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In essence, according to Cisco, the way the processor and the ASR1000 works is this: as each data packet enters the ASR1000 the QuantumFlow processor inspects it and according to what it has been instructed to do for the service to which that packet belongs is able to assign to one or more of its 40 processors the task of dealing with that packet accordingly.
For example: does it belong to a high-level HDTV service which means that it has to be given high priority and charged at a high rate? Is it peer-to-peer traffic trying to get through at peak times when the service provider has decided that peer-to-peer should only be allowed through at off peak? And so on and so forth.
This means that the ASR1000 is much more than an edge router. It has been designed to implement in software many functions needed at the edge of the network that normally require dedicated hardware - either separate boxes or dedicated processor cards. Functions supported include firewall, IPSec VPNs, deep-packet inspection and session border control. All these are provided, according to Cisco, through software virtualisation enabling 'instant-on' provisioning, and all are run off the QuantumFlow chip. CONTINUED
This flexibility means is that many service that a carrier might want to provide on its network can be implemented in software in the ASR1000. The cost of developing that software will in part depend on the complexity and given that a bug propagated through an entire network of ASR1000s could have disastrous consequences - security and quality control will be paramount.
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The ASR1000 is just out of the blocks, but for an idea of what is to come look at what Cisco has just done for its older Integrated Services Router (ISR) designed for enterprise branch offices and of which more than one million have been sold.
Cisco has just announced the Application Extension Platform (AXP): a Linux based processing module that slots into the ISR that enables software developers "to create specific solutions for industry verticals and unified communications-based applications, and network and management utilities. They take advantage of the underlying security, mobility, WAN optimisation and unified communication capabilities provided by the Cisco ISR." It has been launched with a host of ready made applications.
Commenting on the development Light Reading said: "Possibly the most significant aspect of AXP, though, is the freedom for software companies to tap into IOS [the ISR's operating system] themselves. Cisco and Juniper Networks are starting to open their software after years of keeping everything locked up tight...Both companies are eager to talk about the possibilities of software vendors, or even customers, building their own applications to run on Cisco or Juniper cards." CONTINUED
The implications of all this could be far reaching indeed when placed in the context of Cisco's ambitions. Put simply Cisco wants to turn the IT world around from one in which the network exists to provide connectivity between devices, and processors to one in which the role of devices is simply to deliver the services provided by the network to end users.
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"We have had great success marketing the value of the network to service providers, large businesses and more advanced small businesses. We are now focused on extending that effort to consumers...Ultimately the network is critical to the consumer experience. Getting consumers to understand this is the task for Cisco."
According to Kisch There are basically three areas where the network will have a huge impact on the consumer experience: connection, discover and experience.
Connection and experience are fairly straightforward: the network provides the link to content, to services and to other people; experience is about the quality of the services delivered over the connection. However Kisch envisages services such as this: " a child would be able to watch their favourite Saturday morning cartoon. Halfway through the program the family needs to leave to go visit Grandma. The parent would be able to pause the show, load the family into the car and re-start the video from where it left off and play it on the rear headrest video screen."
Good stuff, but it's discovery that is the really interesting one. Kisch explains: "The concept of discovery is based upon the fact that in a world of infinite content choices it's impossible for any one person to know exactly what they are looking for all of the time. The consequence of this is that we miss movies, TV shows, short form videos and music that could be of interest to us. For us to be aware of these things we need to be able to tap into the wisdom and interests of people who are similar. This requires the network to bridge across different devices, websites and social networks and the intelligence to establish contextual relationships between individuals and content."
Sounds like Cisco plans to out google Google! Or if not provide somebody with the tools to do this (so far Cisco has not ventured into the network services business). CONTINUED
Right now it is not real easy to see exactly what Kisch means and why this function that should reside in the network rather than in the systems and devices connected to it. But look at it this way. At some level the network as the potential to be all-knowing: every time anyone does a google search, watches a video on YouTube or uploads a video to YouTube that traffic goes through the network.
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Such a network would be able to reroute a video stream from the home TV to the in-car TV screen on demand from the viewer. Such a network would very quickly be able to identify new malware being pumped into it, to know exactly where it was coming from and choke it off at source. Such a network would be able to apply differential tariffs to any service that the operator cared to name.
More importantly nothing would have to be 'set in concrete' when the network was designed and installed: as needs changed, new programs could be created and loaded to support new services or apply new tariffs. Like, perhaps, making access to Google a chargeable service, either to Google or the end user. Scary stuff.
