Backplane

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A circuit board that serves as the backbone for connecting multiple electronic components
2. A type of motherboard that facilitates communication between various peripheral devices
3. An underlying structure that provides connection points for different hardware units in a computer system

Etymology: "Backplane" is a plain compound: "back" joined to "plane," with the sense of a flat board or layer. In computing hardware, a backplane is the circuit board at the rear of a chassis into which other boards plug, and it carries the wiring that connects them. The "plane" here is the everyday geometric and technical sense of a flat surface, the same sense that gives us "motherboard" and "baseboard," where a board serves as the main foundation for everything mounted on it. The name follows the physical layout of early equipment. Cards and modules slid into slots from the front, while the connecting board sat at the back of the cabinet, so the term describes exactly where the board lives. Because the backplane is the shared structure joining all the modules, it became the natural name for the whole assembly, and it is now used in servers, telecom racks and industrial controllers.

Synonyms: circuit board, connector, interface, module, expansion