Hot-swappable cable-free switch

Abstract

A system for hot-plugging a network switch without disconnecting the network switch connectors is provided. The system decouples the switch panel network cable connectors from the internal components of the network switch, allowing the internal switch components to be removed from the switch without disconnecting the switch network cables.

Description

Background Art

[0001] Large computing systems typically use thousands of interconnected nodes that collaborate to process tasks at multiple levels. The interconnected nodes can be configured to collaborate at the operating system level or to operate as a cluster, for example, to allow multiple nodes to share the workload associated with processing incoming requests. The nodes in a computing system are connected together by network cables, which are plugged into multi-port switches at the node level. These switches collectively establish the network topology of the computing system. The network cables are typically connected between the ports of the switches in a specific configuration that allows data to be transferred across the network topology.

[0002] Network cables that interconnect the ports of network devices have several drawbacks that negatively impact the performance and maintainability of network topologies. For example, network cables need to be removed from switch connection ports to allow for maintenance on the switches. Repeatedly removing and reconnecting network cables to switch ports is known to cause network cable connector failures, necessitating the replacement of the network cable terminators or even the entire network cable. If the entire network cable is replaced, operators typically simply cut the end of the damaged network cable and leave the cable unused in the cable bundle. However, replacing the network cable associated with the bundle can damage other network cables running through walls, in cable trays, under raised floors, and so on, exacerbating the initial problem of a single, non-functioning network cable. Over time, this "cut and keep" practice can result in multiple unused, unlabeled network cables with end connectors that take up no space in the topology infrastructure.

[0003] Another disadvantage of current network cabling practices is that network cables must be removed before a network switch or a component of a switch is repaired or replaced. Thus, in a typical thirty-six-port network switch with a technical fault, the thirty-six network cables connected to that switch port need to be unplugged from their respective switch ports to allow the installation of a new or repaired switch or switch component. Furthermore, once the new or repaired switch or component is installed, the thirty-six network cables must be reconnected to their respective switch ports to achieve normal operation in the network topology. A common maintenance operation for network switches is to replace the switch's application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), which in turn requires disconnecting each network cable connected to the network switch port for maintenance and then reconnecting it after the maintenance is complete.

[0004] Therefore, there is a need for the ability to repair or replace components within a network switch without unplugging the associated network switch cabling. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0005] A more detailed description can be made by referring to the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure shown in the accompanying drawings so that the features, advantages and purposes of the present disclosure can be understood in detail. However, it should be noted that the accompanying drawings only illustrate typical or exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure and should not be considered as limiting the scope thereof.

[0006] Figure 1 A front-facing schematic diagram of an example switch housing is shown;

[0007] Figure 2 shows a side schematic diagram of an example switch housing;

[0008] Figure 3 shows a perspective view of an example switch housing;

[0009] Figure 4 shows a perspective view of an example switch unit;

[0010] Figure 5 An example active optical connection cable for use with a switch housing is shown;

[0011] Figure 6 An example passive optical connection cable for use with a switch housing is shown;

[0012] Figure 7 An example electrical connection cable for use with a switch housing is shown; and

[0013] Figure 8 A side schematic diagram of an example switch housing is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0014] In the following, reference is made to examples or embodiments of the concepts described in the present disclosure. However, it should be understood that the concepts described are in no way limited to the examples or embodiments described herein. On the contrary, any combination of the following features, elements, or functions, whether or not related to different embodiments, is considered by the inventors as a possible combination that can be used to implement and practice aspects of the present disclosure. In addition, many advantages over the prior art are provided in the various embodiments described in the present disclosure. However, although the embodiments of the present disclosure can achieve advantages over other possible solutions and / or over the prior art, whether or not a particular advantage is achieved by a given embodiment is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, unless expressly stated in the claims, the following aspects, features, functions, embodiments, and advantages are intended to be illustrative and are not to be considered as elements or limitations of the appended claims. Similarly, unless expressly stated in the claims, any reference to "invention," "innovation," "inventive concept," etc. should not be interpreted as a summary of any inventive subject matter disclosed herein and should not be considered as elements or limitations of the appended claims.

