M320 Internet Router Overview
The M320 Internet router is a high-density edge aggregation, routing, and service creation platform that can be deployed in core, peering, and data center applications. Optimized for dense edge aggregation and service creation, the M320 router can provide a single point of edge aggregation for thousands of customers over any access type, including ATM, Frame Relay, Ethernet, and Time-Division Multiplexing (TDM), at any speed from DS0 up to OC192/STM64 and 10-Gigabit Ethernet. (See Figure 8.)
The M320 router includes Switch Interface Boards (SIBs) that provide the switching function to the destination Flexible PIC Concentrator (FPC) at a total of 385 million packets per second (Mpps) of forwarding. The host subsystem, which consists of the Routing Engine and Control Board, provides the routing and system management functions of the router.
The router supports up to eight FPCs providing SONET/SDH OC-48/STM16, SONET/SDH OC192/STM64, and 160-Gigabit Ethernet media. The router supports three types of FPCs: FPC1 for hot-swappable M40e PICs, FPC2 for hot-swappable M160 PICs, and FPC3 for 10-Gbps T-series Physical Interface Cards (PICs). For more information about supported PICs, see the M320 Internet Router PIC Guide.
The M320 router provides a maximum aggregate throughput of 320 gigabits per second (GBps) full duplex. The JUNOS software runs on a control subsystem with dedicated hardware, ensuring that control functions are performed without affecting the forwarding subsystem. Forwarding and packet processing operations in the router are performed by dedicated programmable ASICs that enable the router to achieve data forwarding rates the match current fiber-optic capacity.