<s>
A	O
core	B-Protocol
router	I-Protocol
is	O
a	O
router	B-Protocol
designed	O
to	O
operate	O
in	O
the	O
Internet	B-General_Concept
backbone	I-General_Concept
,	O
or	O
core	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
fulfill	O
this	O
role	O
,	O
a	O
router	B-Protocol
must	O
be	O
able	O
to	O
support	O
multiple	O
telecommunications	O
interfaces	O
of	O
the	O
highest	O
speed	O
in	O
use	O
in	O
the	O
core	O
Internet	O
and	O
must	O
be	O
able	O
to	O
forward	O
IP	O
packets	B-Protocol
at	O
full	O
speed	O
on	O
all	O
of	O
them	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
core	B-Protocol
router	I-Protocol
is	O
distinct	O
from	O
an	O
edge	B-Protocol
router	I-Protocol
:	O
edge	B-Protocol
routers	I-Protocol
sit	O
at	O
the	O
edge	O
of	O
a	O
backbone	B-General_Concept
network	O
and	O
connect	O
to	O
core	B-Protocol
routers	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Like	O
the	O
term	O
"	O
supercomputer	B-Architecture
"	O
,	O
the	O
term	O
"	O
core	B-Protocol
router	I-Protocol
"	O
refers	O
to	O
the	O
largest	O
and	O
most	O
capable	O
routers	B-Protocol
of	O
the	O
then-current	O
generation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
router	B-Protocol
that	O
was	O
a	O
core	B-Protocol
router	I-Protocol
when	O
introduced	O
would	O
likely	O
not	O
be	O
a	O
core	B-Protocol
router	I-Protocol
ten	O
years	O
later	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
the	O
local	O
area	O
NPL	B-Protocol
network	I-Protocol
was	O
using	O
line	O
speeds	O
of	O
768	O
kbit/s	O
from	O
1967	O
,	O
at	O
the	O
inception	O
of	O
the	O
ARPANET	O
(	O
the	O
Internet	O
's	O
predecessor	O
)	O
in	O
1969	O
,	O
the	O
fastest	O
links	O
were	O
56	O
kbit/s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
"	O
core	B-Protocol
router	I-Protocol
"	O
was	O
a	O
dedicated	O
minicomputer	B-Architecture
called	O
an	O
IMP	O
Interface	B-Protocol
Message	I-Protocol
Processor	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Link	O
speeds	O
increased	O
steadily	O
,	O
requiring	O
progressively	O
more	O
powerful	O
routers	B-Protocol
until	O
the	O
mid-1990s	O
,	O
when	O
the	O
typical	O
core	O
link	O
speed	O
reached	O
155	O
Mbit/s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
that	O
time	O
,	O
several	O
breakthroughs	O
in	O
fiber	B-Architecture
optic	I-Architecture
telecommunications	O
(	O
notably	O
DWDM	B-Architecture
and	O
EDFA	O
)	O
technologies	O
combined	O
to	O
lower	O
bandwidth	O
costs	O
that	O
in	O
turn	O
drove	O
a	O
sudden	O
dramatic	O
increase	O
in	O
core	O
link	O
speeds	O
:	O
by	O
2000	O
,	O
a	O
core	O
link	O
operated	O
at	O
2.5	O
Gbit/s	O
and	O
core	O
Internet	O
companies	O
were	O
planning	O
for	O
10	O
Gbit/s	O
speeds	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
largest	O
provider	O
of	O
core	B-Protocol
routers	I-Protocol
in	O
the	O
1990s	O
was	O
Cisco	O
Systems	O
,	O
who	O
provided	O
core	B-Protocol
routers	I-Protocol
as	O
part	O
of	O
a	O
broad	O
product	O
line	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Juniper	O
Networks	O
entered	O
the	O
business	O
in	O
1996	O
,	O
focusing	O
primarily	O
on	O
