Patent ID: 7102893

Claim:
An electronic system, comprising: a first set of circuit boards; a second set of circuit boards; and a backplane interconnect system including a first backplane interconnect configured to carry first electrical backplane signals among the first set of circuit boards, a second backplane interconnect configured to carry second electrical backplane signals among the second set of circuit boards, and a backplane coupling assembly having: a first switch attached to the first backplane interconnect, the first switch being configured to convey at least some of the first electrical backplane signals between circuit boards of the first set of circuit boards, a second switch attached to the second backplane interconnect, the second switch being configured to convey at least some of the second electrical backplane signals between circuit boards of the second set of circuit boards, and a fiber optic cable joining the first and second switches together, the first and second switches being configured to exchange fiber optic signals through the fiber optic cable to operate as a cohesive backplane interconnect system between the first and second sets of circuit boards.