US 12,132,670 B2
Dis-aggregated switching and protocol configurable input/output module
Odie Banks Killen, Jr., Colorado Springs, CO (US); Charles C. Hill, Colorado Springs, CO (US); and Ritesh Kumar, Colorado Springs, CO (US)
Assigned to Sanmina Corporation, San Jose, CA (US)
Filed by Sanmina Corporation, San Jose, CA (US)
Filed on Oct. 29, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/515,004.
Prior Publication US 2023/0137940 A1, May 4, 2023
Int. Cl. H04L 49/253 (2022.01); H04L 49/00 (2022.01); H04L 49/25 (2022.01); H05K 5/02 (2006.01)
CPC H04L 49/254 (2013.01) [H04L 49/256 (2013.01); H04L 49/30 (2013.01); H05K 5/0204 (2013.01)] 16 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An input/output module (IOM) configured for insertion into a mounting slot of a rack enclosure of a network storage system to mount the IOM within the rack enclosure, the IOM comprising:
an integrated device configured to provide top-of-rack (TOR) switching and protocol conversion and comprising:
a first switch to receive input data from a plurality of input connectors to route to a plurality of storage devices of the network storage system; and
a plurality of bridges coupled to the first switch to receive data from the first switch in a first protocol and convert the data to one or more second protocols for use with particular storage devices of the plurality of storage devices;
wherein the first switch is configured to determine particular bridges from among the plurality of bridges to receive particular portions of the input data;
wherein each of the plurality of bridges is configured to output particular portions of the data in at least one of the second protocols for use with particular storage devices of the plurality of storage devices; and
wherein the integrated device is configured to be enclosed within the rack enclosure while the IOM is inserted into the mounting slot of the rack enclosure.