Patent ID: 7307987

Claim:
A multi-service platform system, comprising: a backplane having a main power bus, wherein the backplane is coupled to operate a switched fabric coincident with at least one of a VMEbus network and a PCI network; a payload module having one of a 3U form factor, a 6U form factor and a 9U form factor, wherein the payload module is communicatively coupled with the backplane using the switched fabric and at least one of the VMEbus network and the PCI network, wherein the payload module includes a payload module power bus that is adapted to be electrically coupled to the main power bus; at least one multi-gigabit connector coupled to a rear edge of the payload module, wherein the at least one multi-gigabit connector is coupled to communicatively interface the payload module to the backplane, and wherein the switched fabric and at least one of the VMEbus network and the PCI network are communicatively coupled with the payload module through the at least one multi-gigabit connector; and a payload module power connector comprising a plurality of pins, wherein at least one of the plurality of pins has a length different from a remaining portion of the plurality of pins such that power between the main power bus and the payload module power bus is at least one of applied and removed, in a smooth and gradually ramped fashion over a time period, and wherein power and any concurrent data operations on the backplane remain uninterrupted and unaffected during the at least one of applying and removing power between the main power bus and the payload module power bus.