Cisco PA-T3+ : 1 Port T3 Serial Port Adapter Enhanced

The Cisco 1- and 2-Port Enhanced Capability Clear Channel Port Adapters for the Cisco 7200 Series Routers (Cisco 7201 and 7301 Routers) are enhanced two-in-one versions (part numbers PA-T3/E3-EC and PA-2T3/E3-EC) of the earlier Clear Channel T3 and E3 port adapters (part numbers PA- T3+, PA-2T3+, PA-E3, and PA-2E3). These new products assist network implementers by minimizing sparing of both T3 port adapters for the United States and E3 for European and Asian implementations. They provide a new software architecture that allows you to select either T3 or E3 by way of software configuration coupled with a more powerful chipset that lowers CPU usage. The new port adapters lower CPU usage by more than 15 percent .
These new port adapters can perform at line-rate performance with lower CPU usage on the Cisco 7200 Series and Cisco 7201 and Cisco 7301 platforms while providing scalable trunking services. Table 1 lists the router platforms and Cisco IOS® Software releases that support these features.

The two-in-one capability of the Cisco 1- and 2-Port Enhanced Capability Clear Channel Port Adapters provides easier sparing and provisioning of new T3 or E3 high-capacity corporate backbones, high-speed access to the global Internet, and trunking connections for service provider internetworking. With integrated DS-1 channel service unit/data service unit (CSU/DSU) functions, the port adapters are compatible with the large number of standards-compliant DS-1 CSU/DSUs on the market. As with the existing packet-over-T3 or -E3 port adapters, each T3 or E3 interface can be configured for full-rate or subrate operation that is compatible with a variety of third-party T3 or E3 DSU vendors such as Digital Link, ADC/Kentrox, Larscom, Adtran, and Verilink.