| 摘要 |
A modular system uses point-to-point communication between field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) on a control module and each port module, respectively, to manage basic module functions, such as power, environmental monitoring, and health checks on the modules and their components. This allows a chassis to be managed without fully powering each card first, frees processors on the modules from having to perform health checks, allows dedicated resources to rapidly monitor the health of each card, and prevents one bad card from disabling management of all cards. |
| 主权项 |
1. A network device, comprising:
a route module including a route field-programmable gate array (FPGA) that is configured to receive power when the route module is powered down; a line module including a line FPGA that is configured to receive power when the line module is powered down, wherein the line FPGA is configured to control at least some of the line module without the involvement of a processor; and a connection between the route FPGA and the line FPGA in the line module, wherein the route FPGA is configured to send control commands over the connection to the line FPGA to control the line module, and wherein the line FPGA is configured to push data to the route module; wherein the route FPGA and the line FPGA are configured to exchange heartbeat messages across the connection, and wherein the route FPGA is configured to provide an alert when a heartbeat message from the line FPGA falls outside of defined parameters. |
