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Cisco IOS software provides a range of wide-area networking capabilities to fit almost every network environment need. Cisco offers cell relay via the Switched Multimegabit Data Service (SMDS), circuit switching via ISDN, packet switching via Frame Relay, and the benefits of both circuit and packet switching via ATM. LAN emulation (LANE) provides connectivity between ATM and other LAN types. Refer to the Cisco IOS Dial Services Configuration Guide: Network Services for further information on configuring ISDN. Refer to the Cisco IOS Switching Services Configuration Guide for information on configuring LANE.
The Cisco IOS Wide-Area Networking Configuration Guide presents a set of general guidelines for configuring the following software components:
This overview chapter gives a high-level description of each technology. For specific configuration information, see the appropriate chapter in this document.
This document includes the following chapters:
The following sections provide an overview of ATM and how Cisco supports ATM:
ATM is a cell-switching and multiplexing technology designed to combine the benefits of circuit switching (constant transmission delay and guaranteed capacity) with those of packet switching (flexibility and efficiency for intermittent traffic).
ATM is a connection-oriented environment. All traffic to or from an ATM network is prefaced with a VPI and VCI. A VPI-VCI pair is considered a single virtual circuit. Each virtual circuit is a private connection to another node on the ATM network. Each virtual circuit is treated as a point-to-point mechanism to another router or host and is capable of supporting bidirectional traffic.
Each ATM node is required to establish a separate connection to every other node in the ATM network that it needs to communicate with. All such connections are established by means of a PVC or a switched virtual circuit (SVC) with an ATM signalling mechanism. This signalling is based on the ATM Forum User-Network Interface (UNI) Specification V3.0.
Each virtual circuit is considered a complete and separate link to a destination node. Users can encapsulate data as needed across the connection. The ATM network disregards the contents of the data. The only requirement is that data be sent to the ATM processor card of the router in a manner that follows the specific ATM adaptation layer (AAL) format.
An ATM connection is simply used to transfer raw bits of information to a destination router or host. The ATM router takes the common part convergence sublayer (CPCS) frame, carves it up into 53-byte cells, and sends these cells to the destination router or host for reassembly. In AAL5 format, 48 bytes of each cell are used for the CPCS data; the remaining 5 bytes are used for cell routing. The 5-byte cell header contains the destination VPI-VCI pair, payload type, cell loss priority (CLP), and header error control (HEC).
The ATM network is considered a LAN with high bandwidth availability. Each end node in the ATM network is a host on a specific subnet. All end nodes needing to communicate with one another must be within the same subnet in the network.
Unlike a LAN, which is connectionless, ATM requires certain features to provide a LAN environment to the users. One such feature is broadcast capability. Protocols wishing to broadcast packets to all stations in a subnet must be allowed to do so with a single call to Layer 2. To support broadcasting, the router allows the user to specify particular virtual circuits as broadcast virtual circuits. When the protocol passes a packet with a broadcast address to the drivers, the packet is duplicated and sent to each virtual circuit marked as a broadcast virtual circuit. This method is known as pseudobroadcasting.
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Note Effective with Cisco IOS Release 11.0, point-to-multipoint signalling allows pseudobroadcasting to be eliminated. On routers with point-to-multipoint signalling, the router can set up calls between itself and multiple destinations; drivers no longer need to duplicate broadcast packets. A single packet can be sent to the ATM switch, which replicates it to multiple ATM hosts. |
Cisco provides ATM access in the following ways, depending on the hardware available in the router:
On the Cisco 7500 series routers, network interfaces reside on modular interface processors, which provide a direct connection between the high-speed Cisco Extended Bus (CxBus) and the external networks. Each AIP provides a single ATM network interface; the maximum number of AIPs that the Cisco 7500 series supports depends on the bandwidth configured. The total bandwidth through all the AIPs in the system should be limited to 200 Mbps full-duplex (two Transparent Asynchronous Transmitter/Receiver Interfaces (TAXIs), or one SONET and one E3, or one SONET and one lightly used SONET, five E3s, or four T3s). For a complete description of the Cisco 7500 series routers and AIP, refer to the Hardware Installation and Maintenance publication for your specific router.
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Note Beginning in Cisco IOS Release 11.3, all commands supported on the Cisco 7500 series routers are also supported on Cisco 7000 series routers equipped with RSP7000. |
The 1-port ATM-25 network module is available on the Cisco 2600 series and Cisco 3600 series routers. For complete information about installing this network module, refer to "Connecting ATM Network Modules to a Network" at http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/accesshttp://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/access.
