The Cisco^® Fourth-Generation Long-Term Evolution (LTE) Advanced Network Interface Modules (NIMs) for Cisco 4000 Series Integrated Services Routers (ISRs) and ENCS 5400 Series provide the next generation of wireless WAN primary, backhaul, IWAN, and backup solutions.

Product Overview

LTE Advanced can provide either primary connectivity or backup communications, offering network resiliency for business continuity. With greater agility and speed to deployment than wired solutions, LTE Advanced can reduce network cost and complement wire-line public and private network access. Practical applications of LTE Advanced for organizations include parallel networks, primary connection, failover, in-vehicle connectivity, network convergence, and last-mile diversity. The LTE Advanced NIMs with the Cisco 4000 Series ISRs and ENCS 5400 Series lead 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 LTE Advanced NIMs (Figure 1) provide an enterprise-class, multimode LTE Advanced wireless WAN (WWAN) solution. With Cisco ISRs, LTE Advanced is a powerful primary WAN access solution. Businesses can now run applications such as interactive video and telepresence on a primary LTE Advanced connection that is up to 150 times faster than 3G links, with far lower latency. These LTE Advanced modules support the latest Third-Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Release 10 Category 6 LTE Advanced standards. Cisco multimode LTE Advanced WWAN NIMs provide persistent, reliable LTE Advanced 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 LTE Advanced WWAN NIMs are tightly integrated with the services provided on the award-winning Cisco 4000 Series ISRs and ECS 5400 Series, which deliver highly secure data, voice, video, NFVs, and mobility services. The Cisco LTE Advanced WWAN NIMs are supported on the modular Cisco 4200, 4300, and 4400 Series ISRs and ENCS 5400 Series with Network Function Virtualization and services.

Enterprises are looking for ways to reduce deployment time, enable comprehensive media services, increase revenue, and improve business continuity. The Cisco LTE Advanced 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 LTE Advanced fast data rates, these NIMs offer a primary WAN link solution capable of running comprehensive branch-office services, including voice and video services.

Carrier aggregation makes it possible for carriers to transmit data to a device like a wireless router over multiple network bands at once, through a single "aggregated data pipe." LTE Advanced with carrier aggregation utilizes multiple frequency bands at once, devices switch frequency bands in just a few milliseconds. Additionally, even if one band drops, the device stays connected via the second band in the aggregated data pipe.