cisco IEC-6400 Gateway User Guide
- June 16, 2024
- Cisco
Table of Contents
Overview of Cisco IEC-6400 Gateway
IEC-6400 Gateway
Overview of Edge Compute Appliance
The IEC-6400 Edge Compute Appliance acts as the MPLS gateway in a URWB
network. One of the most important functionalities of the IEC-6400 gateway is
to handle aggregated throughput up to 40 Gbps.
The IEC-6400 gateway uses the Cisco Ultra-Reliable Wireless Backhaul (URWB)
technology with Cisco’s UCS C220 M6 Rack Server that enables you to extend the
benefits of URWB to large-scale, high-capacity-demanding wireless networks.
The IEC-6400 gateway is designed to operate in URWB Layer 2 and 3 networks. It
serves as an aggregation point for all the MPLS-over-the-communications within
networks with numerous industrial wireless (IW) gateways requiring multi-Gbps
aggregated throughput. IEC-6400 gateway is part of the IW product’s family
with Wi-Fi 6 capability.
The Cisco UCS C220 M6 server supports:
- 2x 10GBase-T Ethernet LAN on Motherboard (LOM) ports used as data ports
- Support for an optional Cisco VIC, providing 4x 10/25G SFP28 data ports, which extends the throughput capability up to 40 Gbps
- 1x Gigabit Ethernet dedicated management port to access the UCS Cisco Integrated Management Controller (IMC) interface. The IMC offers CLI and web interface to manage configurations of the gateway hardware.
- 2x power supply connectors
- 1 KVM port
- Secure Boot
The following table lists the UCS C220 M6 server details:
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Chassis | One rack-unit (1RU) chassis |
| Hard disk | 480 GB SSD SATA |
| Central processor | Intel 4310 2.1 GHz/120 W 12C/18 MB DDR4 2667 MHz |
| Memory | 16 GB |
| Power specification | 2x 1050 W AC Power Supply |
Note
Each power supply in the server has a power cord. Standard power cords or
jumper power cords are available for connection to the server. The shorter
jumper power cords, for use in racks, are available as an optional alternative
to the standard power cords.
For more details about UCS C220 M6 server physical, environmental, power and
power cord specifications, see Cisco UCS C220 M6 Server Installation and
Service Guide – Server
Specifications.
Architecture
Below is the sample architecture on how the IEC-6400 gateway operates in a
URWB Fluidity L3 network:
Figure 1: IEC-6400 Gateway Architecture
The IEC-6400 gateway establishes a fixed architecture and
implements the multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) protocol which uses labels
rather than network addresses to guide data from one node to another node.
This functionality increases the IP packet delivery rate.
Identifying Gateway Mesh Capability
Although the wireless access points can be configured in both Mesh Point and
Mesh End modes, the IEC-6400 gateway can only be configured as a Mesh End.
Irrespective of its configuration and operational mode, each gateway is
shipped from the factory with a unique mesh identification (ID) number (also
called the Mesh ID), and it is in the form of 5.a.b.c.
The triplet a.b.c uniquely identifies the individual physical hardware
gateway. The Mesh ID number serves as the identifier for the configurator
interface that is used to configure the gateway. The mesh ID number is
permanent and cannot be changed.
IEC-6400 Gateways
The IEC-6400 gateway is deployed at the data center level to ensure IP address
reachability throughout the entire network. The gateway has total three LAN
interfaces (see Figure 3: Rear Panel View):
- One dedicated to CIMC management port (port 9) to access the CIMC CLI
- Two dedicated ethernet data ports (ports 10 and 11) to access the gateway’s GUI and CLI
The gateway and all other edge gateways must be provided with a private LAN IP address, and they are accessed through the private IP addresses.
External Features
Front Panel Overview
The following figure shows the front panel features of the IEC-6400 gateway:
Figure 2: Front Panel View
| Identification Number in the Front Panel | LED/Button Details |
|---|---|
| (1) | Power button/LED |
| (2) | Unit identification |
| (3) | System health status |
| (4) | Power supply status |
| (5) | Fan status |
| (6) | Network link activity |
| (7) | Temperature status |
Rear Panel Overview
The following figure shows the rear panel features of the IEC-6400 gateway:
Figure 3: Rear Panel View
| Identification Number in the Rear Panel | Slot Details |
|---|---|
| (1) | Riser 1, which is controlled by CPU 1: |
• Supports one PCIe slot
• Slot 1 is half height, ¾ length, x16
(2)| Riser 2 (blanking panel)
(3)| Riser 3 (blanking panel)
(4)| Power supply units (2x which can be redundant when configured in 1+1
power mode)
(5)| Modular LAN-on-motherboard (mLOM)
(6)| System identification button/LED
(7)| VGA video port (DB-15 connector)
(8)| COM port (RJ-45 connector)
(9)| 1 GbE dedicated Ethernet IMC management port
(10) and (11)| Dual 1 Gb/10 GbE Ethernet data ports (LAN1 and
LAN2)
LAN1 is left connector
LAN2 is left connector
(12)| USB 3.0 ports (2x)
UCS C220 M6 server LED pattern
For more details about UCS C220 M6 server LED pattern, see Status LEDs and
Buttons.