[0015] The following disclosure provides a hot-swappable solution for a network switch that allows the replacement of a network switch or network switch components without disconnecting the network cables connected to the switch. This solution decouples the switch panel network cable connector from the internal components of the network switch, enabling, for example, the removal of a switch ASIC board or module from the switch without disconnecting the switch network cables. This is achieved through a disconnectable internal switch connection that electrically or optically connects the switch ASIC board or module to internal switch components, including the panel network cable connector. The disconnectable connection between the switch ASIC board and the internal switch components allows the ASIC module and other internal switch components to be installed or repaired without disconnecting any network connection cables.

[0016] Figure 1 A front-facing schematic diagram of an example switch 100 is shown. The example switch 100 includes a switch housing 102 that contains a number of switch-related components. The switch housing 102 includes a front side 108 having a number of network cable connection ports 106 and one or more switch status indicators, typically LEDs, that illuminate to indicate various operating parameters of the switch 100. The front side 108 of the switch housing 102 includes a hot-swappable ASIC switch module 104 that is removably positioned within the switch housing 102. The hot-swappable ASIC switch module 104 is slidably received in (and removable from) the switch housing 102, for example, by inserting the hot-swappable ASIC switch module 104 into the switch housing 102 along an axis perpendicular to the front side 108 of the switch housing 102. Accordingly, the front side 108 of the switch housing 102 may include a slot or recess sized and configured to receive the hot-swappable ASIC switch module 104 therein. The network cable connector 106 on the front side 108 can be, for example, the female connector portion of a network connector, such as a CAT5, CAT6, CAT7, or CAT8 type network cable connector. Other types of network cable connectors 106, such as fiber optic cables, twisted pair cables, Ethernet patch cables, and coaxial cables can be used to connect the network cable connector 106 to other devices in the computer network topology.

[0017] Figure 2A side schematic diagram of an example switch 100 is shown. The side schematic diagram of the switch 100 shows a hot-swappable ASIC switch module 104 at least partially inserted into the switch housing 102 in the direction of arrow 212 perpendicular to the front side 108 of the switch housing 102. The hot-swappable ASIC switch module 104 is shown having an ASIC chip or board 202 that is part of the hot-swappable ASIC switch module 104, which is connected to an ASIC module connector 206 via a communication link 204. The communication link 204 may, for example, include a multi-channel signal transmission medium configured to transmit electronic signals between the ASIC chip 202 and components of the hot-swappable ASIC switch module 104 or external devices. The communication link 204 may be an electrical / electronic or optical signal transmission link. The ASIC module connector 206 can be attached or mounted to a rear portion of the hot-swappable ASIC switch module 104, where the rear portion can be located generally opposite the front side 108 and closer to the rear side 110 of the switch housing 102. The ASIC module connector 206 can be configured to connect to a switch housing fixed connector 208. The switch housing fixed connector 208 can be mounted in a suitable position in the switch housing 102 such that when the hot-swappable ASIC switch module 104 is inserted into the switch housing 102, the ASIC module connector 206 is guided to connect with the switch housing fixed connector 208 to facilitate minimal loss signal transmission between and through the two connectors 206, 208.

[0018] The hot-swappable ASIC switch module 104 can be inserted into the switch housing 102 from the front side 108 toward the rear side 110 in the direction of arrow 212. Similarly, the hot-swappable ASIC switch module 104 can be removed from the switch housing 102 from the rear side 110 toward the front side 108 in the direction of arrow 212. This insertion and removal process can be guided by a mechanical device positioned within the switch housing 102 that is configured to engage the hot-swappable ASIC module 104 to guide it into a desired position that facilitates proper connection between the ASIC module connector 206 and the switch housing fixed connector 208.

[0019] The switch housing fixed connector 208 can be connected to a communication link 210 that is configured to receive electronic signals (electrical or optical) from the switch housing fixed connector 208 and transmit the electronic signals to the network cable connector 106 located on the front side 108 of the switch housing 102. As discussed further herein, the communication link 210 can be an electrical or optical signal communication medium having, for example, 16 or 32 channels. Figure 2In the illustrated example embodiment, the switch housing fixed connector 208 is positioned near the rear side 110 of the switch housing, where near the rear side 110 is defined as being closer to the rear side 110 than to the front side 108. Figure 8 In the example embodiment discussed in , the switch housing fixed connector 208 is positioned proximate the front side 108 , where proximate the front side 108 is defined as being closer to the front side 108 than to the rear side 110 .

