Cisco has launched what it says will be the foundation of the next-generation Internet and set the pace for the growth of video transmission, mobile devices and new online services.

Claiming more than 12 times the traffic capacity of the nearest competing system, the Cisco CRS-3 is designed to accelerate the delivery of compelling new experiences for consumers in the broadband communication and entertainment industry and provide new revenue opportunities for service providers.

With a multi-chassis architecture, the Cisco CRS-3 can deliver up to 322 Terabits per second (Tbps) of capacity, more than tripling the 92 Tbps capacity of the Cisco CRS-1 representing, says Cisco, more than 12 times the capacity of any other core router in the industry.

In addition to capacity requirements, the growth of mobile and video applications are creating new multidirectional traffic patterns with the increasing emergence of the data center cloud. With that in mind the new Cisco Data Center Services System provides linkages between the Cisco CRS-3, Cisco Nexus family and Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) to enable unified service delivery of cloud services.

AT&T has already tested the Cisco CRS-3 on its AT&T's live network between New Orleans and Miami. The trial was designed to advance AT&T's development of the next generation of backbone network technology that will support the network requirements for the growing number of advanced services offered by AT&T to consumer and business customers, both fixed and mobile.