Patent ID: 7388757

Claim:
A subrack having a front side and a rear side, wherein the subrack is coupled to receive an Advanced Mezzanine Card module, the subrack comprising: a monolithic backplane having a first portion and a second portion, wherein the first portion runs substantially along the front side of the subrack and the second portion runs substantially along the rear side of the subrack; a first slot, wherein the first slot is coupled to receive a first Advanced Mezzanine Card module inserted via the front side and connect the first Advanced Mezzanine Card module directly to the second portion of the monolithic backplane; a second slot, wherein the second slot is coupled to receive a second Advanced Mezzanine Card module inserted via the rear side and connect the second Advanced Mezzanine Card module directly to the first portion of the monolithic backplane; an Advanced Mezzanine Card (AMC) connector at each of the first slot and the second slot, wherein the AMC connector is coupled to directly connect the first and second Advanced Mezzanine Card modules to the monolithic backplane; and a virtual carrier manager, wherein the virtual carrier manager provides a control management function for the first and second Advanced Mezzanine Card modules, wherein the virtual carrier manager provides a central switching function for the first and second Advanced Mezzanine Card modules, and wherein the virtual carrier manager provides a power control function for the first and second Advanced Mezzanine Card modules.