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Apr. 15, 2004

EDN Magazine has published a detailed technical article about AdvancedTCA, an architecture standard for embedded telecommunications systems. The article also briefly discusses an open software standard for telecom systems, Carrier Grade Linux.

AdvancedTCA provides an open alternative to proprietary hardware used today. It is defined by the PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group (PICMG), formed in 2001 by nearly 100 companies that found existing standards such as VME and PCI ill-suited to telecom, the story says.

AdvancedTCA uses high-speed serial-data links and switch-fabric technology to create systems capable of scaling to 2.5 Tbps throughputs, according to the article, while achieving uptimes of 99.999 percent ("five nines") or better.

AdvancedTCA is based on 12-unit "shelves" 21-inches high and either 19 inches or 60cm (about 24 inches) wide. The design incorporates two backplanes, one for power distribution, system management, data transport, and rear I/O, and the other for inter-board communication. Multiple data transport technologies are supported, including Ethernet, Fibre Channel, InfiniBand, StarFabric, PCI Express, and RapidIO, with backplane details for each described in PICMG 3.1 through 3.5.

Each shelf is managed by a system dedicated to ensuring subsystem hardware and software configuration health. PICMG derived its "shelf manager" specification from the CompactPCI management bus and the IPMI (Intelligent Platform Management Interface) specifications, according to the article.

AdvancedTCA supports off-the-shelf PCI Mezzanine cards (PMCs), but also defines a new, larger mezzanine card specification called AMC (Advanced Mezzanine Card) that supports higher data rates, the article says.

More than 20 vendors have announced products based on AdvancedTCA, according to the article, which describes products available today from Shroff, Force Computers, Intel, GNP Computers, and Artesyn Communication Products.

In addition to AdvancedTCA, the article discusses the Open Source Development Lab's (OSDL) Carrier Grade Linux working group, which it says was formed to extend the cost savings of an open system to software, as well. The CG Linux specification mandates real-time performance, high availability, and fault tolerance requirements, while adding functions for voice and data networking.

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