Patent Publication Number: US-2023156380-A1

Title: Hot-Swappable No Cable Touch Switch Enclosure

Description:
GOVERNMENT RIGHTS 
     This invention was made with Government support under Prime Contract No. DE-AC52-07NA27344 awarded by DOE. The Government has certain rights in this invention. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     Large-scale computing systems typically use thousands of interconnected nodes that collaborate to process tasks on multiple levels. The interconnected nodes can be configured to collaborate at the operating system level or to run as a cluster, for example, to allow multiple nodes to share the workload associated with processing incoming requests. The nodes in the computing system are connected together by network cables plugged into multiport switches at the node level that collectively establish the network topology of the computing system. The network cables are typically connected between ports of switches in specific configurations that allow for data transfer through the network topology. 
     The network cables interconnecting ports of the network devices have several disadvantages that negatively impact the performance and serviceability of the network topology. For example, network cables are required to be removed from the switch connection ports to allow for service of the switch, and the repeated removal and reconnection of the network cables to the switch ports is known to cause network cable connector failures, which requires replacing the network cable terminating connector or even the network cable as a whole. If the network cable as a whole is replaced, often times operators will simply cut the ends off the damaged network cable and leave the cable inactive in the cable bundle, as replacing the network cable associated with a cable bundle can cause damaged to other network cables running through walls, in cable trays, under raised floors, etc. and therefore exacerbate the initial problem of having one network cable not working properly. Over time this “cut and leave” practice results in multiple unused and unmarked network cables without end connectors taking up space in the topology infrastructure. 
     Another disadvantage of current network cable connection practice is that network cables must to be removed before the network switch or components of the switch can be repaired or replaced. As such, in a typical thirty-six port network switch with a technical failure, thirty-six network cables connected to the switch ports need to be unplugged from their respective switch ports to allow for a new or repaired switch or switch component to be installed. Further, once the new or repaired switch or component is installed, the thirty-six network cables must then be reconnected to their respective switch ports to enable proper operation in the network topology. One common repair function for a network switch is to replace the application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) of the switch, which again requires each of the network cables connected to the network switch ports to be disconnected for the repair and then reconnected once the repair is complete. 
     Therefore, the ability to repair or replace an internal component of a network switch without requiring the associated network switch cable connections to be unplugged is desired. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       So that the manner in which the recited features, advantages and objects of the present disclosure may be understood in detail, a more particular description may be had by reference to the example embodiments thereof illustrated in the appended drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical or example embodiments of this disclosure and are not to be considered limiting of its scope. 
         FIG.  1    illustrates a front schematic view of an example switch enclosure; 
         FIG.  2    illustrates a side schematic view of an example switch enclosure; 
         FIG.  3    illustrates perspective view of an example switch enclosure; 
         FIG.  4    illustrates a perspective view of an example switch unit; 
         FIG.  5    illustrates an example active optical connection cable used with a switch enclosure; 
         FIG.  6    illustrates an example passive optical connection cable used with a switch enclosure; 
         FIG.  7    illustrates an example electrical connection cable used with a switch enclosure; and 
         FIG.  8    illustrates a side schematic view of an example switch enclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In the following, reference is made to examples or embodiments of the described concepts in this disclosure. However, it should be understood that the described concepts are not in any way limited to examples or embodiments described herein. Instead, any combination of the following features, elements, or functionalities, whether related to different embodiments or not, is contemplated by the inventors as a possible combination that may be used to implement and practice aspects of the present disclosure. Furthermore, in various embodiments described in this disclosure provide numerous advantages over the prior art. However, although embodiments of the disclosure may 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 also not intended to be limiting on the scope of the disclosure. Therefore, the following aspects, features, functionalities, embodiments, and advantages are intended to be illustrative and are not considered elements or limitations of the appended claims, except where explicitly recited in a claim. Similarly, any reference to the “invention,” “innovation,” “inventive concept,” etc. is not be construed as a generalization of any inventive subject matter disclosed herein and shall not be considered to be an element or limitation of the appended claims except where explicitly recited in a claim. 
     The following disclosure provides a hot swappable solution for network switches that allows for replacement of network switches or network switch components without requiring disconnection of the network cables connected to the switch. The solution disaggregates the switch faceplate network cable connectors from the internal components of the network switch so that, for example, the switch ASIC board or module may be removed from the switch without disconnecting the switch network cables. This is accomplished by a disconnectable internal switch connection that electrically or optically connects the switch ASIC board or module to the internal switch components, including the faceplate network cable connectors. The disconnectable connection between the switch ASIC board and the switch internal components allows for ASIC modules and other switch internal components to be installed or repaired without disconnecting any network connection cables. 
