Riverstone Networks introduced a new series of cards for its 15008 edge router platform that aggregate layer-two access traffic at a lower cost than previous cards.

Unlike the platform’s existing E series cards, which have layer 2 and layer 3 functions, the new A series cards are dedicated solely to layer 2 Ethernet and virtual private LAN service (VPLS) for service providers who want less expensive Ethernet aggregation.

The product was introduced based on a customer’s request, said Inbar Lasser-Raab, Riverstone’s vice president of marketing. “That customer said, ‘Why don’t you give me access cards that don’t have all the features but cut the cost down?’”

The new A-series cards are roughly half the price of the E-series cards, Lasser-Raab said, but unlike the A series, they don’t support Border Gateway Protocol, IPv6 or layer 3 multicasting.

Carriers can include a mix of A- and E-series cards within the eight slots of the 15008 chassis to get layer 3 functionality where desired.

“This gives them a middle ground,” Lasser-Raab said “It doesn’t lock them in to layer 2 only.”

Riverstone will begin taking orders for the new cards in April and start delivering them in May.