SAN JOSE, CA--(Marketwire - November 11, 2008) - Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) today announced a major leap in networking technology at the service provider network edge with the introduction of the Cisco® Aggregation Services Router 9000 Series (ASR 9000). The Cisco ASR 9000 is designed to deliver massive scale, non-stop video experience and a reduced carbon footprint. The Cisco ASR 9000 meets service providers' need to increase the speed, longevity, services richness and efficiency of the network edge, a demand spurred by the massive spike in video and data traffic across wireline, cable and mobile networks.

The Cisco ASR 9000 follows the introduction eight months ago of the Cisco ASR 1000 Series, the first in a series of Cisco aggregation services routers. With the 92-terabit Cisco CRS-1 Carrier Routing System (CRS) in the core, Cisco offers the most comprehensive core and edge solution to meet customer speed and scaling needs in the "zettabyte era."

"The Cisco ASR 9000 offers service providers tremendous scalability and a services-optimized architecture that truly sets a new benchmark in the industry for carrier Ethernet systems for the zettabyte era," said Pankaj Patel, senior vice president and general manager of the Cisco Service Provider Technology Group. "This platform is designed for IP NGN transformation and will be used as the carrier Ethernet transport foundation for video and mobility data growth. The Cisco ASR 9000 has been specifically optimized to deliver video and rich media better than any other platform on the market."

The "Cisco Visual Networking Index (VNI) Forecast and Methodology, 2007-2012" report provides key findings on a variety of consumer and business Internet Protocol (IP) networking trends that are driven largely by the increasing use of video and Web 2.0 social networking and business collaboration applications. Cisco VNI projections indicate that IP traffic will increase at a combined annual growth rate of 46 percent from 2007 to 2012, nearly doubling every two years. This will result in an annual bandwidth demand on the world's IP networks of approximately 522 exabytes, or more than half a zettabyte. This demand on networks is equivalent to downloading 125 billion DVD movies per month.

"Earlier generations of edge routers were not designed to address the massive growth that IP video is driving across mobile and wireline networks. Softbank Corporation is looking for innovative solutions that enable us to reduce costs, keep pace and converge our broadband, mobile and business networks onto common infrastructure," said Junishi Miyakawa, executive vice president, director and CTO of SOFTBANK MOBILE, SOFTBANK BB, SOFTBANK TELECOM. "The Cisco ASR 9000 offers investment protection, massive bandwidth capacity and excellent services capability in a highly reliable and efficient design that gives us the flexibility to build a truly leading IP NGN network for our 4G mobile and video services."

The 10- and six-slot Cisco ASR 9000 offers a series of new hardware and software innovations to deliver visual networking in the "zettabyte era." Those innovations are:

--  Unsurpassed scale
    The Cisco ASR 9000 provides up to six times the capacity of comparable edge-
    router solutions, with up to 6.4 terabits per second of total capacity and
    up to four times the line-card speed available on the market, with 400
    gigabits per slot.  The Cisco ASR 9000 will also extend IP over dense
    wavelength-division multiplexing (IPoDWDM) with Ethernet services to the
    aggregation edge by integrating optical transponders.  By providing IPoDWDM
    from core to edge with Cisco CRS-1, Cisco XR-12000 and Cisco 7600 Series
    Routers, the Cisco IP Next-Generation Network (IP NGN) significantly
    reduces network complexity and cost while reducing the carbon footprint.
    
--  Nonstop video experience
    The Cisco ASR 9000 incorporates the Cisco Advanced Video Services Module
    (AVSM), a major innovation enabling terabytes of streaming capacity at the
    aggregation edge while simultaneously offering content caching, ad
    insertion, fast channel change and error correction.  The Cisco AVSM
    eliminates the need for standalone content-delivery network elements and
    inherits all the high-availability characteristics of the router, which
    optimizes the network insertion point for advanced content services and
    moves content sourcing closer to the consumer.  Fast channel change and
    onboard error correction for both unicast and multicast video traffic helps
    ensure that errors can be detected by any set-top box and retransmitted
    within milliseconds to maintain a transparent and optimized visual
    experience for the audience.
    
--  Reduced total cost of ownership for mobility services
    The Cisco ASR 9000 Series brings six times the capacity of competing
    products to Carrier Ethernet backhaul.  Moreover, every Cisco ASR 9000 line
    card is SyncE-ready, which means that it inherently works with cell site
    routers to deliver seamless mobile handoff capabilities, avoiding the need
    and costs incurred to dedicate slots for additional synchronization cards.
    
--  Reduced carbon footprint
    Modular power is designed to scale with system capacity, allowing the
    service provider to tier the amount of power used.  The six-slot unit has
    design advantages utilizing a patent-pending side-to-back ventilation
    scheme that helps service providers free up side-by-side rack space.  When
    compared with competitive offerings, every 6.4-terabit unit deployed is
    estimated to save service providers the carbon equivalent of 88 tons of
    coal, 164 transpacific passenger flights or 16 around-the-world car trips
    per year.
    
--  Enhanced edge services with Cisco QuantumFlow Processor
    The Cisco ASR 9000 has unsurpassed capacity and has been designed to offer
    advanced subscriber management as well as use the Cisco QuantumFlow
    Processor to deliver silicon-based security services and video like the
    Cisco ASR 1000.  By eliminating numerous single-function network
    appliances, the Cisco ASR 9000 substantially reduces a service provider's
    carbon footprint, resulting in greater efficiency to its networks, lower
    operational costs and greater environmental stewardship.
    
--  Powered by Cisco IOS XR
    The Cisco ASR 9000 capitalizes on the industry benchmark Cisco IOS®
    Software family, which is optimized for core, edge, branch and data center.
    Cisco IOS XR Software offers nonstop system operation, in-service upgrade
    capability, and support for the distributed scale of business and
    residential service delivery.  Operational in more than 200 service
    provider networks worldwide, Cisco IOS XR helps enable new levels of scale,
    high availability and reliability at the edge of the network to support
    uninterrupted video-service delivery and improved customer experience.
    

In addition to having SOFTBANK as the first customer, the Cisco ASR 9000 is in trials with several tier 1 service providers based in the North America and Europe. Pricing for the system begins near $80,000 USD with availability planned for the first quarter of 2009.

Find More Information Online:

Web Site Link

Cisco ASR 9000 Series

Recent Cisco IP NGN Carrier Ethernet News

New Cisco IPoDWDM Enhancements Transport Service Providers Networks to 'Zettabyte Era'

Cisco Enhances IP NGN Carrier Ethernet Design for Video Services

The Cisco Visual Networking Index Forecast and Methodology, 2007-2012 and the associated updated "Approaching the Zettabyte Era" Cisco white paper are part of the Cisco Visual Networking Index, an ongoing Cisco initiative designed to provide quantitative and qualitative information regarding trends in IP network demand and usage.

Technorati Tags: Cisco, Cisco IP NGN, Cisco IP Next-Generation Network, IP NGN, Cisco Carrier Ethernet, Cisco Visual Networking Index Forecast and Methodology, Visual Networking, VNI, Cisco ASR 9000, Cisco IOS XR, Cisco ASR 1000, Cisco CRS-1, Router, Edge, Video, Mobility, Carrier Ethernet, Connected Life, Pankaj Patel, SOFTBANK MOBILE, SOFTBANK BB, SOFTBANK TELECOM

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