Equipment protection using a partial star architecture
AssigneeCorrigent Systems Ltd.
InventorsRafi Harel, Leon Bruckman, Gal Mor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Communication apparatus includes a plurality of interface cards, including a central interface card and spoke interface cards, which are adapted to link communication lines to a network. A protection bus includes multiple spoke connections that link the central interface card to the spoke interface cards in a partial star configuration, such that on at least one of the spoke connections there are two of the spoke interface cards connected together to the central interface card.
Claims17
Communication apparatus, comprising:
- a plurality of interface cards, including a central interface card and spoke interface cards, which are adapted to link communication lines to a network;
- and
- a protection bus comprising multiple spoke connections that link the central interface card to the spoke interface cards in a partial star configuration, such that on at least one of the spoke connections there are two of the spoke interface cards connected together to the central interface card,
- wherein no more than a single one of the spoke connections has only one of the spoke interface cards connected thereto, while the remaining spoke connections have respective pairs of the spoke interface cards connected thereto.
A communication backplane, comprising:
- a backplane substrate;
- a plurality of receptacles fixed to the backplane substrate for receiving communication interface cards, the receptacles including a central receptacle and spoke receptacles;
- and
- printed circuit traces arranged on the backplane substrate to form a protection bus that comprises multiple spoke connections linking the central receptacle to the spoke receptacles in a partial star configuration, such that on at least one of the spoke connections there are two of the spoke receptacles connected together to the central receptacle,
- wherein no more than a single one of the spoke connections has only one of the spoke receptacles connected thereto, while the remaining spoke connections have respective pairs of the spoke receptacles connected thereto.
A method for fault protection in communication equipment, comprising:
- arranging a plurality of interface cards, including a central interface card and spoke interface cards, to link communication lines to a network;
- interconnecting the interface cards with a protection bus comprising multiple spoke connections that link the central interface card to the spoke interface cards in a partial star configuration, such that on at least one of the spoke connections there are two of the spoke interface cards connected together to the central interface card;
- determining that a fault has occurred in a first one of the interface cards serving a first one of the communication lines;
- and
- responsive to the fault, conveying signals over the protection bus from the first one of the interface cards to a second one of the interface cards, so that the second one of the interface cards serves the first one of the communication lines in place of the first one of the interface cards,
- wherein interconnecting the interface cards comprises making the spoke connections so that no more than a single one of the spoke connections has only one of the spoke interface cards connected thereto, while the remaining spoke connections have respective pairs of the spoke interface cards connected thereto.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.