[0020] The hot-swappable ASIC module 104 can be, for example, an electrical, optical, or a combination electrical and optical ASIC module 104. For example, the hot-swappable ASIC module 104 can include an electrical ASIC chip 202 that communicates with an electrical communication link 204 that is in electrical communication with an electrical ASIC module connector 206. The ASIC module connector 206 can communicate with an electrical switch chassis fixed connector 208, which transmits an electrical signal to the network cable connector 106 via an electrical communication link 210. The electrical signal can be, for example, an electrical or electromagnetic current or voltage used to transmit data / signals from one device or component in the network to another. The electrical signal can be direct current (DC) or alternating current (AC) and can include modulation of analog or digital signals. For example, the hot-swappable ASIC module 104 can also be a combination electrical and optical ASIC module, where the ASIC chip 202 can be configured to output an electrical signal that is converted to an optical signal before exiting the switch chassis 102. For example, an optical transceiver may be positioned in the signal communication path at a location between the ASIC chip 202 and the network cable connector 106 and configured to receive electrical signals at input and output corresponding optical data signals as optical signals that continue to propagate through the remainder of the signal transmission path.

[0021] An optical transceiver, also known as a fiber optic transceiver or optical transceiver module, is a hot-swappable device used in high-bandwidth signal communication applications. An optical transceiver has an electrical interface on one side (I / O) and an optical interface on the other side (I / O), so that signals passing through the optical transceiver are converted from electrical signals to optical signals or vice versa (depending on the direction of signal travel). Thus, an optical transceiver acts as an optical-to-electrical converter, converting electrical signals to optical signals (light) or vice versa. In an example embodiment where the hot-swappable ASIC module 104 outputs an electrical signal, the optical transceiver can be located at the output of the ASIC chip 202, at the input of the ASIC module connector 206, at the output of the switch housing fixed connector 208, or at the input of the network cable connector 106. Essentially, the optical transceiver can be located anywhere in the signal path between the ASIC chip 202 and the network cable connector 106. Furthermore, in another example embodiment, an optical transceiver may be positioned downstream of the network cable connector 106 so that signals transmitted from the network cable connector 106 remain in the electrical domain and may be converted to the optical domain in the cable transmitting data from the network cable connector 106 .

[0022] As described above, the hot-swappable ASIC module 104 can also be an all-optical module. For example, the ASIC chip 202 can output an optical signal that is received by the communication link 204 and transmitted to the ASIC module connector 206. The optical signal can be further transmitted to the optical network cable connector 106 through the optical connectors 206 and 208 and through the optical communication link 210.

[0023] exist Figure 1 and Figure 2 In the illustrated example embodiment, the hot-swappable ASIC module 104 is decoupled or decoupled from the network cable connector 106 on the front side 108 of the switch housing 102. This enables the hot-swappable ASIC module 104 to be removed from the switch housing 102 without disconnecting any signal communication cables or wires connected to the network cable connector 106. Figure 1 and Figure 2 The example configuration shown allows the ASIC module to be repaired or replaced without removing any corresponding network cable connectors that carry signals to or from the ASIC module 104 .

[0024] Figure 3 A perspective view of an example switch housing 300 is shown, which includes four removable switch units 304 (similar to Figure 1 and Figure 21 and 1 . The hot-swappable ASIC switch module 104 is shown in FIG. 1 , wherein each switch unit 304 has two switch ASICs 306 packaged in one field replaceable switch unit 304. In this example configuration, the network cable connector 302 is positioned on the front side 312 of the switch housing 300 and four replaceable switch units 304 are removably positioned in the switch housing 300 (respectively) at a position above the network connector 302. The replaceable switch units 304 are hot-swappable, meaning that the replaceable switch units 304 can be independently removed from the switch housing 300 and each replaceable switch unit 304 includes two ASIC chips 306 positioned on each replaceable switch unit 304. The back side 310 of each replaceable switch unit 304 includes a replaceable switch unit fixed connector 308. The replaceable switch unit fixed connector 308 can be rigidly mounted to the replaceable switch unit 304 and can communicate with the input / output of the onboard ASIC chip 306. Figure 1 and Figure 2 In a manner similar to the exemplary embodiment described in , the replaceable switch unit securing connector 308 is positioned and configured to releasably engage a corresponding switch housing securing connector ( Figure 3 In this example embodiment, any one or more of the replaceable switch units 304 can be removed from the switch housing 300 without disconnecting any data transmission cables or wires connected to the network cable connectors 302. Similarly, any ASIC chip 306 can be removed or replaced on the replaceable switch unit 304 without disconnecting any data transmission cables or wires connected to the network cable connectors 302.

