MX240 Flexible PIC Concentrator (FPC) Description

A Flexible PIC Concentrator (FPC) occupies two DPC slots on an MX Series router. The DPC slots are numbered 1/0, 1, and 2, bottom to top. One FPC can be installed horizontally in either slots 1/0 and 1, or slots 1 and 2 on the front of the router (see Figure 2). The interface corresponds to the lowest numbered DPC slot for which the FPC is installed.

Figure 1 shows typical FPCs supported on the MX240 router.

Figure 1: Typical FPCs Supported on the MX240 Router

If a slot is not occupied by a DPC, an FPC, or an SCB, a blank panel must be installed to shield the empty slot and to allow cooling air to circulate properly through the router.

Each FPC supports up to two PICs. On an FPC2, one Packet Forwarding Engine receives incoming packets from the PICs installed on the FPC and forwards them through the switch planes to the appropriate destination port. On an FPC3, two Packet Forwarding Engines receive incoming packets from the PICs installed on the FPC and forwards them through the switch planes to the appropriate destination port. The FPCs interface with the power supplies and SCBs.

FPCs are hot-removable and hot-insertable, as described in MX240 Component Redundancy. When you install an FPC into a functioning router, the Routing Engine downloads the FPC software, the FPC runs its diagnostics, and the PICs, housed on the FPC, are enabled. Forwarding continues uninterrupted during this process. When you remove or install an FPC, packet forwarding between other DPCs or FPCs is not affected.

Figure 2: FPC Installed in the MX240 Router Chassis

FPC Components

Each FPC consists of the following components:

• FPC card carrier, which includes two PIC slots.
• Up to two Packet Forwarding Engines, each consisting of one I-chip for Layer 3 processing and one Layer 2 network processor.
• Midplane connectors and power circuitry.
• Processor subsystem (PMB), which includes a 1.2-GHz CPU, system controller, 1 GB of SDRAM, and two Gigabit Ethernet interfaces.
• Two LEDs, located on the craft interface above the FPC, that display the status of the FPC and are labeled OK and FAIL. For more information about the FPC LEDs located on the craft interface, see FPC LEDs on the MX240 Craft Interface.
• FPC online/offline button, located on the craft interface above the FPC