The Cisco^® Fourth-Generation (4G) Long-Term Evolution (LTE) Network Interface Modules (NIMs) for Cisco 4000 Series Integrated Services Routers (ISRs) provide the next generation of wireless WAN primary and backup solutions.

Product Overview

4G LTE can provide either primary connectivity or backup communications, offering network resiliency for business continuity. With greater agility and speed to deployment than wired solutions, 4G LTE can reduce network cost, and it complements wireline public and private network access.  Practical applications of 4G LTE for organizations include parallel networks, primary connection, failover, in-vehicle connectivity, network convergence, and last-mile diversity. The 4G LTE NIM with the Cisco 4000 series Integrated Services Router leads the industry in bringing enterprise grade functions such as Quality of Service (QoS), Multi-Virtual Route Forwarding (Multi-VRF) , advanced VPN, and Unified Communications solutions over LTE.

The Cisco 4G LTE NIMs (Figure 1) provide an enterprise-class 4G multimode LTE wireless WAN (WWAN) solution. With Cisco ISRs, 4G LTE is a powerful primary WAN access solution. Businesses can now run applications such as interactive video and telepresence on a primary 4G LTE connection, which is up to 50 times faster with far lower latency than third-generation (3G) links. These 4G modules support the latest Third-Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Release 9 LTE standards. Cisco 4G multimode LTE WWAN NIMs provide persistent, reliable LTE connectivity with fallback and transparent handoff to earlier technologies. The cards provide bandwidth to support high-definition (HD) and peer-to-peer (P2P) video calls, providing customers with an excellent mobile broadband experience. The Cisco 4G LTE WWAN NIMs are tightly integrated with the services provided on the award-winning Cisco 4000 Series ISR devices, which deliver secure data, voice, video, and mobility services. The Cisco 4G LTE WWAN NIMs are supported on the modular Cisco 4200, 4300 and 4400 Series ISR devices.

Enterprises are looking for ways to reduce deployment time, enable comprehensive media services, increase revenue, and improve business continuity. The Cisco 4G LTE WWAN NIMs, when coupled with a service provider’s wireless data plan, provide a rapidly deployable, high-bandwidth, reliable, and secure solution for branch offices and remote sites. With 4G LTE data rates, the Cisco 4G LTE WWAN NIMs offer a primary WAN link solution capable of running comprehensive branch-office services, including voice and video services.

The Cisco LTE WWAN NIMs include the following models:

●   Cisco LTE 2.0 NIM for Global (NIM-4G-LTE-GA): Multimode LTE for carriers that operate LTE on 800-MHz (band 20), 900-MHz (band 8), 1800-MHz (band 3), 2100-MHz (band 1), or 2600-MHz (band 7) networks; the multimode LTE Global (Europe, Australia, etc.) NIMs are backward-compatible with 3G Dual-Cell-high-speed packet access plus (DC-HSPA+), high-speed packet access plus (HSPA+), high-speed packet access (HSPA), Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service (UMTS), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), and General Packet Radio Service (GPRS).

●   Cisco LTE 2.0 NIM for North America (NIM-4G-LTE-NA): Multimode LTE for carriers that operate LTE on PCS 1900-MHz (band 2), 850 MHz (band 5), 1700- or 2100-MHz (band 4 AWS), or 700-MHz (band 17); the multimode LTE North America (AT&T, Canada) NIMs are backward-compatible with DC-HSPA+, HSPA+, HSPA, UMTS, EDGE, and GPRS

●   Cisco LTE 2.0 NIM for Sprint (NIM-4G-LTE-ST) and Cisco LTE 2.0 4G NIM for Verizon (NIM-4G-LTE-VZ): Multimode LTEs for carriers that operate LTE on 700-MHz (band 13), 1700- or 2100-MHz (band 4 AWS), or extended PCS 1900-MHz (band 25); the multimode NIMs are backward-compatible with EVDO A/CDMA 1X BC0, BC1, and BC10

With enhanced data rates and improved latency, WWAN services are an ideal way to replace or supplement traditional wire-line services. 4G LTE WWAN data services offered today have theoretical limits of CAT3 100 Mbps on the downlink and 50 Mbps on the uplink. The actual data speed depends on the service provider’s network. 4G LTE WWAN data services are an alternative in areas in which broadband services are either not available or very expensive. Cisco is building on these performance milestones and adding support for wireless to our wide variety of WAN interface alternatives.

