Methods and apparatus to implement communications via a remote terminal unit

A chassis for a remote terminal unit comprising:

• a backplane;
• a plurality of slots to receive modules corresponding to at least one of a central processing unit module, a communication module, or an input/output (I/O) module;
• a first communication bus on the backplane to communicatively couple different ones of the modules inserted in different ones of the slots, the first communication bus for communication of I/O data;
• a second communication bus on the backplane to communicatively couple different ones of the modules inserted in different ones of the slots independent of the first communication bus, the second communication bus for communication of at least one of maintenance data, pass-through data, product information data, archival data, diagnostic data, or setup data;
• an entry connector;
• and
• an exit connector, the exit connector to communicatively interconnect with a second entry connector of a second chassis, the first and second communication buses to extend through the first and second chassis via the exit connector of the first chassis and the second entry connector of the second chassis.

A rack for a remote terminal unit comprising:

• a backplane;
• a first slot communicatively coupled to the backplane to receive a first module;
• a second slot communicatively coupled to the backplane to receive a second module;
• a third slot communicatively coupled to the backplane to receive a third module;
• a fourth slot communicatively coupled to the backplane to receive a fourth module;
• a first communication bus on the backplane to communicatively couple the first, second, third, and fourth modules when inserted in the respective first, second, third, and fourth slots, the first communication bus to be implemented for communication of I/O data;
• a second communication bus on the backplane to communicatively couple the first, second, third, and fourth modules independent of the first communication bus, the second communication bus to be implemented for communication of additional data other than the I/O data;
• a first intermodule link on the backplane to enable communications between the first and second modules when the first and second modules are inserted in the respective first and second slots;
• and
• a second intermodule link, different from the first intermodule link, on the backplane to enable communications between the third and fourth modules when the third and fourth modules are inserted in the respective third and fourth slots, the first and second intermodule links being separate from the first and second communication buses.