Electrical phenomena during Hot Swap events

The exchange of a computer system’s components during operation can be accomplished by the so called Hot Swap technology. This technology makes it possible to continuously run a computer system without the necessity of a shutdown for maintenance purposes, e.g. upgrading of a network adapter. Thus the overall uptime of a system can be drastically increased. The Hot Swap capability has been integrated into the so called CompactPCI technology. This paper summarizes the investigations that have been carried out with respect to the electrical behavior during Hot Swap events. Several simulations were performed with the H-SPICE program by AMP, Harrisburg, PA. After an introduction to live insertion phenomena in general, the CompactPCI specific simulations are described and recommendations for designing a Hot Swap capable system from an electrical point of view are given.