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Document ID: 10822
Contents
BXM and BXM-E Compatibility with WAN Switch Software
Correcting a Mismatched BXM Card
How to Tell BXM-E Cards from BXM Cards
Related Information
Introduction
This document describes how to identify newer Enhanced Broadband Switch Module (BXM-E) cards from legacy BXM cards for the Cisco BPX 8600 Series Switch. BXM-E cards improve upon legacy BXM cards by delivering more cost-effective Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) switching and traffic management. BXM-E cards allow a greater number of connections and greater cell storage capacity compared to legacy BXM cards.
BXM and BXM-E Compatibility with WAN Switch Software
The following hardware models of BXM cards are available:
| Hardware model | Identifier | Functionality |
| BXM | No identifying letters | E3, T3, OC3, OC12 |
| BXM-E | E | Enhanced E3 or T3 |
| BXM-E | D | Enhanced OC3 or OC12 |
| BXM-E | EX | Extra memory for Enhanced E3 or T3 |
| BXM-E | DX | Extra memory for Enhanced OC3 or OC12 |
For WAN Switch Software Release 9.2, the BXM-E card is not compatible with the BXM card. This incompatibility only applies to replacing a card in a BPX. Connections and trunks between BXM and BXM-E cards are fully functional. BXM and BXM-E incompatibility can result in a mismatch condition if:
- A switch software upgrade from release 9.1 to release 9.2 has a BPX with a combination of Y-redundant BXM-E cards with different memory configurations between the cards. BXM card memory differences are ignored in release 9.1 but not in release 9.2.
- A switch software upgrade from release 9.1 to release 9.2 has a BPX with a combination of Y-redundant BXM-E and BXM cards. BXM card memory differences are ignored in release 9.1 but not in release 9.2.
- A lower capacity BXM card is installed in a higher capacity BXM-E slot because of an incorrectly ordered return material authorization (RMA).
- A BXM-E or BXM is installed into a Y-redundant pair with a nonmatching card type because of an incorrectly ordered RMA.
For more information on BXM-E cards, refer to Enhanced BXM.
For more information on upgrading from BXM to BXM-E, refer to Upgrade BXM to BXM-E Cards.
The following table shows BXM and BXM-E compatibility with revisions of commonly used switch software.
| WAN Switch Software Release | Is card type clearly indicated in dspcd <slot_number> output? | BXM and BXM-E Compatibility |
| 9.1.x | No. | Full compatibility. Switch software does not distinguish between BXM and BXM-E cards. BXM and BXM-E cards can coexist in a Y-redundant configuration with either one serving as primary. |
| 9.2.x | Only in release 9.2.36 and later. | Interoperability between the two cards is supported only during the upgrade from BXM to BXM-E. Once a slot is running on BXM-E cards, never downgrade it to a BXM. |
| 9.3.x | Yes. BXM-E card types are indicated as output of the dspcd <slot_number> command. | Full compatibility. BXM and BXM-E cards can coexist in a Y-redundant configuration with either one serving as primary. |
The following output about a BXM-E card with extra memory was displayed after issuing the dspcd <slot_number> command. Release 9.3.11 was used. The card type is indicated in the Type: field below.
bpx1 TN SuperUser BPX 8620 9.3.11 May 19 2001 Detailed Card Display for BXM-155 in slot 4 Status: Active Revision: FKL Backcard Installed Serial Number: 870918 Type: LM-BXM Top Asm Number: 28215802 Revision: BA Queue Size: 524280 Serial Number: 822049 Support: 8 Pts, OC3, FST, VcShp Supp: 8 Pts,OC3,SMF,APS Support: APS(FW, HW1+1) Support: LMIv 1, ILMIv 1, NbrDisc Support: OAMLp, TrfcGen #Ch:32704,PG[1]:32736, PG[2]:32736 PG[1]:1,2,3,4,PG[2]:5,6,7,8, #Sched_Ch:61440 Type: BXME, revision DX |
Correcting a Mismatched BXM Card
A procedure to correct a mismatched BXM Y-redundant card set was verified in the laboratory using switch software 9.2.34 and BXM and BXM-E T3 firmware model E cards. Routers were connected to the BXM cards to provide traffic load across the BXM Y-redundant card set. During the laboratory verification, the removal of the Active BXM in the Y-redundant pair and the switchyred command caused almost no traffic disruption.
