Cisco PA’s (Port Adapters)

Also called POET Cards

POET (Packet Over E3/T3) Cards

Cisco POET cards (PA-T3 and PA-2T3) (PA=Port Adapter), used for T3 and dual T3 access - works with IP and ATM.

http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/core/12939paf.htm#47260

Port adapters are basically the same as Ethernet and WIC cards, but they are for the more powerful routers (7000 and up) and Catalyst 5000 switches.  The 7000 series routers do not use WIC or NM’s – instead, they use PA’s (Port Adapters).  LAN and WAN PAs include Fast Ethernet, T1/E1, High-Speed Serial Interface (HSSI), T3/E3, T3/E3 ATM, multichannel T1/E1, multichannel T3/E3, OC-3 ATM, packet over SONET (POS), and OC-12 ATM.

The most common Port Adapter are the DS3 cards PA-T3 and PA-2T3.

Three models of the PA-POS-OC3 are available:

     PA-POS-OC3MM—Multimode. (See Figure 1-1.)

     PA-POS-OC3SML—Single-mode, long reach. (See Figure 1-2.)

     PA-POS-OC3SMI—Single-mode, intermediate reach. (See Figure 1-3.)

Cisco 7000-series router with POET (Packet Over E3/T3) card, provided by Sprint.  Currently, Sprint has deployed Cisco POET (PA-T3 or PA-2T3) cards in Sprint access routers.  These cards have integrated CSU/DSUs.  The POET card supports the ADC Kentrox IDSU, Larscom Access-T45, and Digital Link 3100 functionality.

The customer CPE IDSU and the Sprint Internet Network POET card exchange clocking information to jointly limit the Internet throughput on the customer’s DS3 access circuit.  For example, the 22 Mbps FDS3 service fills 22 Mbps of the 45 Mbps DS3 circuit with actual Internet traffic, and fills the DS3’s remaining bandwidth with unusable filler information.  In practice, the customer CPE IDSU limits the amount of traffic the customer can send into the Sprint Internet Network, and the Sprint Internet Network POET card limits the amount of traffic the Sprint Internet Network is able to send to the customer.

Since no DS3 formatting industry-standard exists, this service does not support circuit partitioning.  Consequently, services other than the Fractional DS3 Dedicated Internet Access service may not run over the DS3 access circuit.  The IDSU on customer premise and the Sprint Internet Network POET card must be clocked at the same rate or the service will not function.

*Note- The account team does not need to order the POET card in the Sprint Internet Node

If a customer is not interested in Standard Fractional DS3 configuration, a customer may obtain alternative configurations.  Alternative configurations require Special Customer Arrangement (SCA) approval.  Account Teams may obtain SCA approval by following the “SPECIAL SERVICE ORDER PROCESS” described in a subsequent section of this document.

SCA may approve the following configurations:

n       Customer rental of Sprint-provided router (additional fees apply)

n       Connection to customer’s diverse Sprint Internet Node (additional fees apply)

n       Connection to customer’s diverse Sprint Point of Presence (POP) (additional fees apply)

n       Use of CPE other than the Kentrox IDSU.   Other CPE includes:  Digital Link 3100, and Larscom Access-T45.

Note: Use of Cisco POET cards (PA-T3 and PA-2T3) do not require an SCA.  Keep in mind, though, that both Port Adapters will work with the following T3 Intelligent DSUs:

     Kentrox (IDSU)

     Larscom (Access T-45)

     Digital Link (DL-3100)

When the POET cards are configured for using the SAME type of device on each end of a circuit, you can operate at fractional DS3.

SCA will not approve the following configurations:

n       Fractional DS3 port bandwidths not specifically named in this document