[0025] Figure 4A perspective view of an example replaceable switch unit 304 is shown. The perspective view of the replaceable switch unit 304 removed from the switch housing 300 shows a support frame 402 for the replaceable switch unit 304. The support frame 402 can have an electronics board 404 mounted thereon, wherein the electronics board 404 (typically a silicon chipset or chassis that may include multiple conductive and insulating layers on which one or more electronic components are supported) is configured to support two ASIC chips 306 mounted thereon and provide power to and communications to / from the two ASIC chips 306. The ASIC chips 306 can communicate with a replaceable switch unit fixed connector 308, which is mounted to a rear connector mounting member 406 that is part of the support frame 402. The support frame 402 can include a guide member (not shown) configured to assist in inserting or removing the replaceable switch unit 304 into or from the switch housing 300 with proper alignment. The replaceable switch unit fixed connector 308 is secured to the rear connector mounting member 406 at a position configured to releasably connect with a corresponding fixed connector (not shown) mounted to the switch housing 300 so that electrical or optical signals can be transmitted between the two connectors with minimal loss.

[0026] Figure 5 An example active optical connection cable is shown for use with an example switch housing. The active optical connection cable 500 includes terminals 502, 504 having optical transceivers built into the connector ends 502, 504. As such, the active optical connection cable 500 can be used to receive an electrical signal at one of the connector ends 502 and convert the electrical signal into an optical signal that can be transmitted through the optical connection cable 500 and output from the other of the connector ends 504. The active optical connection cable 500 can be implemented at any location in the example embodiments described herein to convert the electrical signal into an optical signal for further transmission through the switch topology. Similarly, Figure 6A passive optical signal transmission cable 600 is shown, which includes passive terminations of cables 602, 604. The passive optical signal transmission cable receives an optical signal and transmits the optical signal through one or more optical fibers through the passive optical signal transmission cable. The terminations 602, 604 of the passive optical signal transmission cable 600 may include devices configured to transmit the optical signal from the terminations 602, 604 of the cable 600 to another device or cable. Example devices that can be used at an optical connection point to facilitate transmission of optical signals through the connector with minimal loss include lenses, optical ferrules, and fiber optic couplers that can be spring-loaded so that when the optical connectors are mated, the optical fiber faces are appropriately pressed together for transmission of signals through the optical fiber faces with minimal loss.

[0027] Similarly, Figure 7 An example backplane electrical connection cable 700 is shown for connecting an electrical output hot-swappable ASIC module to a fixed electrical connector on an adjacent switch housing. The example backplane connector 700 includes terminals 702, 704 that include a plurality of electrical connection points, which may be 16 connection points in the exemplary figure. Since the accompanying backplane connector terminal receiver 706 may include corresponding female electrical connection points 708, the backplane connector terminals 702, 704 may generally include male portions of the electrical connections. In this way, the terminals 702, 704 can be positioned to engage with the terminal receiver 706 to provide an electrical connection therebetween. In addition, the backplane terminal receiver 706 can be rigidly mounted via the external connector body 710 so that the terminal 702 or 704 can be guided into position for connection with the backplane connector terminal receiver 706.

