MicroTCA Overview
MicroTCA (Micro Telecommunications Computing Architecture) is a PICMG
standard for open modular systems based on AMCs (Advanced Mezzanine
Cards). Designed to address high communication
bandwidth, high processing capacity and high availability requirements,
MicroTCA platforms have enough bandwidth for the most challenging
applications.
MicroTCA offers designers a wide range of options by allowing full
redundant systems, partially redundant systems and systems with
no redundancy at all. It’s because of these types of options that
MicoTCA is an ideal platform for a wide range of application spaces.
Applications in Military/Aerospace, Communications, Medical and Industrial
will benefit from MicroTCA’s compact design, performance capabilities,
and full-range of system design options.
MicroTCA Benefits
- Massive data bandwidth on backplane via 1/10GbE, sRIO or PCIe serial interconnects
- From cost optimized compact system design to fully featured redundant system implementation
- Scalable performance via multi-processor concept
Kontron offers comprehensive pre-integration and pre-validation services for
its MicroTCA open modular platforms. Available in different form factors,
the line of Kontron OM
MicroTCA
platforms are reliable, scalable and always the best configuration from the very start
MicroTCA Technology Highlights
The Micro Telecommunications Architecture (MicroTCA) is a
complementary, smaller scale platform to the Advanced Telecommunications
Computing Architecture
(ATCA). Ratified in July 2006
as PICMG MTCA.0, MicroTCA can offer embedded system designers
significantly reduced development cost and time-to-market.
MicroTCA preserves many of the important philosophies of
AdvancedTCA
,including basic interconnect topologies and
management structure. MicroTCA has a primary purpose of serving as a
platform for telecommunications and enterprise computer network equipment.
Its secondary goal is to function as high-performance system architecture for
other demanding marketplaces like Medical, Military and Automation.
By configuring highly diverse collections of
AdvancedMCs
in a MicroTCA Shelf, many different application
architectures can be realized easily. The common elements defined by
the MicroTCA standard are capable of interconnecting these AdvancedMCs
in many interesting ways - powering and managing them, all at high
efficiency and low cost.
MicroTCA Platforms are application-ready systems that have been tested
for mechanical and thermal stability and pre-validated for interoperability,
including field proven carrier and module management code.
Although originally developed as a telecommunications standard, MicroTCA
has generated high interest among system designers beyond the
telecommunications arena for a wide range of applications, including
defense, government, aerospace, industrial automation and medical.
Applications in these spaces have very similar requirements such as very
high communication bandwidth and/or very high computing power in a
small form factor. MicroTCA offers a number of features that can meet
these requirements.
Up to 12 compute blades on a single backplane give MicroTCA a
tremendous amount of computing resources, especially when each
blade could be using a multicore processor. Communication bandwidth
capabilities range from 40 Gbits/s to over 1 Terabit/s both numbers are
theoretically correct because the actual bandwidth is implementation-dependent.
With this amount of compute and communication power, MicroTCA has
more than enough bandwidth for most demanding applications.
Design Goals are your Benefits
The PICMG MicroTCA specification was written with the following design goals in mind:
- Complementary to AdvancedTCA
- Full compliance with the AMC.0 Module definition
- Favorable cost, size and modularity
- Modular and serviceable
- Standardized Shelf management implementation compatible with AdvancedTCA
- Cooling: 20-80 W per AdvancedMC slot
- Support for extended temperature range
- Scalable backplane bandwidth
- Various backplane topologies: Star, Dual Star, Mesh
- Hot Swap/plug-and-play support, in conformance with AMC.0 and consistent with AdvancedTCA
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