Main Business Benefits

●   Primary connectivity: The Cisco multimode 4G LTE WWAN NIM provides persistent, reliable LTE connectivity with fallback and transparent handoff to earlier technologies. It enables high-performance, secure, reliable, and transparent multimedia applications anywhere and anytime and allows customers to deploy and manage the same device for multiple applications, simplifying deployment and management. For businesses requiring rapid setup or temporary connectivity, 4G LTE WWAN offers the capability to deploy a new site quickly. Using the integrated services available on the Cisco ISRs, Cisco 4G LTE WWAN NIMs can provide instant and mobile communications during disasters and service outages.

●   WAN backup: Resilient WAN access is a crucial requirement for branch offices connecting to a corporate site or the Internet. Although DSL, Frame Relay, ISDN, and dialup are common choices for backup if a primary WAN link fails, a nonterrestrial data path such as a 4G LTE WWAN provides enhanced WAN diversity (Figures 2 and 3). Cisco 4G LTE WWAN NIMs, combined with the Cisco ISRs, offer the capability to automatically initiate connection over the 4G LTE WWAN when the primary WAN link is unavailable. In addition, you can use Cisco 4G LTE WWAN NIMs to provide supplemental bandwidth when the primary WAN link is overloaded (Figure 4).

Main Features and Benefits

●   Integrated 4G LTE WWAN broadband: With the 4G LTE WWAN modem integrated into the router, you gain the benefits of simplified installation and management. In addition, the Cisco 4G LTE WWAN NIMs are tightly integrated with Cisco ISRs, which run the industry-leading Cisco IOS^® XE Software, giving access to all the advanced features of Cisco IOS Software such as QoS, intelligent network queuing, and robust security.

●   Performance: With increasing data use and the proliferation of web-based applications at remote sites, there is an increasing need for high-speed (broadband) data connections to run mission-critical applications at these sites. 4G LTE WWAN services promise low-latency links at high speeds.

●   Short installation time: Businesses sometimes have to wait weeks or months to get data circuits installed at new locations. For temporary or seasonal sites, wireless data services allow instant connectivity anywhere there is cellular coverage, and rapid deployment allows you to quickly set up networks with WAN connectivity.

●   Network resiliency through WAN diversity: WAN connectivity is crucial to the functioning of your business, and any downtime means a loss of productivity and lost opportunity. Staying connected and operational during a network outage can be vital. A wireless connection for backup to a remote site provides protection against line outages and an additional level of redundancy, because the 4G LTE WWAN infrastructure is often served by separate facilities, providing redundancy for the entire local loop. With 4G LTE WWAN, Cisco Intelligent WAN (IWAN) provides transport-independent intelligent path control, application optimization, and secure connectivity on any device, over any connection, and to any cloud.

●   Portability: You can easily relocate wireless routers and Cisco 4G LTE WWAN NIMs wherever coverage is available.

●   Multiple packet data networks (PDNs): This feature allows configuration of multiple active access-point names (APNs) so that Internet traffic can be kept separate from the corporate traffic.

Entrerprise-Grade WAN Features for 4G LTE

4G LTE multiple-bearer QoS for cellular (Figure 5): The 4G LTE NIM supports 4G LTE multiple-bearer QoS. Detailed information about the bearer is part of the show CLI command output, Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) MIBs, etc. The QoS feature is service provider-dependent, and requires the service provider to launch this service.