Gigabit Ethernet switching integrated directly into a 6U VME system
The VME218 expands our VadaTech embedded-computing portfolio with a managed Ethernet switching function for 6U VME platforms.
The baseboard occupies one VME slot and provides 12 front-panel 10/100/1000 Ethernet RJ-45 ports. The board is VME compliant and obtains its power from the VME bus.
An expansion board increases the configuration to 24 ports, occupying two slots.
12 or 24 Gigabit Ethernet ports
The base configuration provides 12 copper 10/100/1000 Ethernet interfaces.
Expansion options provide either 12 SFP cages with selectable SX, LX or copper transceivers, or 12 additional Gigabit RJ-45 interfaces.
The complete configuration therefore supports up to 24 Ethernet ports.
Managed Layer 2 switching
The VME218 supports up to 8K MAC addresses with line-rate switching for supported packet sizes.
Standard Ethernet packets from 64 to 1522 bytes are supported together with Jumbo Frames up to 9216 bytes. Hardware-based address learning, VLAN learning and MAC-table management functions are also provided.
These capabilities make the board suitable for embedded Information & Communication Systems requiring Ethernet connectivity inside an existing VME platform.
VLAN and QoS management
The VME218 supports up to 4K IEEE 802.1Q VLANs, including protocol-based and MAC-based VLAN functions and Independent VLAN Learning.
Four QoS queues are available per port, with Strict Priority, Weighted Round Robin and Deficit Round Robin scheduling.
IEEE 802.1p classification, DSCP prioritization and traffic shaping provide additional traffic-management capabilities.
ACLs, traffic control and security
Up to 512 ACL rules are supported together with ingress/egress filtering and traffic policing.
Programmable meters cover rates from 64 Kbps to 1 Gbps.
Security functions include IEEE 802.1X, per-port blocking, MAC-address blocking and DoS detection/prevention.
The board also supports per-port storm control for unknown unicast, broadcast and multicast traffic.
Spanning Tree and traffic mirroring
The VME218 supports IEEE 802.1D Spanning Tree Protocol as well as ingress and egress port mirroring.
These functions support network-path management and traffic analysis directly inside the VME system.
HTTP-based management
The switch is managed through HTTP.
Published management resources include SMON, RMON statistics, SNMP interface, Ethernet and Bridge MIB groups. Run/Fail and Link/Activity LEDs provide local status indications.
Supporting long-life VME platforms
The VME218 provides a practical way to add or replace managed Gigabit Ethernet switching while retaining an installed VME platform.
This makes it relevant to long-life embedded systems where chassis, CPU and I/O resources remain in service and complete platform replacement is not required.
We can combine product selection with obsolescence management and long-term system support when the VME platform must remain operational over an extended programme lifecycle.
Environmental characteristics
Published environmental data includes:
- Industrial operating temperature: -20°C to +70°C
- Industrial extended: -40°C to +75°C
- Storage temperature: -40°C to +90°C
- Vibration: 1 G, 5–500 Hz, each axis
- Shock: 30 G, each axis
- Humidity: 5–95%, non-condensing
The base module has a published power consumption of 12 W.
Integrating the VME218 into an existing embedded platform
Selecting the correct VME218 configuration requires more than choosing a port count. Copper or fibre media, available slots, VLAN structure, QoS requirements, security rules and long-term support of the VME platform must be considered together.
ECRIN Systems can integrate the board within a broader COTS or Modified COTS approach, combining the Ethernet switch with the VME chassis, CPU, I/O boards and other system functions.
Configurations
| Configuration |
Ports |
Slot width |
| Baseboard |
12 × 10/100/1000 RJ-45 |
1 slot |
| Base + SFP expansion |
12 × RJ-45 + 12 SFP cages |
2 slots |
| Base + copper expansion |
24 × Gigabit RJ-45 |
2 slots |
SX, LX and copper transceiver options are available for the SFP expansion, with a maximum combined transceiver count of 12.
