Understanding FPCs

Purpose

Inspect the FPCs to ensure that they connect PICs to the rest of the router so that incoming packets are forwarded across the midplane to the appropriate destination port.

What Is an FPC

The FPC is a component of the Packet Forwarding Engine. FPCs house the various PICs used in the router.

The FPCs installed in the router depend on the platform and the PICs needed. Table 45 provides some FPC characteristics for each router type.

For a listing of available FPCs and supported PICs, see the appropriate router hardware guide and router PIC guide.

Table 45: FPC Characteristics Per Routing Platform

FPC Characteristic	M5/ M10	M7i	M10i	M20	M40	M40e	M160	M320	T320	T640
FPC types supported per router	FPC built into the FEB	FPC built into the router	FPC built into the router	FPC	FPC	M40e-FPC1, M40e-FPC2	FPC1, FPC2	FPC1, FPC2, FPC3	FPC1, FPC2, FPC3	FPC2, FPC3
FPC slots per router	1/2	1	2	4	8	8	8	8	8	8

Figure 57 shows the location and numbering of the FPCs in each router platform.

Figure 57: FPC Numbering

FPCs are hot-insertable and hot-removable. You can remove and replace them without powering down the router or disrupting the routing functions.

See Also

Monitoring PICs