Cisco produced the first evidence of stated plans to diffuse its next-generation routing technology throughout its product line.

The company rolled out a model of its 12000 series Internet routers that runs its modular IOS XR operating system, which debuted almost a year ago along with a new core router, the CRS-1. The expected product extensions could help stabilize the IOS XR operating system by putting it in the hands of more carriers and in more production networks, analysts say.

"This is a very important thing for Cisco to do," says Mark Seery, an analyst at RHK. "Because the CRS-1 is going to take time to really evolve into a high-volume platform, getting IOS XR onto the 12000 form factor will accelerate the maturity of that software base."

The XR 12000 is essentially a 12000 series router with an IOS XR software upgrade. IOS XR brings a number of improvements to the 12000, which had been running Cisco's traditional IOS software, such as secure virtualization, continuous system operation and multiservice scale, Cisco says.

Cisco also rolled out processor modules and port adapters that can be swapped between routers in the company's 7300 to CRS-1 range. Cisco says the Shared Port Adapters (SPA) and SPA Interface Processors (SIP) are intended to reduce total cost of ownership for cross-platform sharing and sparing.