In this satellite communication application, a 3U VMEbus system based on a PowerPC® single-board computer provides the control for a new switch equipment that allows a consistent integration of heterogeneous non-SNMP equipment within standard SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) management platforms. Main features include protocol translation and SNMP MIB (Management Information Base) support for equipment that does not support any SNMP features, but simple serial lines like RS232, RS422/RS485 etc.

The simple network management protocol (SNMP) forms part of the internet protocol suite. The protocol can support monitoring of network-attached devices for any conditions that warrant administrative attention. The SNMP proctocol operates at the application layer (layer 7) of the OSI model. The CPU board is equipped with a MPC8245 PowerPC® and two UARTs. Ethernet interfaces and further UARTs that should be accessible at the front panel are added by plugging up to two PC-MIP® mezzanine cards on the CPU board. In this application the configuration per CPU board consists of two Fast Ethernet channels and four additional RS422/485 interface lines. One M-Module™ is used to bring another four RS232 interfaces to the system. It is plugged on a separate M-Module™ carrier card.