[0028] Figure 8A side schematic diagram of an example switch 800 is shown. Switch 800 includes a switch housing 802 having a hot-swappable ASIC module 804 removably positioned therein. Hot-swappable ASIC module 804 includes an ASIC chip 806 that is in direct electrical communication (without links or wires) with an ASIC module connector 810 via a communication link 808. ASIC module connector 810 is positioned near a front side 814 of hot-swappable ASIC module 804. ASIC module connector 810 can be configured to removably or detachably engage a switch housing fixed connector 818 that is in direct communication with a network cable connector 812 positioned on the front side 814 of switch housing 802. Thus, in a manner similar to the example embodiments described above, hot-swappable ASIC module 804 can be inserted into switch housing 802 in the direction of arrow 816 from the front side 814 of switch housing 802 toward the back side 820. When the hot-swappable ASIC module 804 is inserted into the switch housing 802, the corresponding connectors 810, 818 engage with each other to provide a signal path from the ASIC chip 806 to the network cable connector 812. As described above, the connectors 810, 818 can be electrical or optical. However, in Figure 8 The example embodiments described in the specification eliminate one or more connection points and / or communication links or wires between the ASIC chip 806 and the network cable connector 812 by moving the connection point to the front side 814 of the switch, while still de-aggregating the front side 814 or panel network cable connector 812 from the internal components of the network switch 800.

[0029] Example embodiments of the present disclosure have application to various different types of signal transmission topologies involving switches, such as SAN, WAN, LAN, and other types of network topologies or configurations involving switches and signal transmission between elements, devices, or components of the topology.

[0030] In the above, reference has been made to examples or example embodiments of the present disclosure, however, the scope of the present disclosure is not limited to the specifically described examples or embodiments. Rather, any combination of the features, elements, or functions mentioned above, whether or not related to different examples, is contemplated for implementing and practicing embodiments of the present disclosure. In addition, although the embodiments disclosed herein may achieve advantages over other possible solutions or over the prior art, whether or not a specific advantage is achieved by a given embodiment does not limit the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, unless expressly stated in the claims, the aforementioned aspects, features, embodiments, and advantages are merely illustrative and are not considered to be elements or limitations of the appended claims. In addition, as used herein, directional or directional terms such as front, rear, side, top, bottom, up, down, backward, forward, etc. are not meant to be restrictive, but merely reflect the orientation of exemplary elements or implementations such as they are shown in the figures. It will be understood that the terms used to designate each element can be interchangeable according to spatial orientation, and therefore, these terms are not intended to limit the scope of the claims.

[0031] While the foregoing is directed to embodiments presented in this disclosure, other and further embodiments may be invented without departing from the basic scope of the embodiments contemplated, and the scope of the same is determined by the claims that follow.

Claims

1. A hot-pluggable network switch, comprising: a switch housing having an opening on a first side, the opening sized to receive a removable switch module therein; a hot-swappable ASIC switch module at least partially removably received in the opening on the first side; a plurality of network cable connectors positioned on the first side; an ASIC module connector positioned at an end of the hot-swappable ASIC switch module that is first inserted into the opening of the switch housing; a switch housing retaining connector positioned and mounted to the switch housing in a suitable position to engage the ASIC module connector when the hot-swappable ASIC switch module is received in the opening of the first side; as well as a signal communication link between the switch housing fixed connector and the plurality of network cable connectors to create a signal communication path from the plurality of network cable connectors to the hot-swappable ASIC switch module, wherein the hot-swappable ASIC switch module can be removed from the switch housing without disconnecting any of the plurality of network cable connectors; wherein the signal communication link is configured to receive an electronic signal from the switch housing fixed connector and transmit the electronic signal to the plurality of network cable connectors, And wherein the electronic signal is an electrical signal or an optical signal.

2. The hot-swappable network switch according to claim 1, wherein: The ASIC module further includes an ASIC chip mounted to the electronic board, with inputs / outputs of the ASIC chip in signal transmission communication with the ASIC module connector.

3. The hot-swappable network switch according to claim 2, wherein: The ASIC chip has optically enabled inputs and outputs that interface with the ASIC module connector.

4. The hot-swappable network switch according to claim 2, wherein: The ASIC chip outputs an electrical signal that is transmitted to an optical transceiver that converts the electrical signal into an optical signal. The output of the optical transceiver is in optical communication with the switch housing fixed connector.

5. The hot-swappable network switch according to claim 3, wherein: The ASIC module connector and the switch housing fixed connector include optical connectors.

6. The hot-swappable network switch according to claim 5, wherein: The optical connector includes a spring-loaded fiber optic coupler having fiber optic faces that are pressed together to provide an optical signal transmission path via the fiber optic faces when the optical connectors are mated together.

