FPC Components

An FPC has the following components:

• FPC card carrier—Houses the ASICs, connectors, and processor subsystem.
• Four I/O Manager ASICs—Parse Layer 2 and Layer 3 data and perform encapsulation and segmentation. The I/O Manager ASICs divide incoming packets into 64-byte data cells for easier processing, and reassemble the cells for each packet after the forwarding decision is made for it. Enhanced FPCs have I/O Manager ASICs capable of enhanced quality of service.
• Two Packet Director ASICs—Transfer packets between the PICs and the I/O Manager ASICs: one directs incoming packets from the PICs to the I/O Manager ASICs, while the second directs outgoing packets from the I/O Manager ASICs to the PICs.
• Eight identical synchronous DRAM (SDRAM) dual inline memory modules (DIMMs)—Form the memory pool shared with the other FPCs installed in the router.
• Parity-protected synchronous SRAM (SSRAM)—Stores data structures used by the I/O Manager ASICs.
• Processor subsystem—Manages packet handling in the FPC and communication with the SFM. It is a PowerPC 603e-based CPU with parity-protected DRAM.
• EEPROM—Stores the serial number and revision level of the FPC.
• Two LEDs—Indicate FPC status. The LED labeled OK is green and the one labeled FAIL is red. The LEDs for each FPC are located on the router craft interface. For more information, see FPC LEDs and Offline Button.
• Offline button—Prepares the FPC for removal from the router when pressed. Like the LEDs, an offline button is located on the craft interface. For more information, see FPC LEDs and Offline Button.
• Four PIC offline buttons (on FPC1 only)—Prepare each corresponding PIC for removal from the FPC.
• Ejector levers—Control the locking system that secures the FPC in the card cage.

For specific information about FPC components (for example, the amount of memory available), issue the show chassis fpc command.