Cell Board - HP Integrity Superdome SX1000 User Manual

Overview

Cell Board

Cell Board
The cell board with its firmware is the biggest change to the Superdome family. It provides the processing and
memory resources required by each hp Integrity Superdome system configuration. Each cell board uses up to
four Itanium® 2 processor modules hp Integrity Superdome) or up to four PA-8800, dual-core, PA-RISC
processor modules (hp 9000 Superdome), a single cell (or coherency) controller (CC), a high-speed crossbar
interface, a high-speed I/O interface, eight memory controller CCs, capacity for up to 32 high-density DIMMs,
high-speed clock-distribution circuitry, a utility subsystem interface, scan (JTAG) circuitry for manufacturing
test, and a low-voltage DC power interface. The system backplane accommodates up to eight cell boards
allowing up to 32 processor modules and up to 256 DIMMs in a single system cabinet.
The cell power board (OCPB) is separate from the cell board. An OCPB can attach to any cell board.
Figure 1-5 New hp Integrity Superdome Cell Board
Power Board Attaches
to Cell Board
Cell Board
The heart of the cell board, the coherency controller (CC), provides a Front Side Bus (FSB) interface to each of
two processor module pairs. The communication bandwidth (6.4 GB/s at 200 MHz) of both FSB interfaces on
the CC is, therefore, split between two processor modules. Interfaces external to the cell board provided by the
CC constitute a crossbar interface, referred to as the fabric, and a remote I/O subsystem link. The fabric
interface allows multiple cell boards to communicate with each other across a self-correcting, high-speed (8
GB/s) communication pathway. The remote I/O link provides a self-correcting, high-speed (2 GB/s)
communication pathway between the cell board and the I/O subsystem through a pair of cables. In addition,
the CC also provides the cell board with its own interface to the cell board's local memory subsystem.
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Chapter 1