MicroTCA systems in industry are faced with requirements different from those in telecommunications.
Use of the appropriate cooling designs and special management and data transfer functions allows the development of simple, cost-optimised solutions. Together with one of its partners, Schroff has now developed a MicroTCA system of this type.
This industrial solution offers eight slots for AdvancedMC single mid-size modules, arranged horizontally in a 19“ wide and 2U high system with 350 mm depth. The ventilation is adapted for industrial applications. Two redundant fan modules are positioned in the board cage, to the right and to the left; air is sucked to the front right and then guided back to the rear left. The fans are controlled by the management controller.
A 400 W open-frame power supply unit in the rear part of the system provides the voltage supply. Alternatively, a 200 W unit or a DC power supply are available. Using the 400 W power supply allows a higher power consumption per AdvancedMC module than the 30 W defined for this size of module in the AdvancedMC specification. A mains switch is provided to the left of the front of the system.
This system does not make use of the MicroTCA carrier hub (MCH) or the MicroTCA power module (PM). The functions of the MCH and the power control functions of the PM are replaced by a Simple MicroTCA support module (SSM). This is implemented as a single mid-size AdvancedMC unit and contains a carrier management controller with front-panel Ethernet interface and SNMP support.
Additionally, a PCIe clock, a PCIe switch and a management power converter are integrated into this module. The SSM likewise monitors the voltages and fan speeds and includes a fan control system, a temperature sensor and a switch for adjusting the carrier number. The PCIe switch distributes the PCIe AdvancedMC ports of a dedicated AdvancedMC CPU slot as a PCIe x1 link to all other AdvancedMC slots. The SSM module directs the two GbE ports of the AdvancedMC CPU module (AdvancedMC ports 0 and 1) to uplink-ports in its front panel.
All AdvancedMC sockets in the system are fully compatible with PIGMG AMC.0 R2.0, the Advanced Mezzanine Card base specification. The system differs fundamentally from a standard MicroTCA system in that the switched fabrics are replaced with fixed star-configured single-port and slot-to-slot-connections. The clock lines TCLKA/B and TCLKC/D are implemented as fixed connections and thus support telecoms applications.
Since the power control functions are fully implemented, this system, optimised for industrial applications, supports carrier management and hot-swap. Additionally the system supports rear I/O on all slots for AdvancedMC ports 12 to 15 and 17 to 20. Thus connections are possible between the slots, bus connections and rear I/O.
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