In the past few years, several end-of-life (EOL) announcements in the embedded computing market have both caused angst and opportunity. Making the shift away from a tried-and-true solution always brings with it the need to review not only the mechanical elements of an embedded system, but the integration and networking elements as well. And when that review is forced upon a designer, as in the case of an EOL announcement, it may mean forced choices of not-as-optimum alternatives. Or it could be something different altogether.
EOL is not the only option
One product segment particularly affected is high-performance embedded Ethernet switches in VME, CompactPCI, and VPX form factors. Component availability triggered board-level EOL notices, with some suppliers forced to reduce or eliminate product offerings in some of these form factors.
But others looked at this shift as a way to strengthen the Ethernet switch and add new capabilities by implementing a technology refresh to an existing product line, instead of just shutting production down or scaling back the availability of its switches. The ComEth product line by Interface Concept (sold in North America by Elma Electronic Inc.) is an example of this how lack of component availability does not need to result in an EOL announcement, but rather, can foster new opportunities to help ensure a strong embedded ecosystem.
How Ethernet speeds have evolved
Created in the early 1970s, Ethernet has seen many improvements and enhancements over the past several decades, with the speed of data flow increasing again and again. Today, Gigiabit is considered the low-end, with many embedded systems requiring Ethernet connectivity speeds of 10, 25, 40, and even 100 Gigabit. It can even be faster than that, but 10 and 25 Gigabit SERDES lanes, which can be combined in groups of four to form fat pipes supporting 40 GigKr4 and 100 GigKr4, are commonplace in today’s embedded systems market.
In addition, these embedded systems often utilize Ethernet switches when more than a single point-to-point connection is required. The ComEth family of Ethernet switches is a good example of a modern switch that provides the high performance switching and routing features most desired by system integrators. This includes a feature rich switch management application called Switchware that lets the user configure an extensive list of parameters and configuration settings using either a convenient browser interface or Command Line Interface (CLI). Once a switch configuration is created, the configuration file is saved, exported and then loaded onto other switches, facilitating easy configuration across each switch.
System enhancements for VME & CompactPCI
Interfaces such as to VME and CPCI backplanes remain at 1000BaseT speeds due to the limitations of the backplane connectors, although other interfaces, like front panel ports, have been updated to support faster uplink speeds. For example, some ports that supported 1000BaseT in the past now offer a wide range of speeds up to 10 Gig-BaseT capability. Such ports often support 10 and 100 Megabit, Gigabit, 2.5, 5 and 10 Gigabit speeds.
This facilitates overall system enhancements, where other equipment in the system may also need to accommodate bandwidth increases. It is interesting that sometimes Gigabit is not fast enough and 10 Gigabit is more than enough, so these intermediate speeds of 2.5 and 5 Gigabit may help solve the problem of matching the switch’s speed to the needed bandwidth. There is also more use of SFP, SFP+, and QSFP ports, allowing users to select — and even mix — a variety of media interfaces.
Some systems require both copper and fiber of different speeds and a modern commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) Ethernet switch allows the system integrator great flexibility to be compatible with higher-level system requirements. In some cases, even the need for quite old 100 Megabit fiber interfaces is still supported with these new designs for applications that must have it.
Backplane designs for VPX
In the VPX market, backplanes often utilize SERDES interfaces, which had been Gigabit or 10 Gigabit speeds for the past few years. With enhancements to VPX backplane designs and connector technology, new generation VPX form factor Ethernet switches now support speeds of Gigabit, 10 Gigabit and 25 Gigabit SERDES on a single lane and, when four lanes are combined into a fat-pipe,current products are supporting 40 GigKR4 and even 100 GigKr4 speeds, with more speed improvement on product roadmaps.
Enabling innovation instead of EOL shutdowns
Component availability is an issue we will be facing for a while, but by using this challenge as an innovation opportunity, embedded system designers can move towards new models of development to capitalize on computing technologies, like enhanced speeds in Ethernet switching, and improve system performance.
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