The M3-SW16-8E Myrinet-2000 switch line card provides convenient, high-performance interoperability between Myrinet ethernet emulation and 1000BASE-T Gigabit ethernet (GbE). These Myrinet switch line cards can be used to build economical, high-degree, GbE cluster switches, or switches that can be connected to both Myrinet and GbE hosts.

The GbE ports of the M3-SW16-8E line card are 1000BASE-T on RJ-45 connectors for Cat-5 ethernet cables. The GbE ports are full-duplex only and Gigabit-ethernet only. There is no half-duplex mode of operation or speed negotiation to 100BASE-T or 10BASE-T. The line card includes a 16-port Myrinet switch with 8 Myrinet System Area Network links on the connector to the backplane, and can be used in all of the same configurations as the Myrinet-fiber M3-SW16-8F line card.

The conversion between ethernet-emulation packets on a Myrinet and GbE packets is accomplished by a Lanai-XM chip on each GbE port. The physical-level conversion is a feature of the multiprotocol port of the Lanai XM. The data-link-level conversion is accomplished by firmware that executes on the RISC inside the Lanai XM. The protocol-conversion firmware is loaded into the memories of the Lanai-XM chips during the line-card initialization. This firmware can be upgraded through an M3-M monitoring line card. In addition to its protocol-conversion functions, the firmware participates in Myrinet mapping.

For interoperability with Myrinet mapping and ethernet emulation, the firmware for M3-SW16-8E line cards requires that hosts use GM 2.0.10 or later, GM 2.1.1 or later, or MX. Cluster switches with only GbE ports are allowed; the Myrinet mapping is performed between the Lanai-XM end points. A set of M3-SW16-8E line cards connected via Myrinet acts as a GbE MAC bridge. The firmware supports the rapid spanning tree algorithm and protocol, thus allowing these GbE ports to be connected to other GbE switches as well as to GbE hosts.

Firmware versions. The firmware in products currently shipping is version 2.0.0. This firmware does not interoperate with earlier version 1.x firmware; thus, installations with earlier M3-SW16-8E line cards should upgrade their firmware. The process is easy. Please contact help@myri.com for instructions. All firmware versions interoperate with Myrinet ethernet emulation with the limits noted above.

Performance. The GbE ports operate at the full 1+1 Gb/s data rate of GbE. The protocol processing in the Lanai-XM requires ~3.3µs per packet, thus allowing on each port ~300K packets per second in the sum of both directions. Just as Myrinet ethernet emulation allows 9KB "jumbo frames," the protocol conversion provided by the M3-SW16-8E firmware allows jumbo frames on the ethernet.

Specifications

These specifications concentrate on the physical characteristics of this product. Please see this Guide to Myrinet-2000 Switches and Switch Networks for information about the installation and the principles of operation of this family of products.

Gigabit Ethernet (1000BASE-T, RJ-45 connector) ports (8): each 1.0+1.0 Gb/s on the front panel. These ports are full-duplex only, and Gigabit-ethernet only (no speed negotiation). Each GbE port has two green LEDs in the RJ-45 connector: The right LED indicates link connectivity, and the left LED indicates traffic. The Lanai-XM-based GbE MAC bridge has 128KB of input buffer and 512KB of output buffer on each port. The GbE ports of the line card support flow control. When the physical GbE link connection is established, the GbE ports auto-negotiate the GbE flow control, either symmetric (in which both ends of a link can stop each other), asymmetric (in which only one end can stop the other), or none.

Myrinet System-Area-Network ports (8): each 2.0+2.0 Gb/s at the backplane interface.

Microcontroller functions: Self-test, board identification, voltage monitoring, temperature monitoring (upstream & downstream in the air flow), XBar16 scan path, firmware initialization of the Lanai-XM-based Myrinet-GbE conversion circuits, and status information from the Myrinet-GbE conversion circuits. All status information is reported on demand through the serial link (to an M3-M monitoring line card). The µC will shut off the line-card power on over-temperature or other fault conditions. The µC controls a Status LED on the front panel: Off: not operating; Green: operating. Yellow: fault.

Power requirements: Dual +12V input power @ 3.0A (36W) maximum. The line card is hot-swappable.

Physical characteristics: 9U-220mm card per IEEE 1101.10, with specialized connectorization. Detail dimensional specifications are given here. Weight 20oz (570g).

Regulatory Approvals: When properly installed in a Myricom M3-E16, M3-E32, M3-E64, or M3-E128 enclosure, and when used with shielded Cat-5 ethernet cables, the line card is fully compliant with EN55024 (1998), EN55022 Class A (1998), VCCI Class A (May 1999), FCC Part 15 Subpart B Class A, CISPR 22/85 Class A, ICES-003 Class A (ANSI C63.4 1992), and AS/NZS 3548 Class A (w/A1 & A2 1997). EMC Report. CE Declaration.

M3-SW16-8E Myrinet Switch Line Card

Last updated: 26 June 2004