Diamond Systems EPS-12000-CMH-1588 Rugged Compact Layer 3 12 Port Gigabit Ethernet Switch Board

A sealed vehicle or UAV bay that routes between payload, camera and control networks needs a switch with Layer 3 software that can also shed heat without airflow. The EPS-12000-CMH-1588 is the IStaX Layer 3 heat spreader build in the Diamond Systems EPS-12000-CM series: a small form factor Ethernet switch board that stacks Diamond’s EPSM-10GX switch module on a same-size carrier holding the power supply and magnetics.

It provides 12 10/100/1000 copper Ethernet ports with non-blocking wire-speed performance, all on latching connectors in place of RJ-45 jacks. IStaX Layer 3 software replaces the WebStaX Layer 2 package. The -1588 suffix marks the build intended for IEEE-1588 timing, but Diamond’s datasheet lists only the IStaX Layer 3 package, so confirm PTP requirements with us before specifying. An embedded processor runs the switch, managed through an in-band web interface over an Ethernet port or an out-of-band command-line interface over RS-232. The board works as a standalone switch or with a host computer and ships with all firmware loaded, so it runs without development work.

Switching features include 8K MAC addresses, 4K IEEE 802.1Q VLANs with push and pop of up to two tags, 8K IPv4 and IPv6 multicast groups, jumbo frames at all speeds, IEEE 802.3ad link aggregation, RSTP and MSTP, and 8 priorities with 8 CoS queues per port. MEF E-Line, E-LAN and E-Tree services and VeriPHY cable diagnostics are also listed, and our article on how a military Ethernet switch is built covers the design choices behind boards like this. The EPS-12000-CMH is the Layer 2 heat spreader build, and the EPS-12000-CM-1588 runs this software with a heat sink.

A built-in wide-range DC supply accepts industrial and vehicle power, and consumption is 11 W at 12 V input. ActiPHY and PerfectReach power down unused ports and cut drive power on short cables. The board operates from -40 to +85 °C; a heat spreader mounts directly to the enclosure wall for conduction cooling. The CK-EPS12000 cable kit adds a serial cable to DB9, a power cable and three 4-port Ethernet cables.