Cisco A9K-4X100GE-SE Full Official Product Description

1. Product Overview & SKU Definition

Official Full Name

SKU Breakdown

1. A9K: Designator for Cisco ASR 9000 Series carrier-grade aggregation service routers
2. 4X100GE: Four independent hot-pluggable CPAK 100 Gigabit Ethernet interfaces integrated on one full-height line card slot
3. SE: Service Edge optimized hardware variant, equipped with massively expanded hierarchical QoS queues, high-scale policer pools, abundant Ethernet Flow Points (EFPs), and enhanced subscriber traffic processing hardware. It is purpose-built for broadband subscriber aggregation and multi-service edge workloads, contrasting with the baseline-QoS transport-only -TR variantCisco.

Core Positioning

2. Chassis & IOS XR Software Compatibility

Supported Chassis Models

Incompatible Platform

Mixed Line Card Coexistence

Minimum IOS XR Software Requirement

3. Port, Performance & Physical Hardware Specifications

Port Technical Details

• Port Count: 4 hot-pluggable CPAK 100GE interfaces
• Supported Transceivers: Cisco CPAK family optics, supporting 100G, 40G native operation; CPAK breakout modules enable single-port split into 10×10GE for high-density access aggregation.
• Ethernet Standard Compliance: IEEE 802.3ba 100GE, IEEE 802.3ae 10GE, IEEE 802.3ad LACP link aggregation, IEEE 802.1Q single VLAN tagging, IEEE 802.1ad QinQ double stacking, IEEE 802.3x full-duplex pause frame flow control
• Per-Port Traffic Monitoring Metrics: Real-time PHY operational status, LOS optical loss alarms, CRC error counters, unicast/multicast/broadcast packet/byte statistics, policer drop counters, policy discard counters, and video flow degradation monitoring (VidMon) for IPTV services.

Throughput & Latency Performance

• Total bidirectional wire-speed throughput: 400 Gbps full duplex across all four 100GE ports
• Forwarding Latency: Less than 8 microseconds in cut-through forwarding mode
• Forwarding Reliability: Zero packet loss during RSP stateful switchover events, stable wire-speed unicast and multicast packet forwarding at full rated throughput
• Multi-rate port bandwidth: Each CPAK port runs full line rate at 100G, 40G, or breakout 10×10G aggregated bandwidth.

Physical & Environmental Parameters

• Form Factor: Single full-height line card slot for ASR 9000 series chassis
• Net Weight: Approximately 15.6 kg (34.5 lbs)
• Nominal Data Center Operating Temperature: 5°C ~ 40°C (41°F ~ 104°F)
• Short-Term Extended Operating Temperature: -5°C ~ 55°C (23°F ~ 131°F), limited to maximum 96 consecutive hours with an annual total usage cap of 15 days
• Continuous Operating Relative Humidity: 5% – 90% non-condensing; storage/transit humidity: 5% – 93% non-condensing
• Storage & Transit Temperature Range: -40°C ~ 70°C (-40°F ~ 158°F)
• Cooling Specification: Compliant with ASR 9000 chassis front-to-back forced airflow thermal design; blank filler panels must be installed on all empty chassis slots to maintain balanced airflow and prevent thermal overheating.

4. SE (Service Edge) Exclusive Expanded Hardware Resource Profile

1. Massive Hierarchical QoS Queue Pool
   Expanded multi-level hierarchical queuing resources supporting thousands of independent subscriber traffic profiles, dedicated LLQ low-latency scheduling for real-time voice, IPTV, VoD, and 5G mobile backhaul media streams; multi-level per-subscriber traffic policing and bandwidth shaping.
2. High-Scale Policer & Packet Classification Engines
   Large pools of hardware offloaded two-color and three-color multi-rate policers; high-capacity ingress/egress ACL and packet classification fully offloaded to line card Network Processors (NPUs), eliminating RSP CPU load even with tens of thousands of unique subscriber access control policies active simultaneously.
3. Wire-Speed Multi-Service Hardware Offloading
   Hardware accelerated wire-speed processing for MPLS label switching, MPLS Traffic Engineering (TE), Layer 2 VPNs (VPLS, EoMPLS), Layer 3 VPNs, NAT44/NAT64 address translation, IPsec VPN encryption/decryption, multicast packet replication, MACsec link encryption, EVPN-VXLAN termination, Segment Routing SRv6, OTN transport integration, and NetFlow v9/IPFIX traffic recording.
4. High-Density Carrier Ethernet Flow Point (EFP) Capacity
   Supports up to 64,000 independent EFPs for large-scale BNG subscriber termination and multi-service access edge deployments, significantly higher than the 16,000 EFP limit of transport-focused -TR line cards optimized for pure backbone transmission.
5. Unified Forwarding Table Scale (Shared with TR Variants)
   Consistent high-capacity forwarding table resources across all 4-port 100GE line card variants: 4 million IPv4 FIB routes, 2 million IPv6 FIB routes, 2 million MAC address table entries, and support for up to 8,000 independent Layer 3 VRF routing instances for multi-tenant service deployments.