       FIG.  1    illustrates a front schematic view of an example switch  100 . The example switch  100  includes a switch enclosure  102  that contains a plurality of switch related components therein. The switch enclosure  102  includes a front side  108  having a plurality of network cable connection ports  106  and one or more switch status indicators, typically LEDs that illuminate to indicate various operational parameters of the switch  100 . The front side  108  of the switch enclosure  102  includes a hot swappable ASIC switch module  104  that is removably positioned within the switch enclosure  102 . The hot swappable ASIC switch module  104  may be slidably received in (and removed from) the switch enclosure  102 , for example, by inserting the hot swappable ASIC switch module  104  into the switch enclosure  102  along an axis that is perpendicular to the front side  108  of the switch enclosure  102 . Therefore, the front side  108  of the switch enclosure  102  may include a slot or recess sized and configured to receive the hot swappable ASIC switch module  104  therein. The network cable connectors  106  on the front side  108 , for example, may be the female connector portion of a network connector, such as a CAT5, CAT6, CAT7, or CAT8-type network cable connectors. Other types of network cable connectors  106 , such as optical fiber cables. Twisted-pair cabling, ethernet patch cables, and coaxial cables, for example, may be used to connect the network cable connectors  106  to other devices in a computer network topology. 
       FIG.  2    illustrates a side schematic view of an example switch  100 . The side schematic view of switch  100  shows the hot swappable ASIC switch module  104  at least partially inserted into the switch enclosure  102  in the direction of arrows  212 , which is perpendicular to the front side  108  of the switch enclosure  102 . The hot swappable ASIC switch module  104  is shown with the ASIC chip or board  202  that is part of the hot swappable ASIC switch module  104  being connected to an ASIC module connector  206  via communication link  204 . The communication link  204 , for example, may include a multichannel signal transmission medium configured to communicate electronic signals between the ASIC chip  202  and external devices or components of the hot swappable ASIC switch module  104 . The communication link  204  may be an electrical/electronic or optical signal transmission link. An ASIC module connector  206  may be attached or mounted to a back portion of the hot swappable ASIC switch module  104 , wherein the back portion may be positioned generally opposite the front side  108  and closer to a back side  110  of the switch enclosure  102 . The ASIC module connector  206  may be configured to connect to a switch enclosure fixed connector  208 . The switch enclosure fixed connector  208  may be mounted in the switch enclosure  102  at a location such that when the hot swappable ASIC switch module  104  is inserted into the switch enclosure  102  that the ASIC module connector  206  is guided to connect with the switch enclosure fixed connector  208  to facilitate minimal loss signal transmission between and through the two connectors  206 ,  208 . 
     The hot swappable ASIC switch module  104  may be inserted into the switch enclosure  102  in the direction of arrows  212  from the front side  108  toward the back side  110 . Similarly, the hot swappable ASIC switch module  104  may be removed from the switch enclosure  102  in the direction of arrows  212  from the back side  110  toward the front side  108 . This insertion and removal process may be guided by mechanical devices positioned within the switch enclosure  102  that are 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 enclosure fixed connector  208 . 
     The switch enclosure fixed connector  208  may connect to a communication link  210  configured to receive electronic signals (electrical or optical) from the switch enclosure fixed connector  208  and transmit the electronic signals to the network cable connectors  106  positioned on the front side  108  of the switch enclosure  102 . The communication link  210 , as further discussed herein, may be an electrical or optical signal communication medium having, for example, 16 or 32 channels. In the example embodiment shown in  FIG.  2   , the switch enclosure fixed connector  208  is positioned near the back side  110  of the switch enclosure, wherein near the back side  110  is defined as being closer to the back side  110  than the front side  108 . Similarly, in the example embodiment discussed below in  FIG.  8   , the switch enclosure fixed connector  208  is positioned near the front side  108 , wherein near the front side  108  is defined as being closer to the front side  108  than the back side  110   
     The hot-swappable ASIC module  104 , for example, may be an electrical, optical, or a combination electrical and optical ASIC module  104 . For example, the hot-swappable ASIC module  104  may 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  may communicate with electrical switch enclosure fixed connector  208  that communicates electrical signals through electrical communication link  210  to the network cable connectors  106 . The electrical signals may be, for example, an electrical or electromagnetic current or voltage that is used for carrying data/signals from one device or component in a network to another. The electrical signals may be direct current (DC) or alternating current (AC) and may include modulation of either analog or digital signals. The hot-swappable ASIC module  104 , for example, may also be a combination electrical and optical ASIC module, wherein the ASIC chip  202  may be configured to output electrical signals that are converted into an optical signal before leaving the switch enclosure  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 be configured to receive an electrical signal at an input and output a corresponding optical data signal that continues to propagate through the remainder of the signal transmission path as an optical signal. 
