Carrier-class Cisco uBR10012 Universal Broadband Router delivers scalability, increases intelligence at the edge of the network

SAN JOSE, November 13, 2000 - Cisco Systems, Inc., the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet, today announced the Cisco uBR10012 Universal Broadband Router, a highly scalable cable modem termination system (CMTS) optimized for aggregating traffic on the edge of the cable network. The new Cisco uBR10012 is based on the industry-leading Universal Broadband Router product family, Cisco's market-leading CMTS product with more than ten thousand units deployed globally in cable systems passing over seventy-five million homes.

The uBR10012 has been designed as a high-capacity aggregation platform which places a new level of intelligence at the edge of the network, enabling cable service providers to maximize their revenues by delivering more feature-rich services to their customers. The flexibility and scalability of the uBR10012 enables it to function as the fulcrum of the broadband IP networks of today and the future.

"Our current customers tell us that while they still have plenty of unused capacity in their uBR7200-based networks, they too continue to add more complex and highly integrated services far into the future," said Carson Chen, vice president and general manager of Cisco's cable business unit. "The uBR10012 addresses this need and protects the investment they've already made in the uBR7200 platform."

Cisco uBR10012 Features and Benefits

Based on the Data over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) 1.1 standard, the design and architecture of the Cisco uBR10012 increase its scalability far beyond currently available systems. The Cisco uBR10012 uses Parallel eXpress Forwarding (PXF) technology to provide maximum amounts of throughput, maintaining optimal performance even as software features are added and additional services are deployed. To eliminate physical constraints on scaling capacity and to allow cable operators to upgrade components as needed, the uBR10012 uses a passive midplane design and a star topology to give cable networks maximum capacity and performance and eliminate potential performance bottlenecks.

The uBR10012 is based on Cisco's 10000 Edge Services Router (ESR), a carrier class aggregation platform that offers the most comprehensive set of programmable IP services without compromising performance. The uBR10012 supports the widest variety of current and future access technologies, including DOCSIS, Digital Video Broadcast (DVB), Euro-DOCSIS, wireless, gigabit Ethernet and optical. "Cisco's uBR7200 series has been a critical part of our end-to-end networking solution, enabling our successful strategy to deploy multiple services from a single network," said Brad Dusto, executive vice president and chief technology officer of Comcast Cable. "The uBR10012 will help us extend our competitive advantage by providing us with an even more scalable platform to support the wider variety of commercial and residential services expected in the future."

An integral part of Cisco's end-to-end cable networking solution, the uBR10012 offers carrier-class reliability based on the combination of a fully redundant hardware design and a stable, field-hardened software platform with proven Cisco technology. The new platform features eight large line card slots for maximum density, along with 25.6 Gbps of usable bandwidth and a balanced 2 million packets-per-second of processing power that enable the uBR10012 to deliver unmatched performance and capacity.

"The uBR10012 is a seamless extension of the uBR7200, designed for cable operators who want to deploy higher capacity multiple services over an IP network," said Cisco's Chen. "The uBR10012 offers cable operators the same carrier class quality, industry-leading density and high performance that cable operators have come to expect from the uBR7200 Series, plus the ability to scale to very high penetration rates of voice, data and video services integrated on a single IP network."

Availability

The uBR10012 will be orderable beginning in December 2000.

About Cisco Broadband Solutions

Cisco is the market leader in deployment of broadband solutions, delivering service-enabling infrastructures for cable, DSL and wireless customers. Cisco's multiservice broadband solutions enable service providers to rapidly deploy a breadth of revenue-generating services such as corporate Internet/Intranet access, secure Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), residential and business Voice-over-IP services, and entertainment services such as digital video or streaming media. With Cisco's multiservice broadband solutions, service providers also gain access to world-class professional services, business programs and the New World Ecosystem of best-of-breed partners.