core	B-Protocol
routers	I-Protocol
and	O
addressing	O
the	O
need	O
for	O
a	O
radical	O
increase	O
in	O
routing	O
capability	O
that	O
was	O
driven	O
by	O
the	O
increased	O
link	O
speed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
,	O
several	O
new	O
companies	O
attempted	O
to	O
develop	O
new	O
core	B-Protocol
routers	I-Protocol
in	O
the	O
late	O
1990s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
during	O
this	O
period	O
that	O
the	O
term	O
"	O
core	B-Protocol
router	I-Protocol
"	O
came	O
into	O
wide	O
use	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
required	O
forwarding	O
rate	O
of	O
these	O
routers	B-Protocol
became	O
so	O
high	O
that	O
it	O
could	O
not	O
be	O
met	O
with	O
a	O
single	O
processor	O
or	O
a	O
single	O
memory	O
,	O
so	O
these	O
systems	O
all	O
employed	O
some	O
form	O
of	O
a	O
distributed	O
architecture	O
based	O
on	O
an	O
internal	O
switching	O
fabric	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
core	O
Internet	O
providers	O
were	O
able	O
to	O
defer	O
purchases	O
of	O
new	O
core	B-Protocol
routers	I-Protocol
for	O
a	O
time	O
,	O
and	O
most	O
of	O
the	O
new	O
companies	O
went	O
out	O
of	O
business	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
of	O
2012	O
,	O
the	O
typical	O
Internet	B-General_Concept
core	I-General_Concept
link	O
speed	O
is	O
40	O
Gbit/s	O
,	O
with	O
many	O
links	O
at	O
higher	O
speeds	O
,	O
reaching	O
or	O
exceeding	O
100	O
Gbit/s	O
(	O
out	O
of	O
a	O
theoretical	O
current	O
maximum	O
of	O
111	O
Gbit/s	O
,	O
provided	O
by	O
Nippon	O
Telegraph	O
and	O
Telephone	O
)	O
,	O
provisioning	O
the	O
explosion	O
in	O
demand	O
for	O
bandwidth	O
in	O
the	O
current	O
generation	O
of	O
cloud	B-Architecture
computing	I-Architecture
and	O
other	O
bandwidth-intensive	O
(	O
and	O
often	O
latency-sensitive	O
)	O
applications	O
such	O
as	O
high-definition	O
video	B-Application
streaming	I-Application
(	O
see	O
IPTV	O
)	O
and	O
Voice	B-Application
over	I-Application
IP	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
,	O
along	O
with	O
newer	O
technologies	O
–	O
such	O
as	O
DOCSIS	O
3	O
,	O
channel	B-Architecture
bonding	I-Architecture
,	O
and	O
VDSL2	O
(	O
the	O
latter	O
of	O
which	O
can	O
wring	O
more	O
than	O
100	O
Mbit/s	O
out	O
of	O
plain	O
,	O
unshielded	O
twisted-pair	O
copper	O
under	O
normal	O
conditions	O
,	O
out	O
of	O
a	O
theoretical	O
maximum	O
of	O
250	O
Gbit/s	O
at	O
0.0m	O
from	O
the	O
VRAD	O
)	O
–	O
and	O
more	O
sophisticated	O
provisioning	O
systems	O
–	O
such	O
as	O
FTTN	B-Architecture
(	O
fiber	O
[	O
optic	O
cable ]	O
to	O
the	O
node	O
)	O
and	O
FTTP	B-Architecture
(	O
fiber	B-Architecture
to	I-Architecture
the	I-Architecture
premises	I-Architecture
,	O
either	O
to	O
the	O
home	O
or	O
provisioned	O
with	O
Cat	O
5e	O
cable	O
)	O
–	O
can	O
provide	O
downstream	O
speeds	O
to	O
the	O
mass-market	O
residential	O
consumer	O
in	O
excess	O
of	O
300	O
Mbit/s	O
and	O
upload	O
speeds	O
in	O
excess	O
of	O
100	O
Mbit/s	O
with	O
no	O
specialized	O
equipment	O
or	O
modification	O
e.g.	O
</s>
<s>
(	O
Verizon	B-Protocol
FiOS	I-Protocol
)	O
.	O
</s>
