Reducing System Assembly Costs With Pluggable Backplanes

Pluggable backplanes help reduce system costs and allow more swappability by eliminating cabling in the chassis. Allowing pluggability for power supplies, fan trays, utility headers, and shelf managers also reduces mean-time-to-repair (MTTR). With these concepts in mind, Bustronic has developed the EasyPlug™ line of backplanes for CompactPCI and AdvancedTCA systems.

CompactPCI
There are different solutions for connecting the power for CompactPCI backplanes. For example, Bustronic has had the EasyCable™ line for years, with power nuts along the side of the backplane. This method makes cabling to the backplane easy and convenient with the power in easy-to-reach and assemble locations.

Over time, pluggable power supplies became more common, often using the Positronic 47-pin power connector. One solution has been to use Power Interface Boards (PIB) that have the 47-pin connectors in single or dual modules and in 3U or 6U height (along with various other connectors). The Power Interface Boards are wired to the backplane when they are installed in the chassis. Another solution has been to combine these two concepts into one monolithic cPCI backplane. So, Bustronic has created 3U, 6U, and 9U cPCI EasyPlug backplanes with 47-pin power connectors on the side.

The EasyPlug line features Positronic 47-pin power connectors on the backplane. The monolithic backplanes have pluggable modules that reducing system costs and allowing more swappability. The 3U and 6U cPCI versions are standardly with the power connectors in a vertically oriented position. The 9U cPCI are standardly with the power connectors in a horizontally oriented position.

The 9U EasyPlug CPCI line has a standard CPCI or CTEL segment, in 2, 4, 6 and 8 slots. The first product is an 8 slot CPCI with two power supply connectors on the right side in a horizontal chassis. The power supply connections are set up for redundancy and current sharing. The IPMB signals on the power supply connectors are configurable for bussed or radial orientation. The FAL# and DEG# signals are connected to the CPCI system slot. The EasyPlug backplane has connectors for fans, hard drive or CDROM drive. Also, it has a header for PRST# on the CPCI system slot.

AdvancedTCA
The EasyPlug AdvancedTCA line is fully pluggable, offering hot-swappability “everywhere”, saving cabling time and money, and reducing repair time. These 7U backplanes feature pluggable connectors beneath the slots for fan trays, power entry modules, shelf managers, etc. The first in the line is a 14-slot Dual Star.

Contact Bustronic for more information on our new line of EasyPlug CompactPCI and AdvancedTCA backplanes. Bustronic continues to develop new and innovative solutions to save our customers time, effort, and money. With our unsurpassed quality and design expertise, Bustronic is the leader in high-performance backplanes.

Melissa Heckman
Electrical Engineer
Bustronic

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