The 2.5-Gbps multirate transponder (2.5G transponder) card provides the capability to transport a wide variety of service types from 155 Mbps to 2.48 Gbps, including services such as ESCON, SONET OC-3 through OC-48, SDH STM-1 through STM-16, Gigabit Ethernet, 1- or 2-Gbps Fiber Channel, and other services, over a 100-GHz, ITU-compliant wavelength, with 50-GHz wavelength stability for future 64-channel operation. The 2.5G transponder card architecture contains a single client interface that is mapped to a single-line DWDM interface, without accessing the Cisco ONS 15454 shelf cross-connect fabric.The DWDM line interface provides one long-reach/long-haul (LR/LH), ITU-compliant, 100-GHz spaced optical interface, with a 50-GHz wavelength stability, using LC connectors; it operates at line rates of up to OC-48 plus G.709 overhead. The DWDM output line interface is tunable across four adjacent 100-GHz wavelengths, enabling support for 32-channel DWDM networks using eight discrete card types. Each 2.5G transponder card wavelength is offered in protected or unprotected versions, with the protected version including a second DWDM line output/input, enabling optical line protection over a DWDM network. Taking advantage of amplification and dispersion compensation, the 2.5G transponder card is capable of optical reaches exceeding 500 km. When operated within the outlined specifications with forward error correction enabled, the card delivers the client payload with a bite error rate (BER) up to 10E-15.The 2.5G transponder card supports many carrier-class features and advanced capabilities necessary to deliver the wide service mix, including provisionable protocol transparency, wavelength tunability, flexible protection mechanisms, flow-through timing, management, and performance-monitoring capabilities.This card is designed for protected DWDM line.