     The optical transceiver, also called fiber optic transceiver or optical transceiver module, is a hot-pluggable device used in high-bandwidth signal communication applications. Optical transceivers have an electrical interface on one side (I/O) and an optical interface on the other side (I/O) so that the signals passing through the optical transceiver are converted from electrical to optical or optical to electrical (depending on the signal&#39;s direction of travel). Therefore, an optical transceiver operates as a photoelectric converter that converts an electrical signal into an optical signal (light) or an optical signal (light) into an electrical signal. In an example embodiment where the hot-swappable ASIC module  104  outputs electrical signal, an optical transceiver may be positioned at the output of the ASIC chip  202 , at the input to the ASIC module connector  206 , at the output of the switch enclosure fixed connector  208 , or at the input to the network cable connectors  106 . Essentially, the optical transceiver may be positioned anywhere in the signal path between the ASIC chip  202  and the network cable connectors  106 . Further still, in another example embodiment the optical transceiver may be positioned downstream of the network cable connectors  106  such that the signals transmitted from the network cable connector  106  are still in the electrical domain and may be converted to the optical domain in the cable communicating data from the network cable connector  106 . 
     As noted above, the hot-swappable ASIC module  104  may also be an all optical module. For example, the ASIC chip  202  may output an optical signal that is received by the communication link  204  and communicated to the ASIC module connector  206 . The optical signal may be further communicated through optical connectors  206 ,  208  and through an optical communication link  210  to optical network cable connectors  106 . 
     In the example embodiment shown in  FIGS.  1  &amp;  2   , the hot-swappable ASIC module  104  is decoupled or disaggregated from the network cable connectors  106  on the front side  108  of the switch enclosure  102 . This enables the hot-swappable ASIC module  104  to be removed from the switch enclosure  102  without disconnecting any of the signal communication cables or wires connected to the network cable connectors  106 . As such, the example configuration illustrated in  FIGS.  1  &amp;  2    allows for an ASIC module to be repaired or replaced without removing any of the corresponding network cable connectors that communicate signals to and from the ASIC module  104 . 
       FIG.  3    illustrates perspective view of an example switch enclosure  300  that includes four removable switch units  304  (similar to the hot swappable ASIC switch modules  104  shown in  FIGS.  1  &amp;  2   ), where each switch unit  304  has two switch ASICs  306  packaged into one field replaceable switch unit  304 . In this example configuration, the network cable connectors  302  are positioned on a front side  312  of the switch enclosure  300  and four replaceable switch units  304  are removably positioned in the switch enclosure  300  at a position above (respectively) the network connectors  302 . The replaceable switch units  304  are hot-swappable, meaning that they are independently removable from the switch enclosure  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 of the replaceable switch units  304  includes a replaceable switch unit fixed connector  308 . The replaceable switch unit fixed connector  308  may be rigidly mounted to the replaceable switch unit  304  and may be in communication with an input/output of the onboard ASIC chips  306 . In similar fashion to the example embodiments described in  FIGS.  1  and  2   , the replaceable switch unit fixed connector  308  is positioned and configured to releasably engage a corresponding switch enclosure fixed connector (not shown in  FIG.  3   ) to transmit signals therethrough. In this example embodiment, any one or more of the replaceable switch units  304  may be removed from the switch enclosure  300  without disconnecting any of the data transmission cables or wires connected to the network cable connectors  302 . Similarly, any of the ASIC chips  306  may be removed or replaced on the replaceable switch unit  304  without disconnecting any of the data transmission cables or wires connected to the network cable connectors  302 . 
       FIG.  4    illustrates a perspective view of an example replaceable switch unit  304 . The perspective view of the replaceable switch unit  304  removed from the switch enclosure  300  shows the supporting frame  402  of the replaceable switch unit  304 . The supporting frame  402  may have an electronics board  404  secured thereto, wherein the electronics board  404  (typically a silicon chip set or mount that may include a plurality of conductive and insulative layers configured to support one or more electronic components thereon) is configured to support and provide power and communication to/from the two ASIC chips  306  mounted thereto. The ASIC chips  306  may communicate with the replaceable switch unit fixed connector  308  that is mounted to a backside connector mounting member  406 , which is a portion of the supporting frame  402 . The supporting frame  402  may include guide members (not shown) configured to assist with inserting or removing the replaceable switch unit  304  to/from the switch enclosure  300  in a proper alignment. The replaceable switch unit fixed connector  308  secured to the backside connector mounting member  406  at a position configured to releasably connect with a corresponding fixed connector (not shown) mounted to the switch enclosure  300  so that electrical or optical signals may be transmitted between the two connectors with minimal loss. 
