Cisco today announced 6 Gigabit Shared Port Adapter (6G SPA) for MSOs.
The new cable technology is a software upgrade of the 3G SPA line card for its CiscouBR10012 Universal Broadband Router (uBR10K) Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS).
The new cable technology will assist cable multiple system operators (MSOs) in the U.S. to leverage their existing broadband infrastructure investment and offer a Gigabit-service tier, said Cisco in a statement.
Cisco said the new cable technology will allow MSOs to meet their additional bandwidth needs of customers and FCC requirements.
American telecom regulator FCC initiated the Gigabit City Challenge to have at least one Gigabit community in all 50 states by 2015.
Cisco said its 6 Gigabit Shared Port Adapter (6G SPA) will enable cable MSOs to optimize embedded cable access equipment to offer a Gigabit-service tier and deliver multi-screen video and broadband services.
The company said Cisco 6G SPA increases the number of downstream channels available for the uBR10K to 1,728 from 1,152, without needing any additional rack space.
Cisco said it will start trials of the 6G SPA capabilities with several global MSO customers over the next few months.
MSOs can use up to eight SPA line cards per Cisco uBR10K CMTS. Each 6G SPA card can support up to 144 downstream licenses per card, for a total of 1,152 6G SPA downstream channels per chassis.
They can install 6G SPA in conjunction with the uBR10K’s standard line cards, which themselves can support up to 576 downstream channels per chassis, and the combination of line cards and 6G SPA upgrade provides an impressive total of 1,728 downstream channels per uBR10K chassis.
Cisco, in order to support the rapid development of Gigabit communities in the U.S., offers MSOs a per-port, pay-as-you-go licensing structure.
Brett Wingo, vice president and general manager, Cable Access, Cisco, said: “This upgrade enables MSOs to cost effectively deliver speedy Gigabit services across their footprints without delay and enables SDN and NFV migration.”
