Modular Router Voltage Thresholds for Brownout Power Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current modular routers are limited by the need for ASICs from the same vendor to share a proprietary protocol, restricting the ability to interoperate with heterogeneous ASICs and limiting the router's architecture roadmap.
Innovation Solution
A modular router architecture that employs an abstraction layer of software to enable heterogeneous ASICs from different vendors to interoperate, using standard Ethernet interfaces and protocols, and tunneling protocols like MPLS or IP-over-IP to facilitate data packet transmission between ASICs, while also configuring voltage thresholds for deterministic power management during brownout events.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If ASICs from the same vendor share a proprietary protocol, then interoperability within the vendor's ecosystem is ensured, but the router's ability to support heterogeneous ASICs from different vendors is restricted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a protocol translation layer or gateway that acts as an intermediary between ASICs using different proprietary protocols. This mediator translates packets between different protocol formats, enabling heterogeneous ASICs from different vendors to communicate without requiring direct protocol compatibility. The translation layer handles protocol conversion, allowing the router to support multiple vendor-specific ASICs while maintaining overall system interoperability.
2Reliability
If multiple power supplies collectively provide power to modules, then power redundancy is achieved, but deterministic power management during partial power loss becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary classification of modules into priority groups before power loss occurs. Each module is pre-assigned a priority level based on its criticality to router operation. When partial power loss is detected, the system automatically powers down lower-priority modules first while maintaining power to higher-priority modules, ensuring deterministic power management without requiring complex real-time decisions during the power loss event.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of power allocation by dynamically adjusting voltage thresholds for different module priority groups. During normal operation, all modules receive full power. When power loss occurs, the system modifies the voltage threshold parameters to selectively maintain power delivery to high-priority modules while cutting power to low-priority modules, achieving deterministic power management through parameter adjustment rather than complete power cutoff decisions.
3Ease of operation
If voltage threshold is set for power-off during brownout, then deterministic power management is achieved, but lower-priority modules may be powered off before necessary modules
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different voltage threshold settings to different modules based on their priority classification. Instead of using a single global voltage threshold, the system configures local quality parameters (voltage thresholds) specific to each module or group of modules. High-priority modules have higher voltage thresholds that prevent power-off, while low-priority modules have lower thresholds that allow power-off first during brownout conditions, ensuring the correct power-off sequence.
Data Source
AI summary
In one embodiment, a system includes a number of networking modules. Each module includes a respective voltage controller and a voltage-configuration circuit. The voltage-configuration circuit includes a number of transistors that are each coupled to a respective resistor. The system also includes one or more processors coupled to the voltage controllers including instructions executable by the processors. The processors being operable when executing the instructions to configure, for each module, an on-state or off-state of the transistors coupled to the respective resistor. The transistors coupled to the respective resistor correspond to a bit of a number of under-voltage thresholds. The processors are also operable to preset, during a module initialization, a relative ranking of under-voltage shutdown between the modules by setting the transistors. At least one of the number of networking modules has a different under-voltage threshold level relative to another one of the networking modules.