- Review the Upgrade BXM to BXM-E Cards text to obtain background information.
- Remove the standby BXM and replace it with a BXM-E.
- If required, move the BXM-E to an empty slot and issue the cnfcdparm command to configure channel statistics level to match that of the active BXM. This will bring the standby BXM-E out of the mismatch mode with the active BXM.
- Wait for the BXM-E to come up in standby state.
- Remove the active BXM and replace with a BXM-E. This will force the standby BXM-E to come up in active state. The switchyred command is not allowed because front cards have different queue sizes.
- Wait for the new BXM-E to come up in standby state.
- Issue the switchyred command to verify Y-redundant functionality.
How to Tell BXM-E Cards from BXM Cards
To identify the BXM card type for release 9.2., issue the command dspcd <slot_number> to determine the card type. To distinguish between the two types of cards, observe the Queue
Size field of the dspcd <slot_number> output.
In this example, BXM-155 cards are used. If the Queue Size field is 228300, the card type is the legacy BXM. If the Queue Size field is 260090 or 262140, the card type is the BXM-E card. Some legacy E3/T3 BXM cards report a Queue Size field of 131000 because less memory is needed on lower speed cards. BXM-E cards with extra memory cards report a Queue
Size field of 524280.
The following tables show the difference between the dspcd command outputs in release 9.2.33 for the BXM and the BXM-E cards.
The following output about a BXM card was displayed after issuing the dspcd <slot_number> command. Release 9.2.33 was used. There is no Type: field to identify whether the card was a BXM or BXM-E.
bpx1 TN SuperUser BPX 8620 9.2.33 Apr. 29 2001 Detailed Card Display for BXM-155 in slot 10 Status: Active Revision: FDD Backcard Installed Serial Number: 770078 Type: LM-BXM Fab Number: 28-2158-02 Revision: BS Queue Size: 228300 Serial Number: 690488 Support: 8 Pts, OC3, FST, VcShp Supp: 8 Pts,OC3,SMF,RedSlot:NO Supp: VT,ChStLv 1,VSI(Lv 2,I,T,M) Support: APS(FW) Support: LMIver 1, ILMIver 1 Support: OAMLp, TrfcGen #Ch:16320,PG[1]:8160,PG[2]:8160 PG[1]:1,2,3,4,PG[2]:5,6,7,8, #Sched_Ch:16384 Last Command: dspcd 10 |
The following output about a BXM-E card was displayed after issuing the dspcd <slot_number> command. Release 9.2.33 was used. There is no Type: field to identify whether the card was a BXM or BXM-E.
bpx2 TN SuperUser BPX 8620 9.2.33 Apr. 29 2001 Detailed Card Display for BXM-155 in slot 3 Status: Active Revision: FAE Backcard Installed Serial Number: 869127 Type: LM-BXM Fab Number: 28-2158-02 Revision: P03 Queue Size: 262140 Serial Number: 401183 Support: 8 Pts, OC3, FST, VcShp Supp: 8 Pts,OC3,MMF,RedSlot:NO Supp: VT,ChStLv 1,VSI(Lv 2,I,T,M) Support: APS(FW) Support: LMIver 1, ILMIver 1 Support: OAMLp, TrfcGen #Ch:16320,PG[1]:8160,PG[2]:8160 PG[1]:1,2,3,4,PG[2]:5,6,7,8, #Sched_Ch:16384 Last Command: dspcd 3 |
Related Information
- Upgrade BXM to BXM-E Cards
- BXM Card Sets
- Using TFTP on a PC to Download WAN Switch Software and Firmware
- Using TFTP to Download Firmware to an IPX, IGX, or BPX
- Cisco WAN Switching Solutions - Cisco Documentation
- Guide to New Names and Colors for WAN Switching Products
- Downloads - WAN Switching Software
- Technical Support - Cisco Systems
| Updated: Oct 04, 2005 | Document ID: 10822 |