Airport Extreme Dissected! (3/3)

The Broadcom I/O chip-set in detail (one for each ethernet port). Thanks Mr. Nash!

The CPU is a AMD Au1500 series RISC-based processor. It is based on the MIPS architecture, not PowerPC. At 333MHz it offers a lot of performance using very little power and hence not producing as much heat as more complicated chip architectures.

Next to the PCI-connector, I found this AMD chip. According to several helpful readers, it is a Flash memory chip for the CPU. Then this is where the Firmware is stored...

The heat-sink is enormous, machined beautifully, and covered with heat-transfer pads on both sides.

It is the source of much of the heft of a AEBS.

Note how the pads line up with the memory, CPU, and the Broadcom I/O chips. The compressibility of the pads ensures that even though the chip heights are different that they still make a good thermal contact to the heat sink.

Here is a shot of the underside of the motherboard. To the left, you can see the jacks and ports. In the middle, a daughter-board holds the modem. Note the separate wiring and filter for the telephone jack connection.

The modem daughter-board. I didn't bother removing the plastic wrapper. They are standard issue units also found in Powerbooks that vary mainly due to local Telco licensing requirements.

The motherboard w/o the modem on top of it. Note the "lip" to the right that holds the antenna board connector. The two long rows of connections at the top edge are a bit of a mystery to me. Most likely, they are for inline testing purposes.

That's all folks! Despite the tinkering, the ABS still functions normally. And in response to one of the Slashdot smartie-pants, no I did not have have anything left over when I was done.