FRAMINGHAM (04/19/2000) - Cisco Systems yesterday announced it is adding IP switching capabilities to its digital subscriber line (DSL) product line for service providers, and rolled out a new DSL product for multi-tenant units and remote terminals.
IP switching for Cisco's 6000 line of DSL products is embodied in Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) software. The MPLS protocol enables service providers to apply IP streams over an ATM infrastructure to achieve scaling and performance benefits, Cisco says.
When running MPLS, Cisco's 6000 DSL product line becomes a series of "IP DSL switches," the company says. They can function as edge label switch routers, tagging packets with labels that steer them through a network as if they were switched instead of routed.
MPLS on Cisco's IP DSL Switch line will be available in the second half of 2000.
The new DSL product for multi-tenant units and remote terminals is called the Cisco 6015 IP DSL Switch. It is designed to enable service providers to extend DSL's reach beyond the central office.
The Cisco 6015 IP DSL Switch is a carrier-class product that supports IP+ATM services such as MPLS virtual private networks, firewalls, multicast video, Web caching and voice for business and consumer applications.
The Cisco 6015 IP DSL Switch supports from four to 48 subscribers in a single chassis. Service providers can scale beyond that by stacking the chassis.
The Cisco 6015 will be available in the second half of 2000. Pricing starts at $14,000.
Cisco also announced the addition of G.shdsl (single-pair high-bit-rate DSL) to the Cisco 6160, 6260 and 6015 products in the Cisco IP DSL Switch line. G.shdsl is a standard for symmetrical services that extend DSL's reach and data rates and enables multiple bit rates over one pair of copper wires.
G.shdsl can extend reach from central offices and remote terminals by at least 25% to 35% at symmetrical data rates from 192K bit/sec up to 2.3M bit/sec. In addition, it is repeatable at lower speeds, which means there is virtually no limit to its reach, Cisco says.
G.shdsl on the Cisco 6015, 6160 and 6260 IP DSL Switches will also be available in the second half of 2000.