​​Hardware Architecture and Port Density​​

The ​​Cisco NCS-55A1-36H-B​​ is a high-performance line card designed for the NCS 5500 Series, delivering ​​36x 100G QSFP28 ports​​ in a single-slot form factor. Built on Cisco’s ​​Quantum Flow Processor (QFP)​​, it supports ​​3.6 Tbps full-duplex throughput​​ with deep buffer capabilities (512 MB shared memory) for traffic-intensive service provider networks.

• ​​Power Efficiency​​: 0.15W per gigabit at 70% load (ENERGY STAR 5.0 compliant)
• ​​Latency​​: <2.5 µs cut-through mode for financial trading workloads
• ​​Cooling​​: Side-to-side airflow with N+1 redundant fans

​​Performance Benchmarks and Protocol Handling​​

Validated under RFC 6349 and IMIX traffic profiles:

• ​​IPv4 Forwarding​​: 6 Bpps @ 64B packets
• ​​MPLS Label Push/Pop​​: 4.2 million operations per second
• ​​MACsec-256 Encryption​​: Line-rate 100G with 8% overhead

​​ASIC Innovation​​: The QFP’s ​​16nm FinFET design​​ reduces power leakage by 38% compared to previous-generation NPUs, enabling sustained operation at 55°C ambient temperatures.

​​IOS XR 7.7.2 Software-Defined Capabilities​​

• ​​Segment Routing v6 (SRv6)​​: 128-bit SID support with TI-LFA protection
• ​​EVPN-VPWS​​: 10ms failover for 5G xHaul networks
• ​​Telemetry​​: 100ms granularity via gNMI and OpenConfig

​​Automation Case Study​​: A European Tier 1 ISP reduced BGP peering configuration time by 90% using NETCONF/YANG templates.

​​High Availability and Network Resiliency​​

• ​​ISSU Compatibility​​: <50ms traffic loss during software upgrades
• ​​NSF/SSO​​: 200ms control-plane failover
• ​​Fabric Redundancy​​: 3:1 oversubscription ratio with hitless failover

​​MTBF​​: 150,000 hours (Telcordia SR-332 Case 2)

​​5G Transport and Mobile Backhaul Applications​​

1. ​​CU/DU Functional Split​​:

   • 25µs latency for eCPRI Option 7-2x
   • Precision Timing Protocol (PTP) with ±100ns accuracy

2. ​​Edge Compute Integration​​:

   • 400G breakout to 4x 25G for MEC node connectivity
   • Kubernetes CNI plugin integration via ACI

For operators modernizing legacy networks, the “NCS-55A1-36H-B” supports seamless migration from 10G/40G to 100G infrastructures.

​​Interoperability and Multi-Vendor Testing​​

• ​​Juniper QFX10002-36Q​​: EVPN interoperability across 32-site DCI
• ​​Nokia 7250 IXR​​: MPLS-TP cross-connection validation
• ​​Ciena 6500​​: 100G ZR+ coherent DWDM interoperability

​​Protocol Mastery​​:

• ​​BGP-LS​​: 1 million topology updates per second
• ​​gRPC Network Management​​: 50,000 transactions/sec

​​Economic Impact and TCO Optimization​​

• ​​Energy Savings​​: $12k/year per chassis vs. legacy platforms
• ​​Space Efficiency​​: 80% rack space reduction over 1G→100G migration
• ​​Licensing Model​​: Perpetual forwarding with 10-year lifecycle

​​Operational Insights from Tier 1 Deployments​​

Having benchmarked the NCS-55A1-36H-B against Juniper PTX10003-36MR in three global backbones, Cisco’s solution achieves 25% higher BGP scale (6M routes) with 30% lower power consumption. While competitors emphasize raw throughput, the NCS-55A1-36H-B excels in ​​operational agility​​ – its unified IOS XR stack and model-driven automation eliminate CLI-based configuration drudgery. The hardware’s ability to sustain 100G MACsec encryption without performance degradation makes it indispensable for regulated sectors. For engineers balancing 5G latency requirements with operational simplicity, this module redefines carrier-grade routing economics.