on a per-channel basis.

  • ADPCM (Adaptive Differential Pulse Code Modulation) 32 kbps G.721 32 channels per card

    24 kbps G.723 32 channels per card

    16 kbps G.726 32 channels per card

    16 kbps LD-CELP (Low Delay Code Excited Linear Predictive)

    G.728 16 channels per card

    CS-ACELP (Conjugate Structured - Algorithmic Code Excited Linear Predictive)

    8 kbps G.729 16 channels per card

    8 kbps G.729A 32 channels per card

  • Using voice compression, the Cisco IGX 8400 switch reduces the bandwidth consumed by voice connections by up tone-eighth. VAD further reduces bandwidth usage by transmitting cells onto the network only if voice is detected. This constant bit rate stream is then converted into a variable bit rate type of connection, resulting in an additional 2:1 compression over that already achieved by voice compression.

• Common Channel Signaling (CCS) and Channel Associated Signaling (CAS) Signaling

  Cisco IGX 8400 supports both methods of signaling between PBXs on both T1 and E1 interfaces: CCS and CAS.

  With CCS, one channel is used exclusively to transport private signaling protocol information, and the Cisco IGX 8400 treats the channel as a transparent channel and transmits the signaling information across the network for delivery to the remote circuit line. The signaling channel (D-channel) can optionally be compressed to further enhance bandwidth efficiency.

• CAS

  With CAS, up to four signaling bits are transported per voice channel using a separate channel in an E1 environment, or using robbed bits in a T1 environment. The Cisco IGX 8400 monitors the state of the signaling bits associated with each voice channel and can transparently deliver the signaling bits to the correct destination PBX. CAS signaling can be used in conjunction with VNS (Voice Network Switching) to dynamically set up connections across an ATM network.

• Echo cancellation — An echo canceller integrated on the Cisco IGX 8400 switch`s voice modules, eliminate the need for external racks, shelves, power supplies, or control units. Adjustments can be made remotely. Echo Cancellation features include:

  • Echo return loss enhancement is 30 dB.

  • Convergence time is approximately 50 ms.

  • All tail circuits have echo return loss of 0 dB and echo path delay up to 64 ms.

  • All parameters are configurable on a per-channel basis.

• High-speed fax and modem detection — The T1/E1 interface automatically detects incoming voice-band data and fax calls coming from a PBX. The Cisco IGX 8400 switch disables compression and echo cancellation on that channel and then adjusts its allocated bandwidth to ensure effective transport. You can upgrade the channel to 64 kbps for high-speed data and fax calls, or you can optionally use 32 kbps for low-speed reception. The Cisco IGX 8400 switch also supports the ability to demodulate a Group 3 fax and re-modulate it to a 9.6 kbps stream across the network, thereby reducing the bandwidth consumed by the data or fax call.

• Voice Network Switching (VNS) With VNS, an Cisco IGX 8400 switch receives signaling from all attached PBXs; it then interprets the signal and dynamically establishes voice or data connections between the source and destination PBXs. The network dynamically routes each call request on a per-call basis, and extends PBX features (e.g., transfer, caller ID, and camp-on) across the ATM WAN. The advantages are numerous: enhanced voice quality, higher degree of compression, reduced delay, improved bandwidth utilization, and diminished equipment costs.

  • VNS reduces the number of T1/E1 trunks and interface cards required to interconnect PBXs, and enables the replacement or re-deployment of existing tandem PBXs. Adding VNS to the ATM network also improves efficiency by enabling single-hop routing across the network and by eliminating multiple compression/decompression cycles. Each VNS can handle signaling from up to 30 PBXs (30 T1/E1). You can add additional VNS systems based on geographic, quantitative, and network load requirements. Your networks can span sizes as small as 4 Cisco IGX 8400 nodes with a single VNS system up to large-scale sizes of more than 200 nodes and multiple VNS systems.

• Circuit Data services

  The Cisco IGX 8400 series switch provides Circuit Data services for transport of asynchronous or synchronous circuit data or video, which is transparently carried through a fixed-delay, fixed-throughput, zero-discard, point-to-point data connection across the wide-area network. This capability enables you to transport both legacy and TDM traffic to smoothly integrate or migrate from existing networks to future ATM networks. Circuit Data features include:

• RPS (Repetitive Pattern Suppression)

  On synchronous and asynchronous connections (up to 128 kbps), enhances bandwidth efficiency by removing repetitive patterns from the bit stream and then reconstructing the bit stream at the receiving end. Applicable modules are LDM and HDM.

• Flexible clocking

  Provides for external or internal clocking on a port-by-port basis. Clocking circuitry measures the frequency of incoming clocks and adjusts the outgoing clock at the other end of the network. This feature is useful when connecting remote devices to an Cisco IGX 8400 network. Applicable modules are LDM and HDM.