The ATM OC-3 network module is available on the Cisco 3600 series routers. For complete information about installing this network module, refer to "Connecting ATM Network Modules to a Network" at http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/accesshttp://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/access.
The multiport T1/E1 ATM network modules with inverse multiplexing over ATM are available on the Cisco 2600 series and Cisco 3600 series routers. For complete information about installing this network module, refer to "Connecting T1/E1 IMA Network Modules to a Network" at http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/access/acs_mod/cis2600/net_mod2/ conntima.htm.
In routers that do not support the hardware described in the sections above, a serial interface can be configured for multiprotocol encapsulation over the ATM-Data Exchange Interface (ATM-DXI), as specified by RFC 1483. This standard describes two methods for transporting multiprotocol connectionless network interconnect traffic over an ATM network. One method allows multiplexing of multiple protocols over a single permanent virtual circuit (PVC). The other method uses different virtual circuits to carry different protocols. Our implementation supports transport of AppleTalk, Banyan VINES, IP, and Novell Internetwork Packet Exchange (IPX) protocol traffic.
If you configure ATM access over a serial interface, an ATM data service unit (ADSU) is required in order to do the following:
This section provides an overview of the ATM features available on the AIP, ATM port adapter, Enhanced ATM port adapter, ATM-CES port adapter, NPM, 1-port ATM-25 network module, ATM OC-3 network module, and multiport T1/E1 ATM network module. These features are available on all of these interface cards, unless otherwise indicated.
The Cisco IOS software for ATM supports the following features:
This section describes the following interface types that are available for ATM:
All ATM interfaces are full duplex. You must use the appropriate ATM interface cable to connect the AIP with an external ATM network. Refer to the chapter "ATM Interface Processor" in the Cisco Interface Processor Installation and Configuration Guide for descriptions of ATM connectors.
The AIP provides an interface to ATM switching fabrics for sending and receiving data at rates of up to 155 Mbps bidirectionally; the actual rate is determined by the physical layer interface module (PLIM). The PLIM contains the interface to the ATM cable. The AIP can support PLIMs that connect to the following physical layers:
For wide-area networking, ATM is currently being standardized for use in Broadband Integrated Services Digital Networks (BISDNs) by the International Telecommunication Union Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). BISDN supports rates from E3 (34 Mbps) to multiple gigabits per second (Gbps).
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Note The ITU-T carries out the functions of the former Consultative Committee for International Telegraph and Telephone (CCITT). |
The ATM port adapter provides a single SDH/SONET OC-3 full-duplex interface (either multimode or single-mode intermediate reach) and supports data rates of up to 155 Mbps bidirectionally. The ATM port adapter connects to a SDH/SONET multimode or SONET/STC-3C single-mode fiber-optic cable (STS-3C or STM-1 physical layer) to connect the router to an external DSU (an ATM network).
The enhanced ATM port adapters (PA-A3-T3, PA-A3-E3, PA-A3-OC3MM, PA-A3-OC3SMI, and PA-A3-OC3SML) are available on the Cisco 7200 and 7500 series routers. They include five hardware versions that support the following standards-based physical interfaces:
The ATM-CES port adapters (PA-A2-4T1C-OC3SM, PA-A2-4T1C-T3ATM, PA-A2-4E1XC- OC3SM, PA-A2-4E1XC-E3ATM, PA-A2-4E1YC-OC3SM, and PA-A2-4E1YC-E3ATM) are available on Cisco 7200 series routers. The ATM-CES has four T1 (1.544 Mbps) or four E1 (2.048 Mbps) ports
(75- or 120-ohm) that can support both structured (N x 64 kbps) and unstructured ATM Forum-compliant CES, and one port that supports an OC-3 (155 Mbps) single-mode intermediate reach interface or a T3 (45 Mbps) or E3 (34 Mbps) standards-based ATM interface.
All ATM interfaces are full duplex. You must use the appropriate ATM interface cable to connect the NPM with an external ATM network. Refer to the Cisco 4000 Series Hardware Installation and Maintenance and Installing NPMs in the Cisco 4000 Series publications for descriptions of ATM connectors.
