One Stop Systems, Inc.
Host Cable Adapter User Manual
Rev. A
2
Overview of SuperSwitch™
SuperSwitch is an extension of the Max Express Expansion System to allow communication between processors over the PCI
Express bus at speeds of 10Gb/s. SuperSwitch offers several significant advantages over other high speed networking technologies
such as 10Gb Ethernet:
•
Lower cost
•
Higher performance
•
Available in more form factors
SuperSwitch configurations allow for communication to a combination of processors as well as external stand-alone PCI Express
devices or expansion systems. SuperSwitch also provides a simple way to network between various computer architectures such as
CPCI, laptops, desktop systems or PICMG passive backplane architectures.
SuperSwitch Technology
SuperSwitch consists of two or more host interface boards (HIBs) and a software driver package called ExpressNet. Each system
uses a HIB, which is connected by cables either to another HIB or through a PCI Express switch to several HIBs. The HIBs use a
PCIe non-transparent bridge to map the memory on each system into the memory space of the others. This allows high speed
direct memory access between the systems.
The ExpressNet software sets up one CPU as the root complex, which initializes the ExpressNet network and handles the fabric
management. It provides standard network services like TCP/IP between the connected systems and also Direct Data Transfer
(DDT) between user level applications. DDT implements a high speed, low latency shared memory that can be used in a
customized communications scheme appropriate to the application.
SuperSwitch Configurations
SuperSwitch is available in three base configurations:
SuperSwitch 1 (2 ports)
Communication between 2 Host Interface Boards
SuperSwitch 2 (3-5 ports)
These ports can all be processors, or they can be any combination of processors, or end points such as a PCIe device,
SHB-ELB, Host Cable Adapter, ECA, CPCI HEB or CPCIe ELB.
SuperSwitch 3 (6-8 ports)
A HIB in the host system communicates through an external 1U 8 port PCI Express switch to be any combination of
processors, or end points such as a PCIe device, SHB-ELB, Host Cable Adapter, ECA, CPCI HEB or CPCIe ELB
