M120 Midplane Description

The midplane is located in the center of the chassis and forms the rear of the FPC card cage (see Figure 1). The FPCs install into the midplane from the front of the chassis, and the FEBs, Routing Engines, power supplies, and CBs install into the midplane from the rear of the chassis. The power supplies and cooling system components also connect to the midplane.

The midplane performs the following major functions:

• Data path—Data packets are transferred across the midplane between an FPC and its associated FEB, and between the FEBs via the fabric ASICs on the CB.
• Power distribution—The router power supplies are connected to the midplane, which distributes power to all the router components.
• Signal path—The midplane provides the signal path to the FPCs, FEBs, Routing Engines, CB, and other system components for monitoring and control of the system.

Figure 1: M120 Midplane

For chassis serial number information , see Displaying M120 Router Components and Serial Numbers.