Supported MLFR Features

The system supports the following MLFR features on the CE1, cOCx/STMx, CT1, and CT3 line modules:

• Logical aggregation of up to eight T1 or E1 links in a bundle
• Monotonically increasing sequence numbers for each circuit

All packets distributed across the member links have monotonically increasing sequence numbers for each circuit. This feature enables the remote system on the customer premises to perform resequencing (if it is configured to do so).

• Static configuration of the links participating in a multilink bundle
• Round-robin packet distribution    

• On CE1, CT1, and CT3 line modules, packet distribution across the member links in a bundle is handled only in a round-robin fashion. The round-robin approach is used even when the member links have different line rates.
• On cOCx/STMx and COCX-F3 line modules, the system keeps track of the link with the least traffic. If this link cannot forward a packet, the system attempts to forward the traffic on a different link. If this attempt also fails, the system uses a round-robin approach.

You can configure bundles as follows:

• On a CE1 line module and its corresponding I/O module, you can configure:

• Member links from different CE1 ports in the same bundle
• Any combination of bundles that does not exceed the 20 available E1 channels (for example, 20 single-link E1 bundles or 2 eight-link bundles and 4 single-link bundles)

• On a cOCx/STMX line module and its corresponding I/O modules, you can configure:

• Member links from different OC3/STM1 ports in the same bundle
• Any combination of bundles that does not exceed the 336 available T1 channels (for example, 336 single-link T1 bundles, 42 eight-link bundles, or 41 eight-link bundles and 8 single-link bundles)
• Any combination of bundles that does not exceed the 252 available E1 channels (for example, 252 single-link T1 bundles, 34 eight-link bundles, or 33 eight-link bundles and 8 single-link bundles)

• On a COCX-F3 line module and its corresponding I/O modules, you can configure:

• Up to 8 member links from different ports in the same bundle
• Up to 12 bundles

• On a CT1 line module and its corresponding I/O module, you can configure:

• Member links from different CT1 ports in the same bundle
• Any combination of bundles that does not exceed the 24 available T1 channels (for example, 24 single-link T1 bundles, 3 eight-link bundles, or 2 eight-link bundles and 8 single-link bundles.)

• On a CT3 or CT3/T3 FO line module and its corresponding I/O module, you can configure:

• Only member links from the same T3 interfaces into the same bundle. You cannot configure member links from different T3 ports in the same bundle.
• Any combination of bundles that does not exceed the 28 available T1 channels per port (for example, 28 single-link T1 bundles or 3 eight-link bundles and 4 single-link bundles per port)