The NPM provides an interface to ATM switching fabrics for sending and receiving data at rates of up to 155 Mbps bidirectionally; the actual rate is determined by the PLIM. The PLIM contains the interface to the ATM cable. The NPM can support PLIMs that connect to the following physical layers:
The 1-port ATM-25 network module has a single RJ-45 connector with signals compliant with the ATM Forum recommendation for the 25.6 Mbps ATM physical layer.
The ATM OC-3 network module has a single SC connector with signals compliant with the ATM Forum recommendation for the 25.6 Mbps ATM physical layer.
The Multiport T1/E1 ATM network modules with inverse multiplexing over ATM have RJ-45 connectors with signals compliant with the ATM Forum recommendation for the 25.6 Mbps ATM physical layer.
A virtual circuit is a connection between remote hosts and routers. A virtual circuit is established for each ATM end node with which the router communicates. The characteristics of the virtual circuit that are established when the virtual circuit is created include the following:
Each virtual circuit supports the following router functions:
Cisco implements classical IP and Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) over ATM as described in RFC 1577. RFC 1577 defines an application of classical IP and ARP in an ATM environment configured as a logical IP subnet (LIS). It also describes the functions of an ATM ARP server and ATM ARP clients in requesting and providing destination IP addresses and ATM addresses in situations when one or both are unknown. Our routers can be configured to act as an ARP client, or to act as a combined ARP client and ARP server.
The ATM ARP server functionality allows classical IP networks to be constructed with ATM as the connection medium. Without this functionality, you must configure both the IP network address and the ATM address of each end device with which the router needs to communicate. This static configuration task takes administrative time and makes moves and changes more difficult.
The Cisco implementation of the ATM ARP server functionality provides a robust environment in which network changes can be made more easily and more quickly than in a pure ATM environment. The Cisco ATM ARP client works with any ARP server that is fully compliant with RFC 1577.
The AIP microcode is a software image that provides card-specific software instructions. An onboard ROM component contains the default AIP microcode. The Cisco 7500 series supports downloadable microcode, which enables you to upgrade microcode versions by loading new microcode images onto the Route Processor (RP), storing them in Flash memory, and instructing the AIP to load an image from Flash memory instead of the default ROM image. You can store multiple images for an interface type and instruct the system to load any one of them or the default ROM image with a configuration command. All processor modules of the same type will load the same microcode image from either the default ROM image or from a single image stored in Flash memory.
Although multiple microcode versions for a specific interface type can be stored concurrently in Flash memory, only one image can load at startup. The show controller cxbus command displays the currently loaded and running microcode version for the Switch Processor (SP) and for each IP. The show running-config command shows the current system instructions for loading microcode at startup.
For a complete description of microcode and procedures for downloading microcode, refer to the chapter "ATM Interface Processor" in the Cisco Interface Processor Installation and Configuration Guide or the Cisco IOS Configuration Fundamentals Configuration Guide.
Cisco IOS ATM software supports a subset of the specification in AToM MIB (RFC 1695) for Cisco IOS Release 11.2 software or later. Cisco IOS Release 11.3 software or later releases support the proprietary Cisco AAL5 MIB that is an extension to RFC 1695.
The Cisco Frame Relay implementation currently supports routing on IP, DECnet, AppleTalk, XNS, Novell IPX, CLNS, Banyan VINES, and transparent bridging.
Although Frame Relay access was originally restricted to leased lines, dialup access is now supported. For more information, see the "Configuring DDR over Frame Relay" section for dialer profiles or for legacy dial-on-demand routing (DDR) in the "Configuring DDR" chapter in the Cisco IOS Dial Services Configuration Guide: Terminal Services.
To install software on a new router or access server by downloading software from a central server over an interface that supports Frame Relay, see the "Loading Images and Configuration Files" chapter in the Cisco IOS Configuration Fundamentals Configuration Guide.
To configure access between Systems Network Architecture (SNA) devices over a Frame Relay network, see the "Configuring SNA Frame Relay Access Support" chapter in the Cisco IOS Bridging and IBM Networking Configuration Guide.
The Frame Relay software provides the following capabilities:
Frame Relay-ATM Interworking enables Frame Relay voice or data traffic to be encapsulated in ATM cells. There are two types of Frame Relay-ATM Interworking:
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Note FRF.5 and FRF.8 are only supported on the Cisco MC3810 multiservice access concentrator for Cisco IOS Release 12.1. |
FRF.5 transports Frame Relay traffic over an ATM cloud via a virtual interface within the Cisco MC3810. By using the encapsulation process, you can migrate from Frame Relay to ATM, or you can tunnel Frame Relay traffic across an ATM backbone to a second Cisco MC3810 or other Frame Relay device, and then extract the ATM traffic back to Frame Relay.
