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Cisco 7600 Series Router SIP, SSC, and SPA Hardware Installation Guide
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SIP and SPA Product Overview
This chapter provides an introduction to SPA interface processors (SIPs) and shared port adapters
(SPAs). It includes the following sections:
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Introduction to SIPs and SPAs, page 1-1
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SIP, SSC, and SPA Compatibility, page 1-3
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Modular Optics Compatibility, page 1-6
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For software details for the specific SIPs and SPAs that are supported on the Cisco 7600 series routers,
refer to the companion publication, Cisco 7600 Series Router SIP, SSC, and SPA Software Configuration
Guide.
Introduction to SIPs and SPAs
SIPs, SSCs, and SPAs are a new carrier card and port adapter architecture to increase modularity,
flexibility, and density across Cisco Systems routers for network connectivity. This section describes the
SIPs, SSCs, and SPAs and provides some guidelines for their use.
SPA Interface Processors
The following list describes some of the general characteristics of a SIP:
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A SIP is a carrier card that inserts into a router slot like a line card. It provides no network
connectivity on its own.
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A SIP contains one or more subslots, which are used to house one or more SPAs. The SPA provides
interface ports for network connectivity.
•
During normal operation the SIP should reside in the router fully populated either with functional
SPAs in all subslots, or with a blank filler plate (SPA-BLANK=) inserted in all empty subslots.
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SIPs support online insertion and removal (OIR) with SPAs inserted in their subslots. SPAs also
support OIR and can be inserted or removed independently from the SIP.
