Cisco 90 Series

Product Overview

Cisco 90 series DSL access products support the rapid, low-cost deployment of high-speed DSL services to residential, SOHO (Small Office/Home Office), and telecommuter end users. Leveraging the existing equipment infrastructure in telecommunications company central offices (CO) to provide an affordable solution, the Cisco 90 series products have the throughput to deliver advanced Internet and corporate intranet applications such as remote corporate access, Internet "push" technology, and local Web-site hosting to service subscribers. The Cisco 90 series includes the Cisco 90i IDSL Channel Unit and Cisco 90 Series DSL Management Agent products. The Cisco 90i IDSL Channel Unit is shown in Figure 10-118.

The Cisco 90i IDSL (ISDN Digital Subscriber Line) Channel Unit is a channel unit for use with the D4 channel banks used in virtually all North American telecommunication company central offices. Originally a TDM (time-division multiplexing) chassis used to deliver services such as traditional ISDN, the D4 is transformed by the Cisco 90i IDSL Channel Unit into a high-performance, frame relay multiplexer. IDSL provides an alternative to Digital Data Service (DDS) or fractional T1 for cost-effective dedicated Internet or intranet access at line rates of 56, 64, 128, and 144 kilobits per second over a single pair of copper wires. In addition, using IDSL, service providers can off-load subscriber data traffic from existing voice networks, reducing capacity problems on public switched telephony networks. Figure 10-119 shows a typical deployment configuration of the Cisco 90i IDSL Channel Unit within a service provider network.

The rack-mountable Cisco 90 Series DSL Management Agent facilitates carrier-class management applications and provides a standards-based, SNMP solution for service providers to monitor, configure, test, and provision services for all installed Cisco IDSL channel units. Two Cisco 90 Series DSL Management Agents can be used for redundancy, minimizing the chances of a loss of management access in case a single unit fails. No channel unit information will be lost nor will subscriber service be impacted in the case of a management agent failure.

Figure 10-118: Cisco 90i IDSL Channel Unit 

Figure 10-119: Typical Cisco 90i IDSL Channel Unit Deployment

Specifications 

Table 10-98 lists the specifications for the Cisco 90i IDSL Channel Unit. Table 10-99 lists the specifications for the Cisco 90 Series Management Agent.

Table 10-98: Cisco 90i IDSL Channel Unit Specifications

Description	Specification
Dimensions (HxWxD)	4.5 x 1.375 x 10.0 in. (standard D4 channel unit)
Weight	20 ounces
Temperature	0 to 70°C
Humidity	< 95% noncondensing
Power Dissipation	< 2.0W (allows entire bank to be filled)
EMI	Meets FCC Part 15, Class A
Input Protection	Meets UL 1459, second edition and Bellcore TR-NWT-001089
NEBS	Meets Bellcore TR-NWT-000063
D4 Compatibility	Compatible with any D4 channel bank conforming to the AT&T D4 channel bank backplane specification
Subscriber ports	4
Port speeds	56/64/128/144 kilobits per second (configurable)
Protocols	PPP (RFC-1973) and Frame Relay
PPP Sessions (per port)	1
Frame Relay PVCs (per port)	8
ISDN CPE Communications	Compatible with ISDN CPE that supports leased-line mode
LMI	Annex D

Table 10-99: Cisco 90 Series Management Agent Specifications

Description	Specification
Dimensions (HxWxD)	7.0 x 19.9 x 19.0 in.
Weight	21 lb (9.53 kg)
Power Requirements	90 to 135 VAC1, 47 to 63 Hz, 2.5A 180 to 270 VAC, 47 to 63 Hz, 1.25A
Hardware Specifications	19 in. rack-mount enclosure 10/100baseT Ethernet V.35 WAN interface (DB-25)

Product Features  

The Cisco 90 series products provide the following features and advantages:

Low cost of ownership for IDSL access

The Cisco 90i IDSL Channel Unit creates a low cost of ownership for customers in many ways, including:

• Leveraging existing equipment infrastructure

D4 channel banks already in place can now deliver next-generation DSL services without any modification. The investment service providers have made in D4 channel banks is protected and the useful life of the equipment is extended. Customers do not need to install new, unfamiliar equipment in their CO nor learn new processes or procedures to work with the IDSL channel unit.

Additionally, since equipment infrastructure is not confined only to the CO for traditional ISDN services, the Cisco 90i IDSL Channel Unit port has been designed to appear, as far as subscriber loop equipment is concerned, just like a normal ISDN link. Downstream devices such as repeaters, digital loop carrier (DLC) systems, and BRITE cards function exactly the same way as before.