• Monitor and control of data leads

  Enable you to view real-time control leads on any data port of any node from the network management station, providing configuration and problem resolution. Also enable you to configure Cisco IGX 8400 to use a change in lead on a circuit data interface at one end of a connection to condition the interface at the other end of the network. Applicable modules are LDM and HDM.

• Lead-triggered jobs

  Enable you to dynamically set up bandwidth-on-demand connections across the WAN. You can execute pre-defined scripts upon command, at a preset time, at a preset interval, or by failure or repair of a trunk or channelized port. These configurable jobs are ideal for establishing video connections and for disaster recovery applications.

• Super-rate data

  Provides up to 8 x 64 kbps connectivity between two end devices connecting to the network via a digital T1/E1 interface. The applicable modules are UVM and CVM.

• Sub-rate data

  Supports standard data rates (2.4 kbps, 4.8 kbps, 9.6 kbps) in which each circuit occupies one time slot of a digital T1/E1 interface on the CVM. The LDM and HDM modules provide serial ports.

  TDM Transport TDM Transport services transfer TDM data, voice, and video traffic, and provide for a seamless migration path for gradually move from existing TDM WAN equipment to an ATM-based multiservice WAN. This single transparent connection enables you to protect your investments in existing equipment, while installing the latest technology to support emerging applications. TDM Transport includes the following features.

  • Supports full T1/E1 data transport (emulates a T1/E1 leased line). A full T1/E1 (up to 2.048 Mbps) and fractions thereof are bundled. The firmware supports 8/8 coding on both circuit and trunk interfaces. DS0 alignment within frames is preserved.

  • Provides "inverse muxing" capability. For narrowband networks with Cisco IGX 8400 to automatically so that do not exceed T1/E1 rates, the firmware can route data bundles along different paths. It then recombines the data bundles at the network egress. This feature removes the necessity of costly trunk speed upgrades to T3/E3 when transporting a full T1/E1 from a TDM over an ATM backbone.

  • Network Connectivity — The Cisco IGX 8400 switch offers extensive flexibility with a variety of trunking options at varying data rates (narrowband to broadband). All Cisco IGX 8400 services are supported in a seamless network of interconnected Cisco IGX 8400s that can also intrusion with other Cisco WAN switching products, such as the Cisco BPX 8600 series, Cisco MGX 8220, and Cisco access devices.

Interconnecting Cisco IGX 8400 Switches

• Leased Line Trunking

  All Cisco IGX 8400 trunk modules are capable of interconnecting with other Cisco IGX 8400 switches through leased lines. The Cisco IGX 8400 switch`s advanced traffic management and queuing capabilities efficiently utilize leased-line bandwidth. Because connectivity speed ranges from 64 kbps up to 155 Mbps (OC-3/STM-1), leased lines are ideal for low-bandwidth networks that may need to migrate to higher speeds in the future. They provide full control over the QoS offered to service provider customers and to various enterprise applications.

• Public ATM Trunking

  Cisco provides virtual path (VP) trunks on a single physical network connection, while maintaining all of the networking features that enable high performance data, voice, and video transmission and while ensuring QoS and maximizing bandwidth efficiency. Virtual trunking utilizes the multi-stage queuing design of the ATM modules in both the Cisco IGX 8400 and Cisco BPX 8600 series switches. Each of the virtual trunks are capable of 16 CoS (Class of Service) queues, including all of the ATM CoS types.

  Building Hybrid Networks Cisco IGX 8400 networks can be constructed with all of the following types of trunks in a single network. All services are transparently carried across these trunks.

  Building Hybrid Networks Cisco IGX 8400 networks can be constructed with all of the following types of trunks in a single network. All services are transparently carried across these trunks.

  Building Hybrid Networks Cisco IGX 8400 networks can be constructed with all of the following types of trunks in a single network. All services are transparently carried across these trunks.

  Cisco IGX 8400 networks can comprise trunks at T3 (45 Mbps), E3 (34 Mbps), or OC-3/STM-1 (155 Mbps). The UXM provides both standards-based ATM UNI and NNI interfaces. One or more Cisco BPX 8600 series switches can be added to the core to increase your bandwidth. Because both the IGX 8400 and Cisco BPX 8600 series switches utilize the same Stratm ATM technology, seamless interworking is guaranteed.

• n x T1/E1

  You can expand your network with multiple T1/E1 trunks between locations using ATM inverse multiplexing.

• Narrowband

  Cisco IGX 8400 switches can interconnect via standards-based T1/E1 trunks. This means of connecting is the most common and cost-effective method of interconnecting IGX 8400 switches using leased lines.

