Operation
3-4
SMB-10 Bus
The SMB-10 is a 10Mbs management bus located within the SmartSwitch 9000
which is also used for inter-chassis communication of modules as well as serving
as an out-of-band management channel into the SmartSwitch 9000. The SMB-10 is
externalized from the chassis via an optional Ethernet Port Interface Module
(EPIM) located on the front of the Environmental Module. Through an EPIM
connection, full SNMP management of the SmartSwitch 9000 is available out-of-
band from user data. Modules which share the SMB-10 bus periodically send out
loop-back packets to ensure the validity of SMB-10. In the event a fault is detected
on the SMB-10, the SMB-1 can be used as an alternate communication channel by
the modules.
System Diagnostic Controller
This diagnostic controller is composed of a Z-80 microprocessor and its
supporting logic. The diagnostic controller is designed to control the power-up
sequencing of modules, monitor the 9A426-02 Module input and output power
parameters, keep watch over the main host processor, as well as monitor the
temperature and control the SMB LANVIEW diagnostic LED. Although the
diagnostic controller and the main host processor can operate independent of
each other if needed, they exchange information about each other’s status and
overall module condition. The information gathered by the diagnostic controller
is available to the network manager via local/remote management and the LCD
located on the environment module. The 9A426-02 Module has been designed so
that in the event of a diagnostic controller fault, the 9A426-02 Module will
continue to function.
DC/DC Converter
The DC/DC converter converts the 48 VDC on the system power bus to the
necessary operating voltages for its host network services module. The diagnostic
controller monitors and controls the operation of the DC/DC converter.
INB Network Interface Block
The 9A426-02 Module’s INB interface includes a Network Interface Block
(INB NIB). Canonical frames processed by the module’s SmartSwitch ASIC core
that are destined for the INB on the SmartSwitch 9000’s backplane are converted
by the INB NIB into fixed length data blocks and then transmitted on the INB.
Conversely, data blocks received by the module from the INB are converted by
the INB NIB into canonical frames and forwarded to the SmartSwitch ASIC core
for processing.
