GigaBlox – Small GigaBit Switch

BotBlox
SKU:
BB-GGB-C-1
Availability:
In stock and ready to ship.
$125.00
Bulk Pricing:

Below are the available bulk discount rates for each individual item when you purchase a certain amount

  • Buy 10 - 19 and get 10% off
  • Buy 20 - 49 and get 17.5% off
  • Buy 50 - 99 and get 22.5% off
  • Buy 100 - 199 and get 27.5% off
  • Buy 200 or above and get 33% off
Current Stock:
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GigaBlox is a tiny form factor GigaBit ethernet switch with five 10/100/1000M ports, designed for space, weight and power (SWaP) limited applications.

We developed it specifically to address the need for high data throughput inside small internal volumes, a common problem for drones and robots.

GigaBlox has an footprint of 45mm x 45mm, and runs from a very wide input voltage from 6 to 60V (tolerant up to 65V). All ports are galvanically isolated from each other, and the input voltage.

Plug and play GigaBit Connectivity

GigaBlox is an unmanaged switch and works straight out the box with zero setup required. All you need to do is:

  1. Apply a 6-60V DC supply.
  2. Connect your devices using the included cable set.
  3. GigaBlox will perform auto-negotiation to select the fastest speed for each connected device, then automatically begin switching.

GigaBlox’s switching engine uses a non-blocking fabric, meaning that all five ports are capable of 1Gbps simultaneously. This is crucial for applications with multiple streams of data, typical in camera-based systems.

LED Breakout

Revision C of GigaBlox now has an external LED breakout header, which allows you to access the onboard port activity indicators on GigaBlox.

The Molex PicoBlade connector consists of seven pins, five anode/cathode LED signals, 3.3V and GND. This allows five external LEDs to be connected to GigaBlox to indicate port activity on all of the board. This is very useful for when GigaBlox is integrated into a housing but the port activity LEDs are still required to be seen. 

Please see the datasheet for more information.
 

Dimensions

We’ve squeezed all necessary Ethernet circuitry into GigaBlox without making performance compromises. We use magnetics for improved signal integrity and electrical isolation between each ethernet bus.

Dimensional drawing of GigaBlox, the five port small gigabit network switch

Cabling

We use Molex Picoblade connectors on all our boards to keep them tiny, and we include all the cables needed to get started, which are…

5 x PicoBlade to RJ-45 300mm (SKU: BB-PBRJ1-8-0.3)

Use this cable to connect an external ethernet device with a RJ-45 port.

Annotated diagram of the GigaBlox ethernet network cable

1 x PicoBlade to bare wires 300mm (SKU: BB-PBTL1-4-0.3)

Use this cable to connect a 5 – 60V DC power supply to power SwitchBlox. 

Power cable

Ethernet Pinout

Below is a handy graphic that shows how we transition from a Molex Picoblade pinout to the standard RJ-45 ethernet cables. Gigabit ethernet uses four differential channels, for a total of eight total conductors.

GigaBlox Pinout

Specifications

 Input Voltage Range  5.1-60V 
 Power Consumption  260mW (Idle), 1100mW (Max)
 Ports  5 x 10/100/1000Mb ports
 Operating Temperature  0 to +85°C (need -40°C to +85°C operation? Get in touch!)
 Maximum Frame Size  1500 Bytes (Not Jumbo)
 Storage Temperature  -40 to +100°C
 Dimensions  45mm x 45mm x 15.98mm
 HS Tariff Code  8517620000
 US ECCN  EAR99

Revision Tracker

Revision Subrevision Part number Release Date Notes
A 1 BB-GGB-A-1 NA Unreleased
B 1 BB-GGB-B-1 06/06/2020 First release
C 1 BB-GGB-C-1 03/05/2021 Magnetics change due to stock issues
C CO1 BB-GGB-C-CO1 06/08/2022 Added LED Header, Current Version

Covered under the BotBlox Supply Guarantee Program

This board is covered by our supply guarantee, which guarantees availability and low lead times until at least 2028. Read more about the BotBlox Supply Guarantee Program.

Custom Cables

All our boards are shipped with the required 0.3 meter power and data cables included, so you do not need to purchase extra cables. However if you need custom cable lengths for your application, you can order those here

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Electronics > Networking
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Cool Components (UK distributor):
https://coolcomponents.co.uk/products/gigablox-small-gigabit-switch?_pos=2&_sid=7228e032c&_ss=r
Digi-Key (International distributor):
https://www.digikey.com/short/8p5btwfr