5. Carrier-Grade High Availability (HA) Feature Set

1. OIR Online Insertion and Removal
   Full hot-swap capability; the line card can be inserted, removed, or replaced without chassis power cycling, RSP reboot, or live traffic interruption on other installed line cards within the chassis.
2. Independent Hardware Fault Isolation
   Separate dedicated power supply, clock distribution, and forwarding plane for each line card; hardware faults on individual ports or the entire line card cannot propagate to other line cards or chassis Route Switch Processors (RSPs).
3. Full Chassis Redundancy Compatibility
   Seamless interoperability with all ASR 9000 chassis redundant components: 1+1 redundant RSP control processors, N+1 redundant power supplies, and redundant fan tray assemblies, enabling end-to-end five-nines (99.999%) annual carrier-grade service availability.
4. ISSU In-Service Software Upgrade
   Supports non-disruptive IOS XR firmware image upgrades for the line card without terminating active BNG subscriber sessions, IPTV video streams, mobile backhaul links, or live MPLS backbone traffic flows.
5. Synchronous Timing Support
   Integrated SyncE and IEEE 1588-2008 PTP precision timing hardware for mobile 5G transport and broadcast video deployments.

6. Supported IOS XR Network & Service Features

Core Routing & Switching Protocols

MPLS & Multi-Tenant VPN Services

Broadband Subscriber & Mobile Edge Workloads

Security & Traffic Monitoring Tools

7. Front Panel LED Indicator System

1. Global Line Card STATUS LED: Displays line card power supply status, boot initialization progress, and critical hardware fault alarm notifications.
2. Per-Port Dual-Color LED Indicators (4 CPAK ports):
   • Off: CPAK transceiver absent, port administratively shut down, or optical signal loss (LOS) detected
   • Solid Amber: Link established with active Layer 1 optical alarms (excessive bit error rate BER, loss of frame LOF)
   • Solid Green: Stable, error-free active 100GE/40GE breakout link
   • Blinking Green: Bidirectional data packet traffic transmitting/receiving on the port

8. Key Deployment Advantages

1. Service Edge Optimized Hardware Architecture for Large-Scale Subscriber Aggregation
   The SE variant’s massively expanded QoS, policer, and EFP hardware resources eliminate RSP CPU bottlenecks in BNG, multi-service PE, and broadband access edge deployments, delivering superior subscriber session scale compared to transport-focused -TR line cards with limited traffic management resources.
2. High-Capacity 4-Port Wire-Speed 100GE CPAK Interfaces
   Four independent CPAK 100GE interfaces deliver high 100G uplink capacity for access aggregation, mobile edge, carrier Ethernet, IPTV, and DCI deployments, minimizing total chassis slot consumption to reduce overall hardware CapEx. Broad CPAK transceiver compatibility supports flexible fiber reach selection for varied aggregation and core link distances, plus breakout capability to replace dozens of 10GE links with a single 100G port.
3. Unified Layer 2 / Layer 3 Multi-Service Convergence
   A single line card simultaneously supports Layer 2 carrier Ethernet switching and Layer 3 MPLS backbone routing services, allowing network operators to consolidate broadband subscriber aggregation, video delivery, and mobile transport workloads onto a single ASR 9000 chassis to lower daily operational OpEx overhead.
4. Complete Carrier-Grade High Availability Toolkit
   Native OIR hot swap, ISSU non-disruptive firmware upgrades, hardware fault isolation, and full chassis redundant component compatibility deliver uninterrupted service for mission-critical subscriber-facing edge networks with strict high-uptime operational requirements.
5. Broad Transceiver & Chassis Investment Protection
   Fully compatible with the complete Cisco CPAK 100G/40G optical transceiver portfolio, and all modern ASR 9000 series chassis models, enabling flexible network capacity expansion and full investment protection for existing ASR 9000 router deployments.

9. Regulatory & Safety Compliance Certifications

1. Electrical Safety Standards: UL 60950-1, CSA C22.2 No.60950-1, IEC 60950 CB Scheme, EN 60950-1, GB 4943
2. EMC & EMI Electromagnetic Compatibility: FCC Part 15 Class A, ICES-003 Class A, VCCI Class A, EN55022 Class A, CISPR 22, CISPR 24, full EN 61000 series ESD, electrical surge, radiated and conducted immunity compliance
3. Telecommunications & Carrier Industry Standards: NEBS Level 3 (GR-63-Core physical environmental protection, GR-1089-Core EMC/safety specifications), IEEE 802.3ba 100GE, ITU-T MPLS transport specifications, ITU-T OTN standards
4. Environmental Directives: EU RoHS hazardous substance restriction compliance, EU WEEE waste electrical and electronic equipment recycling directive compliant

10. Standard Factory Packaging Contents

1. A9K-4X100GE-SE 4-port 100 Gigabit Ethernet Service Edge optimized CPAK line card
2. ESD anti-static protective transport bag
3. Hardware installation quick reference guide (covers OIR hot-swap operation, CPAK transceiver installation, chassis slot assembly procedures)
4. Global regulatory compliance documentation packet (safety, EMC, NEBS, RoHS certification documents)
5. Dual ejector lever assemblies pre-installed on the line card for easy chassis insertion and removal

Supplementary UNSPSC Classification Code

Standard Hardware Warranty