• High subscriber density

Each channel unit supports 4 subscriber ports that, in a standard D4 chassis, allows up to 96 customers to be multiplexed across a single T1. Costs are even further reduced because the channel bank T1 only needs to be connected to a low-cost, unchannelized frame relay port on the service provider network.

• Reduced training and operations costs

The Cisco 90i IDSL Channel Unit is installed and maintained much like existing TDM channel units and can simply be plugged in to an available channel unit slot. There is no onboard configuration required, making the 90i a completely "plug-and-play" solution. Local "craft" personnel at the CO can simply treat this product the same as any other D4 channel unit and require no additional training for installation or service.

• Support for frame relay or PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol) on each subscriber port

In order to meet a wide range of subscriber service levels and protocol requirements, both frame relay and PPP are supported options on the subscriber ports. A single PPP session is supported on a subscriber port, or up to 8 frame relay PVCs can be provisioned on a single port. This flexibility allows subscriber services to be offered and priced based on both the speed of the line and the type of service to be used.

For example, a subscriber interested only in basic Internet access could choose a PPP-based service and pay for an appropriate data rate from the service provider. Alternatively, a telecommuter requiring connections to multiple destinations (for example, the Internet and a corporate intranet) could choose frame relay service with a different, perhaps higher, line data rate.

• Easy configuration, performance, and troubleshooting through a standards-based SNMP agent

Due to the potentially high costs of service and support for network services, especially in a large-scale deployment of subscriber lines, being able to efficiently and effectively manage the network and troubleshoot problems is of paramount importance. The management solution must provide a scalable, easy-to-use interface for rapid service turn-up, performance monitoring, and problem resolution.

The Cisco 90 Series DSL Management Agent provides a central management point for up to 1000 channel banks populated with Cisco 90i IDSL Channel Units. Using the Management Agent's standards-based SNMP MIB, management systems can monitor and configure all parameters associated with the agent and each installed channel unit. Features such as performance and error statistics and configurable threshold traps (conforming to the Bellcore TR-TSY-000829 specification) are available for channel units, ports, PVCs, and all ISDN devices downstream from the IDSL port on the subscriber loop. Finally, diagnostic tools such as loopbacks and BERT tests can be activated through the agent on all segments of the subscriber loop, allowing the service provider to identify and isolate service problems without ever leaving the operations facility.

The Cisco 90 Series DSL Management Agent is connected to the service network via a frame relay port to communicate with the channel units. This provides a very flexible solution because the agent can be connected anywhere on the network and does not need to be co-located with the channel units in the CO transmission area. The Management Agent can then be connected to a local LAN and communicate with any standard SNMP management application or service provider Operational Support System (OSS). The Management Agent also supports a redundant agent configuration to prevent a loss of management access to the network if an agent should fail.

Standards Compliance

The Cisco 90i IDSL Channel Unit conforms to the standards shown in Table 10-100.

Table 10-100: Cisco 90i IDSL Channel Unit Standards

Specification	Description
T1.601-1992	ISDN Basic Access Interface for Use on Metallic Loops
ANSI T1.617	Signaling Specifications for Frame Relay Bearer Service
ANSI T1.618	Core Aspects of Frame Relay Protocol for Use with Frame Relay Service
ANSI T1.606	Frame Relay Bearer Service--Architecture Framework and Service Description
RFC-1661	Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP)
RFC-1973	PPP over Frame Relay
TR-NWT-000063	New Equipment Building Standards (NEBS)
TR-NWT-000829	Generic Operations Interfaces--Embedded Operations Channels
TR-NWT-001089	Electromagnetic Compatibility and Electrical Safety Generic Criteria for Network Telecommunication Equipment

The Cisco 90 Series DSL Management Agent conforms to the standards shown in Table 10-101.

Table 10-101: Cisco 90 Series DSL Management Agent Standards

Specification	Description
RFC-1155	Structure and Identification of Management Information for TCP/IP-based Internets
RFC-1157	A Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)
TR-NWT-000829	Generic Operations Interfaces--Embedded Operations Channels (SNMP MIB objects)

Hardware

The Cisco 90i IDSL Channel Unit and the Cisco 90 Series DSL Management Agent ship with all necessary hardware, cabling, and software. There are no options.

Software

The Cisco 90i IDSL Channel Unit and the Cisco 90 Series DSL Management Agent ship with all necessary hardware, cabling, and software. There are no options.

Product Numbers

Table 10-102 lists the Cisco 90 series product numbers.

Table 10-102: Cisco 200 Series Product Numbers

Description	Product Number
Cisco 90i IDSL Channel Unit	CISCO90I
Cisco 90 Series DSL Management Agent	CISCO90-AGENT