       FIG.  5    illustrates an example active optical connection cable used with an example switch enclosure. The active optical connection cable  500  includes terminating ends  502 ,  504  that have an optical transceiver built into the connector ends  502 ,  504 . As such, the active optical connection cable  500  may be used to receive an electrical signal at one of the connector ends  502  and convert the electrical signal into an optical signal that may be transmitted through the optical connection cable  500  and output from the other of the connector ends  504 . The active optical connection cable  500  may be implemented at any location in the example embodiments described herein to convert an electrical signal into an optical signal for further transmission through the switch topology. Similarly,  FIG.  6    illustrates a passive optical signal transmission cable  600  that includes passive terminating ends of the cable  602 ,  604 . The passive optical signal transmission cable receives optical signals and transmits the signals therethrough via one or more optical fibers. The terminating ends  602 ,  604  of the passive optical signal transmission cable  600  may include devices configured to communicate the optical signals from a terminating end  602 ,  604  of the cable  600  to another device or cable. Example devices that may be used at the optical connection points to facilitate the transmission of an optical signal through a connector with minimal loss include lenses, optical ferrules, and fiber optic couplers that may be spring-loaded so that the optical fiber faces are pressed together appropriately for signal transmission therethrough with minimal losses when the optical connectors are mated together. 
     Similarly,  FIG.  7    illustrates an example backplane electrical connection cable  700  used to connect an electrical output hot-swappable ASIC module to and adjacent switch enclosure fixed electrical connector. The example backplane connector  700  includes terminating ends  702 ,  704  that include a plurality of electrical connection points, which may be  16  connection points in the exemplary figure. The backplane connector terminating ends  702 ,  704  may generally include a male portion of the electrical connection, as the accompanying backplane connector terminating end receiver  706  may include corresponding female electrical connection points  708 . As such, the terminating ends  702 ,  704  may be positioned to engage the terminating end receiver  706  to provide electrical connection therebetween. Further, the backplane terminating end receiver  706  may be rigidly mounted via an outer connector body  710  so that the terminating ends  702  or  704  may be guided into a position for connection with the backplane connector terminating end receiver  706 . 
       FIG.  8    illustrates a side schematic view of an example switch  800 . The switch  800  includes a switch enclosure  802  having a hot-swappable ASIC module  804  removably positioned therein. The hot-swappable ASIC module  804  includes an ASIC chip  806  that is in direct electrical communication (without a link or wire) with an ASIC module connector  810  via a communication link  808 . The ASIC module connector  810  is positioned near a front side  814  of the hot-swappable ASIC module  804 . The ASIC module connector  810  may be configured to removably or detachably engage a switch enclosure fixed connector  818  that is in direct communication with network cable connectors  812  positioned on a front side  814  of the switch enclosure  802 . Therefore, in similar fashion to the example embodiments described above, the hot-swappable ASIC module  804  may be inserted into the switch enclosure  802  in the direction of arrows  816  from the front side  814  toward the back side  820  of the switch enclosure  802 . As the hot-swappable ASIC module  804  is inserted into the switch enclosure  802 , the respective connectors  810 ,  818  engage each other to provide a signal path from the ASIC chip  806  through to the network cable connectors  812 . The connectors  810 ,  818  may be electrical or optical, as described above. However, the example embodiment described in  FIG.  8    eliminates one or more connection points and/or communication links or wires between the ASIC chip  806  and the network cable connectors  812  by moving the connection points to the front side  814  of the switch, while still disaggregating the front side  814  or faceplate network cable connectors  812  from the internal components of the network switch  800 . 
     Example embodiments of the disclosure have application to various different types of signal transmission topologies involving switches, such as a SAN, WAN, LAN, and other types of network topologies or configurations that involve a switch and signal transmission between elements, devices, or components of the topology. 
     In the preceding, reference is made to examples or example embodiments of the disclosure, however, the scope of the disclosure is not limited to specific described examples or embodiments. Rather, any combination of the above noted features, elements, or functionalities, whether related to different examples or not, is contemplated to implement and practice embodiments of the disclosure. Furthermore, although embodiments disclosed herein may achieve advantages over other possible solutions or over the prior art, whether or not a particular advantage is achieved by a given embodiment is not limiting of the scope of the disclosure. Thus, the preceding aspects, features, embodiments and advantages are merely illustrative and are not considered elements or limitations of the appended claims except where explicitly recited in a claim. Further, as used herein, directional or orientation terms such as front, rear, side, top, bottom, up, down, back, forward, etc. are not meant to be limiting, but merely reflect the orientation of the example elements or embodiments as they appear in the Figures. It will be understood that the nomenclature used to designate each element is interchangeable depending on the spatial orientation, and as such, these terms are not intended to be limiting of the scope of the claims. 
     While the foregoing is directed to embodiments presented in this disclosure, other and further embodiments may be devised without departing from the basic scope of contemplated embodiments, and the scope thereof is determined by the claims that follow.