- Next-Gen
Backplanes, Part II
- Developing the next-gen communications system utilizing switched
fabric technology by StarGen, Bustronic is a proud to be a founding
member of the StarFabric Working Group. This is the second installment
of a series of articles featuring important new technology developments.
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- Bustronic and StarGen recently announced the development of
the 21-slot StarFabric backplane, which was recently used for
proof-of-concept demos at the Applied Computing Conference. This
switched fabric backplane is made up of five CompactPCI segments
and uses standard cPCI components. The 21-slot StarFabric demo
backplane comes in a 7U form factor, compatible with standard
6U cards, with 1U on the bottom for power connections. With the
very high speeds involved in the technology, we focused on suppressing
RFI/EMI and minimizing crosstalk. To do this, we incorporated
three 2-oz. copper ground layers, helping to fully shield the
backplane and maximize power distribution. Furthermore, outer
ground layers serve to protect signals or power from being exposed
where they could be shorted or damaged. Two 2 oz.-copper power
layers are used to maximize power distribution and to act as virtual
ground planes, again helping to minimize noise and crosstalk.
High frequency decoupling capacitors at every slot and low frequency
electrolytic capacitors throughout the board help this effect.
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- Three separate signal layers allow wide separation between signals
to virtually eliminate crosstalk. The signal traces are kept narrow
and the ground and power planes are kept close to the signals
for the same reasons.
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- Utilizing stripline design construction, you can eliminate a
severe source of RFI/EMI radiation and make all signals have similar
characteristic impedances, virtually identical propagation delays
and minimum signal skew. This in turn allows significantly higher
data transfer rates since signal skew factors four times into
the transfer rate calculations.
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- For more on the StarFabric technology, visit our informational
resource site, www.nextgenbackplanes.com.
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- Melissa Heckman
Electrical Engineer
Bustronic
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