Introduction

There are currently three switch products that are designed for easy configuration and management, these are:

• SwitchBlox
• SwitchBlox Rugged
• GigaStax Rugged

The management method for these products is generally the same, and is achieved by way of an STM32 microcontroller embedded onto the board. The management method is achieved by:

• The STM32 microcontroller can be programmed by way of an SWD header on the board
• The STM32 microcontroller implements firmware that communicates with the onboard switch chip via SMI or SPI (depending on the board).
• This firmware writes configurations to the registers onboard the switch chip.
• The switch chip has no non-volatile memory, however the STM32 microcontroller does have non-volatile memory. This means the STM32 microcontroller is programmed to write the desired configuration at startup.

Required software

• STM32Cube IDE (free software)
• SMI driver (contact us for this)

Required information

• You will need to know the specific STM32 microcontroller embedded on the board you have (contact us and we will let you know)

• You will need to know the specific switch chip used on the board

  • SwitchBlox uses IP175G

  2009140933_IC-Plus-IP175G_C80220.pdf

  • SwitchBlox Rugged uses KSZ8567

  KSZ8567S-Data-Sheet-DS00002391C.pdf

  • GigaStax Rugged uses KSZ9477S

  KSZ9477S-Data-Sheet-DS00002392C.pdf

Programming steps

• You will need a J-Link 6-pin needle adapter and a J-Link programmer.