Cisco Systems has refreshed its carrier-class 12000 series routers by doubling core network capacity to 40 Gbps and adding revamped supporting products, including line cards, software, and hardware modules.

Among the most prominent product additions are the 40 (Gbps) per slot Cisco 12800 router and accompanying higher density OC-192/STM-64 and OC-48/STM-16 line cards.

According to Cisco, these offerings, being field upgradeable, will enable service providers to increase core capacity to 40 Gbps, without requiring major rip and replace hardware upgrades.

The 40 Gbps upgrade provides "dramatic cost-savings" for service providers while doubling network capacity, according to Mike Volpi, senior vice president and general manager of the routing technology group at Cisco.

In addition the company introduced software-upgradeable Cisco 12010 and 12006 edge services routers, designed to provide carriers with the a migration from 2.5 Gbps to 10 Gbps.

In a parallel move, the networking firm unveiled improvements to its Cisco 7600 edge router line which include a redesigned route processor, Supervisor Engine 720-3BXL, support for additional Layer 2 and Layer 3 Multiprotocol Label Switching Virtual Private Network and Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) services.

The router enhancements should help service providers further consolidate Layer 2 and Layer 3 services onto a single packet infrastructure at a time when they are moving to deploy premium packet-based services, Cisco says.

"This lowers the total cost of ownership of the network through simplified design and ease of management and maintenance - by reducing the number of platforms deployed and managed in any given network, as well as decreasing rack space and power requirements," said Volpi. ®