Juniper Networks unveils MX Series 5G Universal Routing Platform

Juniper Networks has extended the capabilities of its MX Series router line with the MX Series 5G Universal Routing Platform. The technology, which leverages the new Juniper Penta Silicon packet forwarding engine along with 5G mobile focused software, will reach the field in the form of new line cards for the MX960, MX480 and MX240 routers as well as the equally new MX10008 and MX10016 Universal Chassis.

The MX Series 5G Universal Routing Platform addresses the increased complexity and resource intensity secure software-defined WAN (SD-WAN) and upcoming Internet of Things (IoT) and 5G mobile services will create, according to Donyell Jones-Williams, director of product marketing management at Juniper Networks. The platform provides new programmable capabilities to enable operators of carrier, cloud, and enterprise to flexibly address current and future requirements while leveraging the MX Series’ existing Contrail automation and software management overlay and SPRING subscriber management capabilities.

Much of the new capabilities come from the Juniper Penta Silicon packet forwarding engine. The programmable 16-nm device enables a 50% improvement in power efficiency (0.5 W per gigabit) versus the company’s Junos Trio chipset, which will mean a 3X increase in bandwidth capacity for the MX960, MX480, and MX240 routers. The Juniper Penta Silicon also will support both MACsec and IPsec natively for enhanced transmission security. The device also will offer Flexible Ethernet (FlexE) capabilities.

On the software end, Juniper Network also will roll out MX 5G Control User-Plane Separation (CUPS) Hardware Acceleration capabilities as part of the MX Series 5G Universal Routing Platform. The capability is based on the 3GPP CUPS standard, which enables mobile network operators to separate the evolved packet core user plane (GTP-U) and control plane (GTP-C) with a standardized Sx interface. Operators thus can scale the user and control planes separately to support software-defined networking and network functions virtualization (SDN/NFV) initiatives, as well as converge wireless and wireline traffic over the same network.

Meanwhile, the MX10008 and MX10016 Universal Chassis bring to the MX Series benefits similar to those Juniper Networks has introduced to the PTX and QFX lines, which already offer universal chassis options. The 13-RU MX10008 and 21-RU MX10016 Universal Chassis will support 19.2 Tbps and 38.4 Tbps, respectively. The chassis will improve per-slot economics for service scale at ~0.6 W per gigabit. The company will offer a wide range of line cards and software for the platforms that will address use-cases within the data center, enterprise, and WAN.

Juniper Networks will make line cards featuring the Juniper PentaSilicon available for the MX960, MX480, and MX240 in the first quarter of 2019. The CUPS support will be available in the first half of next year. The MX10008 and MX100016 will be available during the second half of 2018.

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