7. The hot-swappable network switch according to claim 1, wherein: The ASIC module connector is electrically or optically coupled to the switch chassis fixed connector and is configured to transmit signals to the switch chassis fixed connector via the ASIC module connector.

8. The hot-swappable network switch according to claim 1, wherein: The hot-swappable ASIC switch module includes an electronic ASIC chip that generates an electrical signal output and the switch chassis fixed connector is configured to transmit the electrical signal output.

9. A hot-pluggable network switch, comprising: a switch housing having an opening on a front side sized and configured to slidably receive a switch module therein; a hot-swappable ASIC switch module, the ASIC switch module being at least partially removably positioned in the opening; a plurality of network cable connectors positioned on the front side of the switch housing; an ASIC module connector, the ASIC module connector being positioned at one end of the hot-swappable ASIC switch module; as well as A switch housing fixed connector is positioned and mounted to the switch housing in a suitable position to engage a hot-swappable ASIC switch module connector and transmit signals to the plurality of network cable connectors when the hot-swappable ASIC switch module is received in the opening in the front side.

10. The hot-swappable network switch according to claim 9, wherein: The end of the hot-swappable ASIC switch module at which the ASIC module connector is installed is the end of the ASIC switch module that is first inserted into the opening, and when the ASIC switch module is received in the opening, the end is positioned near the rear side of the switch housing.

11. The hot-swappable network switch according to claim 9, wherein: The end of the hot-swappable ASIC switch module at which the ASIC module connector is installed is opposite to the end of the ASIC switch module that is first inserted into the opening, and the opposite end is positioned near the front side of the switch housing when the ASIC switch module is received in the opening.

12. The hot-swappable network switch of claim 9 , further comprising a signal communication link located between the switch housing fixed connector and the plurality of network cable connectors to establish a signal communication path between the plurality of network cable connectors and the hot-swappable ASIC switch module.

13. The hot-swappable network switch according to claim 12, wherein: The ASIC module connector is directly connected to the switch housing fixed connector, and the switch housing fixed connector is directly connected to the plurality of network cable connectors.

14. The hot-swappable network switch according to claim 13, wherein: The direct connection also includes a spring loaded optical connector that communicates with the ASIC module connector and the switch chassis connector without running links or optical fibers.

15. The hot-swappable network switch according to claim 9, wherein: The ASIC module further includes an ASIC chip mounted to the electronic board, with inputs / outputs of the ASIC chip in signal transmission communication with the ASIC module connector.

16. The hot-swappable network switch according to claim 15, wherein: The ASIC chip is an optical ASIC chip that outputs an optical signal to the ASIC module connector.

17. The hot-swappable network switch according to claim 9, wherein: The ASIC module connector and the switch housing fixed connector include optical connectors.

18. The hot-swappable network switch according to claim 9, wherein: The ASIC module connector is electrically or optically engaged with the switch housing fixed connector and is configured to transmit a signal to the switch housing fixed connector via the ASIC module connector.

19. The hot-swappable network switch according to claim 9, wherein: The hot-swappable ASIC switch module includes an electronic ASIC chip that generates an electrical signal output.

20. The hot-swappable network switch of claim 19, wherein: The ASIC module connector and the switch chassis fixed connector are configured to transmit electronic signals.

21. A hot-pluggable network switch, comprising: a switch housing having a module receiving opening on a front side; a hot-swappable ASIC switch unit that is at least partially removably received in the module receiving opening on the front side; an ASIC module connector positioned on an insertion end of the hot-swappable ASIC switch module; a switch housing retaining connector positioned and mounted to the switch housing in a suitable position to engage the ASIC module connector when the hot-swappable ASIC switch module is removably received in the module receiving opening of the front side; as well as a signal communication link between the switch housing fixed connector and a plurality of network cable connectors positioned on the front side of the switch housing, wherein the signal communication link is configured to receive an electronic signal from the switch housing fixed connector and transmit the electronic signal to the plurality of network cable connectors, And wherein the electronic signal is an electrical signal or an optical signal.

22. The hot-swappable network switch of claim 21, wherein: The hot-swappable ASIC switch unit is removable without removing or disconnecting any data cables in communication with the plurality of network cable connectors.

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