Kendin Semiconductor, Inc.

Lawerence W Mo

Jung-Chen Lin

Systems and methods are described for implementing a backplane in the context of a stack of networking hubs based on a backplane connecter and for carrying out a method of configuring and terminating the backplane. A backplane connector includes a first voltage source; a plurality of connector contacts; a plurality of termination resistors, a first end of the plurality of termination resistors being coupled to the plurality of connector contacts; a first switch located between the first voltage source and a second end of the plurality of termination resistors; a first logic circuit coupled to the first switch, the first logic circuit closing the first switch when a layer composed by the backplane connector is both i) active and ii) either a top layer in a stack composed by the layer or a bottom layer in the stack. The systems and methods provide advantages in that a plurality of stackable network hubs can be economically coupled together with automatic impedance matching and the ability to power down one or more layers in a stack without disrupting data flow between other layers in the stack.

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Cupertino, CA, United States of America

Lawerence W Mo