The ZX6000 supports all the features required of an ATCA hub subsystem with a total of 24 Gigabit Ethernet ports in both non-redundant and dual-star architectures. Re-configuration options allow both 14 and 16 slot ATCA chassis to be supported. In a 14-slot chassis, the surplus ports may be used for alternate purposes such as chassis egress.

Payload boards requiring PICMG 3.0 Base Interface may be used. With a fully non-blocking fabric and the VLAN control of OpenArchitect, the system designer can guarantee available bandwidth and separation between control and data planes.

The base interface supports IEEE 802.3-compliant auto-negotiated 10/100/1000BaseT Ethernet. The ZX6000 supports 12 or 14 payload slots via the base interface. ATCA applications may dedicate this interface for control-plane or data-plane traffic. Switch ports are also allocated for egress to the chassis, the Shelf-Manager (ShMC), and an inter-switch link for dual-switch installations.

The ZX6000 may be upgraded to PICMG 3.1 or other ATCA data-plane standards such as PICMG 3.2 (Infiniband) or PICMG 3.4 (ASI Switching). The ZNYX roadmap includes several options, protecting the investment of the customer-base by accommodating new payload boards as they are introduced into the market.

The ZX6000 can be configured to a variety of port/egress configurations. See the Configuration Guide for details.

A key feature that enables the true application flexibility of the ZX6000 are the four PMC/PTMC sites. These allow industry-standard third-party function boards to be hosted on the ZX6000. In some cases this eliminates the need to use an ATCA payload slot for the same purpose, improving the density of the system chassis while gaining a cost advantage. Functions can include a variety of I/O boards, supplemental processors, memory devices, and packet processors. The flexibility and power of the Linux-based OpenArchitect software allows fast implementation of features such as:

The ZX6000 includes an IPMI management controller, compliant with the PICMG 3.0 version 1.5 protocol, which interfaces the shelf management system via I2C for remote management of the shelf. All required functions are supported, including the electronic keying feature of ATCA that prevents the accidental mis-match of boards inserted into the system. In addition, the switch fabric provides a link to the Shelf Management controller to allow it full access to the network.