FRF.8 connects a Frame Relay network to an ATM network while the networks function independently. Service Interworking allows bidirectional PVC protocol conversion functions and provides a standards-based solution for service providers, enterprises, and end users.
In Service Interworking translation mode, Frame Relay PVCs are mapped to ATM PVCs without the necessity for symmetric topologies---the paths can terminate on the ATM side. The ATM-connected Cisco MC3810 need not be directly linked to a Frame Relay network. Some network devices in a Frame Relay network can evolve to ATM without all network devices doing so.
FRF.8 supports two modes of operation of the IWF for upper-layer user protocol encapsulation, which differ in the following ways:
FRF.8 works in translation mode like a protocol converter in the following ways:
The Cisco implementation of the SMDS protocol is based on cell relay technology as defined in the Bellcore Technical advisories, which are based on the IEEE 802.6 standard. We provide an interface to an SMDS network using DS1 or DS3 high-speed transmission facilities. Connection to the network is made through a device called an SDSU---an SMDS digital service unit (DSU). The SDSU attaches to a router or access server through a serial port. On the other side, the SDSU terminates the line.
The implementation of SMDS supports the IP, DECnet, AppleTalk, XNS, Novell IPX,
Banyan VINES, and OSI internetworking protocols, and transparent bridging.
The implementation of SMDS also supports SMDS encapsulation over an ATM interface. For more information and for configuration tasks, see section "Configuring ATM Subinterfaces for SMDS Networks" in the chapter "Configuring ATM."
Routing of AppleTalk, DECnet, IP, IPX, and ISO CLNS is fully dynamic; that is, the routing tables are determined and updated dynamically. Routing of the other supported protocols requires that you establish a static routing table of SMDS neighbors in a user group. Once this table is set up, all interconnected routers and access servers provide dynamic routing.
The SMDS implementation includes multiple logical IP subnetworks support as defined by
RFC 1209. This RFC describes routing IP over an SMDS cloud in which each connection is considered a host on one specific private network, and points to cases where traffic must transit from network to network.
The implementation of SMDS also provides the Data Exchange Interface (DXI) Version 3.2 with heartbeat. The heartbeat mechanism periodically generates a heartbeat poll frame.
When a multicast address is not available to a destination, pseudobroadcasting can be enabled to broadcast packets to those destinations using a unicast address.
X.25 is one of a group of specifications published by the ITU-T. These specifications are international standards that are formally called Recommendations. The ITU-T Recommendation X.25 defines how connections between DTE and DCE are maintained for remote terminal access and computer communications. The X.25 specification defines protocols for two layers of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) reference model. The data link layer protocol defined is LAPB. The network layer is sometimes called the packet level protocol (PLP), but is commonly (although less correctly) referred to as the X.25 protocol.
The ITU-T updates its Recommendations periodically. The specifications dated 1980 and 1984 are the most common versions currently in use. Additionally, the International Standards Organization (ISO) has published ISO 7776:1986 as an equivalent to the LAPB standard, and ISO 8208:1989 as an equivalent to the ITU-T 1984 Recommendation X.25 packet layer. The Cisco X.25 software follows the ITU-T 1984 Recommendation X.25, except for its Defense Data Network (DDN) and Blacker Front End (BFE) operation, which follow the ITU-T 1980 Recommendation X.25.
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Note The ITU-T carries out the functions of the former CCITT. The 1988 X.25 standard was the last published as a CCITT Recommendation. The first ITU-T Recommendation is the 1993 revision. |
In addition to providing remote terminal access, The Cisco X.25 software provides transport for LAN protocols---IP, DECnet, XNS, ISO CLNS, AppleTalk, Novell IPX, Banyan VINES, and Apollo Domain---and bridging. For information about these protocols, refer to the Cisco IOS IP and IP Routing Configuration Guide, Cisco IOS AppleTalk and Novell IPX Configuration Guide, and Cisco IOS Apollo Domain, Banyan VINES, DECnet, ISO CLNS, and XNS Configuration Guide.
Cisco IOS X.25 software provides the following capabilities:
The Cisco X.25 implementation does not support fast switching.
Posted: Wed Jul 19 15:50:11 PDT 2000
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