HP ProLiant BL660c Electrical signal integrity considerations for HP BladeSyst - Page 9

Design goals, Channel, 10 GbE, InfiniBand, Serial Attached Technology SAS

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Design goals The BladeSystem c-Class uses a high-speed signal midplane that provides the flexibility to intermingle server blades and interconnect fabrics in many ways to solve a multitude of application needs. The NonStop signal midplane is unique because it can use the same physical traces to transmit GbE, Fibre Channel, 10 GbE, InfiniBand, Serial Attached Technology (SAS), or PCI Express signals. As a result, customers can fill the interconnect bays with a variety of interconnect modules depending on their needs. Figure 8 depicts the signal path across the BladeSystem architecture. It is organized by module with divisions shown at connection points and indicates the board material, trace length range, and connector type for each element. The variance in the trace length parameter listed in Figure 8 is due to the size of the circuit board; the larger the circuit board the longer the traces may be. Figure 8. Signal path across the BladeSystem architecture The NonStop signal midplane can transmit signals from different I/O fabrics because of similarities in the physical layer of those fabrics. Serialized I/O protocols such as GbE, Fibre Channel, 10GbE, SAS, PCI Express, 1000-Base-KX, 10G-Base-KX4, and InfiniBand along with the 8 Gb Fibre Channel are all based on a physical layer that uses two or more differential pairs with a serializer/deserializer interface. The BladeSystem c-Class enclosure was designed and built to ensure that it can support upcoming technologies and their demand for bandwidth and power for at least five to seven years. This required locking in the infrastructure long before certain fabrics would be available to be tested (Figure 9). 9

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Design goals
The BladeSystem c-Class uses a high-speed signal midplane that provides the flexibility to intermingle
server blades and interconnect fabrics in many ways to solve a multitude of application needs. The
NonStop signal midplane is unique because it can use the same physical traces to transmit GbE, Fibre
Channel, 10 GbE, InfiniBand, Serial Attached Technology (SAS), or PCI Express signals. As a result,
customers can fill the interconnect bays with a variety of interconnect modules depending on their
needs. Figure 8 depicts the signal path across the BladeSystem architecture. It is organized by module
with divisions shown at connection points and indicates the board material, trace length range, and
connector type for each element. The variance in the trace length parameter listed in Figure 8 is due
to the size of the circuit board; the larger the circuit board the longer the traces may be.
Figure 8.
Signal path across the BladeSystem architecture
The NonStop signal midplane can transmit signals from different I/O fabrics because of similarities in
the physical layer of those fabrics. Serialized I/O protocols such as GbE, Fibre Channel, 10GbE,
SAS, PCI Express, 1000-Base-KX, 10G-Base-KX4, and InfiniBand along with the 8 Gb Fibre Channel
are all based on a physical layer that uses two or more differential pairs with a serializer/deserializer
interface.
The BladeSystem c-Class enclosure was designed and built to ensure that it can support upcoming
technologies and their demand for bandwidth and power for at least five to seven years. This
required locking in the infrastructure long before certain fabrics would be available to be tested
(Figure 9).
9