SAN JOSE, Calif. -- June 1, 1998 -- Cisco Systems, Inc. today introduced the Cisco TGX 8750 optical core switch as part of its comprehensive portfolio of IP+ATM solutions that enable service providers to deliver the high-value services of the future.

Cisco's WAN core solutions tightly integrate IP and ATM technologies through Tag Switching, the first implementation of the emerging Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) standard. Tag Switching allows IP services and ATM services to be delivered on a single infrastructure with dynamic bandwidth sharing between services.

The TGX 8750 optical core switch is fully MPLS compliant and features hierarchical Private Network to Network Interface (PNNI), SONET/SDH Automatic Protection Switching and OC-48c optical internetworking support.

Building up the hierarchical PNNI protocol, the TGX 8750 core ATM network can be scaled to many thousands of switching nodes that support Switched Virtual Circuits (SVCs), soft PVCs and point-to-multipoint VCs. For complete control over voice and data traffic priorities, the switch supports per-VC queueing and allows full network utilization and minimal service degradation using explicit-rate ABR control. All of the PNNI and Tag Switching capabilities are now tightly integrated into Cisco IOS. software.

Cisco's WAN-core solutions are focused on providing the speeds and resiliency required to meet the high demands of serving the network edge.

"Cisco is on a roll," said Ron Jeffries of Jeffries Research. "They've clearly staked out the WAN and will be an aggressive competitor in delivering the QoS-enabled Internet of tomorrow. By offering Cisco IOS software functionality throughout the WAN edge and core, their customers will have end-to-end application support throughout the entire network."

The TGX 8750 provides full resilience capabilities. In addition to scaleable and robust routing protocol support (PNNI, OSPF, IS-IS), the TGX 8750 optical core switch provides complete "hot-swappable" redundancy of switch fabrics, processor cards, power supplies and line cards. Line card redundancy of OC-3c, OC-12c, OC-48 and OC-48c ports is supported through SONET 1+1 Automatic Protection Switching, which provides extremely rapid restoration of services.

Recently, Cisco announced its five-phase optical internetworking strategy to develop a data-optimized public network with emerging high-capacity, high-speed technologies. The TGX 8750 optical core switch is a continuation of the second phase of the strategy, where Cisco is delivering switches and routers that interface directly to the optical networking layer, avoiding the costs and bandwidth limitations associated with Time Division Multiplexing (TDM). The TGX 8750 supports both channelized OC-48 interfaces and clear channel or concatenated OC-48c interfaces.

Cisco designed the TGX 8750 optical core switch to bring OC-48c capability to the core at a price that leads the industry. The TGX optical core switch starts at $60,000 and offers OC-48c ports at $60,000 and OC-48 ports at $45,000. Cisco will field trial the TGX optical core switch later this year and will ship the product beginning in 1999.

Cisco's WAN-core solutions fully leverage Cisco IOS software to ensure end-to-end and multivendor network interoperability within carrier ATM networks. In addition, the Cisco Service Management software suite enables end-to-end planning, provisioning, operating and billing for IP+ATM services across a multivendor networking environment. By promoting and implementing industry standards, Cisco is enabling service providers to more rapidly evolve their networks to offer the full set of IP+ATM services.

"We designed the TGX optical core switch to deliver OC-48c capability and allow our customers to smoothly scale their networks to terabit speeds," said Morgan Littlewood, director of marketing with Cisco's WAN Business Unit. "For terabit networks to develop quickly, the industry has to provide compelling service propositions, provision vast numbers of customer ports and access systems and then leverage the cost structures of optical internetworking to the fullest extent. Cisco is tackling the whole problem, including the logistical challenges of evolving networks."

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