Cisco RFGW-X45-SUP7-E Gateway Controller Networking

The Cisco® RF Gateway 10 Supervisor Engine 7-E for the Cisco RF Gateway 10 universal edge quadrature amplitude modulation (U-EQAM) modulator redefines the way aggregation and traffic management features are managed at the edge of the cable network. Specially optimized for the Cisco RF Gateway 10 platform, the supervisor engine can be deployed in a redundant configuration with automatic failover. It runs the comprehensive feature set available in Cisco IOS® XE Software Release 3.2.0 SQ, with an array of management, line-rate Ethernet aggregation and switching, and packet filtering functions-all embedded in the carrier-class Cisco RF Gateway 10 platform. The Cisco RF Gateway 10 Supervisor Engine 7-E provides the increased switching and processing performance required for the new high-density Cisco RF Gateway Downstream 384 (RFGW-DS384) Universal Edge QAM Line Card.

Before, switches and routers had to be externally connected to edge QAM modulators and configured separately to manage them. As separate elements, switches and routers and edge QAM modulators provided limited management functionality, and the result has been less-scalable edge solutions. Now, with the integrated Cisco RF Gateway 10 Supervisor Engine 7-E, the intelligence of the Cisco IP Next-Generation Network (IP NGN) is available for more efficient and scalable packet forwarding and management of line cards in the gateway.

Management of data and video traffic can be split into data plane and control plane processing. The data plane manages the aggregation and forwarding of multiple services to the edge QAM resources (for example, Ethernet switching, routing, aggregation, and filtering). Interactions with control interfaces for video and DOCSIS® are managed by the control plane (for example, setup and teardown of video sessions, creation of voice-over-IP [VoIP] calls, management of high-speed data services, and management of the distribution of packets and environmental factors in the gateway). The aggregation management utility in the supervisor engine allows cable operators to extract detailed information from a single line card on the overall operational status of the entire gateway.