The Switchberry Turns a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 Into a Time-Focused Ethernet Switch - Hackster.ioPlease ensure that JavaScript is enabled in your browser to view this page.
San Jose-based TimeAppliances has designed a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 carrier with a difference: it turns the popular computer-on-module into a five-port gigabit layer-two switch, with support for synchronous Ethernet and the Precision Time Protocol (PTP).<br>"Switchberry is a Raspberry Pi [Compute Module] 4–controlled Ethernet switching + timing platform built around a Microchip KSZ9567 and a Renesas 8A34004 clock-matrix DPLL [Digital Phase-Locked Loop]," TimeAppliances says of its creation. "It's designed for PTP [Precision Time Protocol]/SyncE [Synchronous Ethernet]/timing lab workflows while staying flexible enough to run as a compact managed switch/router with precise timing I/O [Input/Output]."
The Switchberry is more than just a five-port Ethernet switch: it's designed for experimenting with synchronous Ethernet and the Precision Time Protocol (PTP). (📷: TimeAppliances)
A look at the front of the Switchberry would have you think it's just a straightforward gigabit Ethernet switch, were it not for the ventilation cut-outs resembling a speeding clock at the top: there are five RJ45 ports, ready for cabling. Turn it around, though, and you've got ports you wouldn't normally expect: a microSD Card slot for the operating system, a microHDMI port for video and audio, and five SMA connectors — four for connection to external devices with built-in multiplexing for configurable input/output options, and the fifth for an optional GPS receiver for precision timing when used with an OCP M.2 slot, with a second M.2 slot supporting optional Wi-Fi radio modules.<br>Timing, in fact, is the Switchberry's raison d'être: by default, the device acts as a plug-and-play Layer 2 unmanaged gigabit switch, but with Precision Time Protocol (PTP) enabled — forwarding PTP packets with hardware residence-time correction. Synchronous Ethernet can also be enabled, acting as either an end-point or boundary clock — while PTP operation can be configured for grandmaster or client modes, with the transparent forwarding behavior overridden for DSA kernel architecture mode.<br>If that all sounds like gibberish, you're probably not in the device's target market: TimeAppliances designed the Switchberry for use in timing-sensitive network operations, for transparent clock provision and experimentation, satellite-time referencing, clocking experiments, and the like.<br>The Switchberry is listed on Tindie at $999, though at the time of writing was showing as out-of-stock; design files and software sources are available on GitHub under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license.
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Gareth Halfacree<br>Freelance journalist, technical author, hacker, tinkerer, erstwhile sysadmin. For hire: freelance@halfacree.co.uk.
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