M320 SIB Description

The Switch Interface Boards (SIBs) provide the switching function to the destination FPC. The SIBs (see Figure 1) create the switch fabric for the router, providing up to a total of 385 million packets per second (Mpps) of forwarding with the maximum configuration.

SIBs are located at the center rear of the router chassis in the slots labeled SIB0 through SIB3 (top to bottom). The M320 router can be configured with two, three, or four SIBs. You can upgrade from two to three SIBs or from three to four SIBs without resetting or stopping Packet Forwarding Engines.

Each FPC has a dedicated ASIC with up to four high-speed links that connect to the SIBs (one link per SIB).

SIBs are hot-insertable and hot-removable.

Figure 1: SIB-M

Each SIB consists of the following components:

• Switch Fabric ASICs.
• High-speed links (HSLs) to each FPC.
• Three LEDs located on the SIB faceplate that display the status of the SIB. See M320 SIB LEDs.
• SIB online/offline button, located on the SIB faceplate.