Telecommunications switch/server
View Patent ↗The switch has a passive section and an active section or tray that may be docked to the passive section. The passive section contains only the physical interfaces to the switch's external data and telephony networks and power input. It is not intended to be a field replaceable unit and is therefore intended to be mounted in a rack system with all of the power and communications cables attached thereto. The telephony and data ports are routed from the passive section to the active section via connectors on the two sections as well as to a redundancy connector on the passive section that may be physically connected by a cable to a slave unit in a redundant application. The active section or tray contains all of the active components of the switch and is inserted via guides into the passive section. The tray is considered a field replaceable unit and can be inserted into and extracted from the passive section while the system is powered up and operational. As a result of its unique two-section design, the present switch has several advantages. For example upon failure, all active components of the system may be replaced without removing the mounting hardware from the rack in which the switch is mounted and without removing any cables connected to the switch. Also when the switch is part of a redundant system, when the switch fails, all of the active components of the switch may be replaced without interrupting system operations.
1. A telecommunication switch comprising
a passive section including
a housing having a bottom wall, a pair of upstanding side walls, an up-standing rear wall and an open front,
a multiplicity of signal ports mounted in said rear wall,
an I/O circuit board supported on the bottom wall, said I/O board having a front edge,
a first electrical connector mounted to said I/O board adjacent to the front edge thereof, said first connector having a multiplicity of contacts, said I/O board carrying only non-active components of the switch and defining a multiplicity of signal spans between said ports and the contacts of said first connector, and
a tray slidably received in said housing through the open front thereof, said tray including
a pan having a bottom wall, a pair of upstanding side walls and an up-standing front wall,
a printed circuit motherboard supported on the bottom wall of the pan, said motherboard having a rear edge and carrying all of the active components of the switch, and
a second connector mounted to the motherboard adjacent to the rear edge thereof, said second connector having a multiplicity of contacts that are mateable with the contacts of the first connector, said motherboard defining signal paths between the active components thereon and the contacts of the second connector,
said first and second connectors being arranged and adapted so that when said tray is slid into said housing to a home position, the corresponding contacts of the first and second connectors are coupled together so as to establish all of the electrical connections between said ports and said active components that are needed for normal operation of the switch.
2. The switch defined in claim 1 wherein
the passive section also includes a power port mounted in the rear wall of said housing and a first power connector supported by the housing and connected electrically to the power port, and
the tray also includes a power supply supported by the pan, said power supply having an output connected electrically to the motherboard and an input, and a second power connector supported by the pan and connected electrically to the power supply input, said first and second power connectors being arranged and adapted so that when the tray is slid into the housing to said home position, said first and second power connectors connect the power port to the power supply.
3. The switch defined in claim 1 wherein the front wall of the tray is dimensioned so that when the tray is in said home position, said front wall closes the front opening into said housing.
4. The switch defined in claim 1 wherein the tray also includes a PC board carrying control components accessible through openings in the front wall of said pan.
5. The switch defined in claim 1 and further including interfitting portions on the side walls of said housing and said tray for guiding the tray to and from said home position.
6. The switch defined in claim 4 and further including means for releasably fastening the tray in said home positioning in the housing.
7. The switch defined in claim 1 wherein the passive section also includes a redundancy connector mounted in the rear wall of the housing for connecting the switch via a cable to a similar standby switch.
8. The switch defined in claim 1 and further including a cover releasably secured to the side and rear walls of the housing thereby closing the top of the housing.