The ZX7100 supports all the features required of an ATCA hub subsystem with a total of 72 Gigabit Ethernet ports. The Base subsystem has 24 ports to serve the ATCA Base Interface to implement an isolated Control Plane. The ATCA Fabric is served by a nonblocking Ethernet switch that has 48 Gigabit Ethernet ports and four 10Gigabit Ethernet ports.

This system ensures no possibility of intrusion or interference between the Control and Data planes, a "must have" requirement for telco applications. Each of the Base and ATCA Interface switches has its own control processor, which may be kept on completely separate networks or optionally interconnected.

The full capability of the ATCA backplane may be accessed through the ZX7100 via its three 10Gigabit Ethernet ports*. Two ports are provided to the front and one is provided to the rear to accommodate alternate cabling practices. In addition, both switch subsystems provide four Gigabit Ethernet switch ports to the front panel and an additional four fabric Interfaces and three base Interface Egress ports to the rear. This allows flexibility in connecting both data-plane channels as well as auxillary and associated equipment, saving costs by reducing or eliminating the need for external switch equipment.

With a ZX7100, up to 6 payload cards using PICMG 3.1 Option 3 (four GigE links) may be used. The remaining eight payload slots are supplied with Option 2 (two GigE links). This arrangment is ideal for N+1 redundancy systems that provide an "extra" hot blade to take over full function for any of the active blades. (All slots may be used with Option 2, Option 1, or Base-interface-only payload cards.)

The ZX7100 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.

To assist in application development, the ZX7100 includes a variety of peripherals, including CompactFlash (secure internal), capacitor-backed Real Time Clock, and USB (external). The OpenArchitect Linux environments are friendly to user applications, enabling the implementation of site specific funcions.

If a backplane clock is required (as specified in PICMG 3.0 6.7) the optional RTM of the ZX7100 can support an optional clock module, with or without external sync input.