• Sub-rate

  The IGX 8400 Network Trunk Module (NTM) supports trunking between switches at rates as low as 64 kbps, and the IGX 8400 switch can extend the cell switching capability to these lower data rates. The IGX 8400 switch minimizes cell delay at these rates by shortening the cell sizes. Cisco provides a full array of connectivity options for building a reliable backbone. The Cisco WAN Design Tools ease capacity engineering and network designing based on the most optimum connectivity options.

  Connecting IGX 8400 to Access Devices IGX 8400 switches connected to Cisco access devices provide multiservice integration across all devices connected to the WAN backbone. Flexible trunk options, such as ISDN, leased line, Frame Relay, and ATM, enable you to choose the most effective means of connecting to the network without degrading the QoS. You can interconnect the IGX 8400 backbone with any of the following access devices:

  Cisco MC3810 multiservice access concentrator extends the IGX 8400 switch`s voice, video, data capabilities to small branch offices or to customer premises equipment (CPE)

• Cisco 3600 routers offer data, voice, and video over an IGX 8400 backbone

  Cisco routers concentrate data traffic onto the IGX 8400 backbone

  Cisco MGX 8220 offers high port density aggregation of Frame Relay, ATM, and Circuit Data services onto the IGX 8400 backbone. Because the Cisco MGX 8220 implements the same intelligent QoS management suite of software, it represents a physical extension of IGX 8400 ports.

Specifications

• Distributed Intelligence

  Cisco developed a peer-to-peer software architecture that supports large, high performance cell relay networks. Within this architecture, every switch knows the current state and topology of the network. Each node maintains and updates this information as changes occur. The "intelligence" is distributed as nodes communicate with each other in real-time. As a result, each node has all the information it needs to make optimum decisions in terms of routing new connections or re-routing existing connections in case of failure. This distributed intelligence ensures that alarms and routing information are propagated in a timely manner and that bottlenecks do not hinder information from flowing. The result is a self-contained network that does not rely on the network management station to operate smoothly.

• Intelligent QoS Management Suite

  This software architecture includes four management features that guarantee that QoS requirements are met. Automatic Routing Management IGX 8400 performs the CAC (Connection Admission Control) function by automatically routing and re-routing connections over optimal paths based on source and destination ports, as well as user-defined QoS parameters.

  • Dynamic Buffer Management IGX 8400 dynamically assigns buffers to the individual virtual circuits based on the amount of traffic and the SLA (Service Level Agreement). This deep pool of available buffers readily accommodates large bursts of traffic into the node.

  • Advanced CoS (Class of Service) Management IGX 8400 uses sophisticated per-VC queuing and prioritizing algorithms to enhance the five standard ATM classes to up to 16 CoS so as to further refine connection types. Additionally, it automatically adjusts the cell admission rate depending on whether and where there is congestion on the network (as communicated by the ABR or ForeSight traffic management mechanism).

  • Optimized Bandwidth Management IGX 8400 ensures fair and cost-efficient bandwidth utilization using voice compression, VAD (Voice Activity Detection), RPS (Repetitive Pattern Suppression), ABR, and ForeSight. ABR is a standards-based ATM traffic management mechanism. ForeSight is Cisco`s leading-edge implementation that mirrors the ABR capabilities for Frame Relay traffic. Both optimize real-time traffic and throughput, and minimize data loss. Both continuously monitor trunk utilization and send information on this utilization in the direction of cell transfer using congestion indicators in each cell.

• Cisco WAN Manager Network Management

  Cisco`s WAN Manager (formerly StrataView Plus) network management provides network-wide topology, configuration, data collection, and security management, based on a scalable, robust client/server architecture that takes full advantage of the distributed network intelligence of the WAN network. StrataView Plus provides the following features:

  • Topology management via real-time topology displays

  • Connection management, such as GUI-based provisioning of end-to-end connections

  • Performance management, such as real-time statistics data collection and reporting

  • Element management, such as configuration and monitoring of network elements

  • Open interfaces to facilitate automated, flow-through, programmatic interactions with external systems

  CiscoView is a key component of StrataView Plus and is integrated into the network management software. Element management includes the following on a nodal basis:

  • Graphical front and back panel displays

  • Extensive equipment configuration capabilities

  • Real-time monitoring and troubleshooting features

  • Performance statistics collection

  • Integrated element management capabilities across layer 2 (ATM/Frame Relay) and layer 3 (IP) network elements

  The Cisco StrataView Plus network management is part of the Cisco Service Management (CSM) solution.

Ordering Information

Posted: Wed Sep 27 05:15:21 PDT 2000
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