The Phoenix CSW1 VXS Switch is an innovative product that provides a high degree of flexibility in configuring a VXS system's communications infrastructure. The Phoenix CSW1 is a VXS switch slot compatible card that interconnects VXS payload slots and provides front-panel fiber optic transceiver I/O. At its heart, the Phoenix CSW1 provides a cross-bar circuit switch that connects high-speed serial links running at up to 3.125 Gbps. With the CSW1, data from an input link can multicast to any output links.
The Phoenix CSW1 supports up to 56 VXS 1x backplane links. VXS payload slot connections are interconnected through the CSW1 to create virtual VXS backplane topologies. The combination of the Phoenix CSW1 and a standard VXS backplane effectively provides a custom backplane routing scheme using off-the-shelf products.
In addition to VXS backplane routing, the Phoenix CSW1 supports up to 12 front-panel fiber optic transceivers. The transceivers can operate at any speed up to 3.125 Gbps. These links can be routed to any of the VXS communications channels for convenient data input/output to and from sensor arrays or data recorders.
The switch routing in the CSW1 is typically established at system boot time, but the configuration can be changed dynamically. There are various ways to configure the Phoenix CSW1. Using a web browser, a user can view and modify switch configurations or configurations can be sent to the CSW1 via FTP. It is also possible to modify configurations from an application running on a VXS payload board via the I2C interface. This is used to change the configuration during system operation.
The Phoenix CSW1 is available in environmental build options ranging from commercial air cooled to rugged conduction cooled. This allows the CSW1 to be used alongside other members of the Phoenix family to provide solutions for a wide variety of application needs.
Phoenix CSW1 Applications
Many VXS applications, such as surveillance or electro-optical applications, stream data from sensors to one or more DSP boards (such as the Phoenix VPF1) that process the data. In these applications, the data flow is pre-defined and statically configured. Custom, hard-wired VXS backplanes implemented with point-to-point interconnects between VXS payload slots and no switch slot are well suited to and often used in these applications. Point-to-point protocols such as Aurora or Serial FPDP (sFPDP) are often used in these applications because of their efficiency and low overhead.
The use of a hard-wired backplane is efficient and works well for some applications, however, there are some potential downsides to this approach that the Phoenix CSW1 addresses. First, if the system configuration changes or multiple system configurations are required, multiple custom backplanes have to be developed. Also, more and more applications are using fiber optic interfaces to sensors. The system needs an interface to get the data from these sensors to the DSP cards in the system.
Because of the flexibility of the Phoenix CSW1, it has been integrated into VXS systems in a variety of ways. Most applications take advantage of the front-panel fiber optic transceivers to link to their sensors. However, some customers are using the Phoenix CSW1 purely for its VXS backplane configuration capability without any front-panel transceivers. The following are some examples of customer applications:
- In one conduction-cooled application, the customer is bringing camera data into the system via front-panel fiber optic transceivers on the Phoenix CSW1. The cameras send the data using the sFPDP protocol. The Phoenix CSW1 connects the camera links to Phoenix VPF1 boards in addition to providing additional connections between the Phoenix VPF1 boards.
- In another deployed system, the customer is utilizing two Phoenix CSW1 boards in a dual star VXS backplane to have enough fiber optic transceivers to handle the large amount of fiber optic I/O required in their application. In this application, each CSW1 is configured with 12 front-panel fiber- optic transceivers.
- There are customers utilizing the Phoenix CSW1 in lab environments to allow them to use off-the-shelf VXS backplanes during their development. Even though they will be developing a custom backplane for their deployed systems, they are using the CSW1 and an off-the-shelf VXS backplane to cut their development costs and save time.
- Customers have also purchased the Phoenix CSW1 and a standard VXS chassis from VMETRO to use with other vendors’ VXS payload boards. Since no other VXS supplier has a switch product like the Phoenix CSW1, these customers would have had to develop a custom VXS backplane and devise a scheme to get their fiber optic links into the system. But with the CSW1 they have an immediate solution.
These are just a few examples of the innovative ways that customers are integrating the Phoenix CSW1 into their designs. Because of the flexibility of the Phoenix CSW1, customers are continuing to find new ways to use it in their applications.