MicroTCA Rapid Development Platform [MRDP]

Overview

MicroTCA is a modular standard, designed for cost-sensitive, space-constrained applications in demanding markets such as telecom, wireless, and industrial control. An extremely flexible platform, it supports various system sizes, multiple switch fabrics, and potential ruggedization. Adding reconfigurable AdvancedMCs to a MicroTCA system enhances this flexibility by allowing users to interface to external devices, bridge between switch fabrics or other protocols, and make use of previously unused backplane connections.

BittWare’s MicroTCA Rapid Development Platform combines the benefits of MicroTCA with the processing power of up to six Altera Stratix® Family FPGAs in an integrated platform solution. The development platform is a completely stand-alone setup allowing users to design and test their AMC and MicroTCA systems. It offers up to six AdvancedMC slots with either a custom or standard MicroTCA backplane, opening up an endless array of system configurations. The system arrives tested and configured, enabling designers to speed up the development process. And with the addition of BittWare’s ATLANTiS FrameWork enabling reconfigurable data routing, this development system enables users to fully design and debug in a portable, flexible environment. The MicroTCA Rapid Development Environment is available in two versions: switched and switchless.

Standard Switched Backplane

The switched system features a standard backplane that supports the various switch fabrics, including PCI Express, 10 GigE, and Serial RapidIO. The development system can be optionally populated with mezzanines that support these switch fabrics.

Custom Switchless Backplane

The switchless system features a custom cross-connected backplane that enables direct communication across boards. It allows boards in the chassis to be connected directly together rather than to a switch slot, enabling efficient board-to-board communication.

1U Chassis

The MicroTCA Rapid Development Platform includes a 1U chassis featuring six horizontal-mounted AMC slots. The chassis supports six mid-size or three full-size AMCs and is equipped with a power module and MCH slot. Two hot-swappable cooling units provide over 100 CFM of air flow per slot. The chassis features a unique card rail design for easy board insertion and removal as well as a replaceable backplane, which makes servicing the system easier.

BittWare FPGA AdvancedMCs

The MicroTCA development platform is available with up to six BittWare FPGA AdvancedMCs; options include the D4-AMC, S4-AMC, GX-AMC, and B2-AMC. The D4-AMC features the Altera Stratix IV GX and Stratix IV E FPGAs, the S4-AMC features the Altera Stratix IV GX FPGA, the GX-AMC features the Stratix II GX FPGA, and the B2-AMC features the Stratix II FPGA and four Analog Devices ADSP-TS201 TigerSHARC DSPs. The AMCs support BittWare’s ATLANTiS FrameWork (AFW) for control of I/O, routing, and processing. Each board also features BittWare’s FINe for control plane interface and processing, extensive on-board memory, and front panel I/O interfaces including SerDes, 10/100 Ethernet, JTAG, and RS-232.

AdvancedMC Hardware Options

The MicroTCA Rapid Development Platform is available with an optional processor AMC module offering 1.86 GHz Core2 Duo, up to 8 GByte DRAM, and USB NAND Flash. An optional hard disk and graphics AMC is also available.

MicroTCA Carrier Hub Card and Software

A NAT MCH (MicroTCA Carrier Hub) card provides central management and data switching. The card is equipped with a CPU and on-board memory, supports a variety of switch fabrics, and provides a web interface for configuration. The MCH provides GigE to AMC port 0 and 1. Switch fabric hardware is also available for Serial RapidIO, PCI Express, or 10 GigE. The MicroTCA platform includes the NATview Easy MCH software, which provides a graphical interface for viewing and manipulating the components of the MicroTCA system.

Software Support

BittWare offers a complete suite of software development tools to make developing and debugging applications easy and efficient. The tools include device drivers, host interface libraries, a wide variety of diagnostic utilities and configuration tools, and debug tools. Altera’s Quartus II provides development tools for the Stratix Family FPGAs.

Specs

1U Chassis

• 19” EIA 1U rack mount
• Horizontal-mounted
• 6 mid-size AMC slots with 60W max per slot
• 2 hot-swappable cooling units, 100 CFM+ airflow per unit
• Power module slot
• MicroTCA Carrier Hub (MCH) slot
• Removable air filter

Switchless Backplane

• Custom switchless backplane allows boards to be connected directly together (see block diagram below)
• GigE routed to AMC Port 0 & 1
• Fabric clock and 2 AMC clocks to each slot

Standard Switched Backplane

• GigE routed to AMC Port 0 and 1
• Point-to-point SATA/SAS Port 2 and 3
• Fabrics Ports 4-7 and 8-11
• TCLKA, TCLKB, TCLKC, TCLKD and FCLKA to each AMC
• JTAG, IPMI

MicroTCA Carrier Hub (MCH) Module

• NAT MCH Base 12 management module for up to 12 GigE and 12 fat pipes (2 per slot)
• GigE to AMC ports 0 and 1
• Optional switch fabric mezzanines for Serial RapidIO, PCI Express, or 10 GigE
• Optional SSC clock module with PCI2 clock functionality
• Optional telecom clock module
• License for NATview Easy (switchless system) or NATview Pro (switched system) software

Power Module

• 600 W AC power supply module

Processor AMC Module

• Concurrent Technologies AM 210 mid-size AMC
• 1.86 GHz Intel Core2 Duo CPU
• Up to 8 GByte DRAM, USB NAND Flash
• Optional graphics and hard disk module (Concurrent Technologies AM 400/301-10)

BittWare D4-AMC

• Mid-size, single wide AMC
• Altera Stratix IV GX and Stratix IV E FPGAs implementing BittWare ATLANTiS FrameWork
• I/O includes SerDes, GPIO, JTAG, RS-232, and 10/100 Ethernet
• Vita 57 FMC site
• 4 SFP module available

BittWare S4-AMC

• Mid-size, single wide AMC
• Altera Stratix IV GX FPGA implementing BittWare ATLANTiS FrameWork
• BittWare FINe bridge providing GigE on Port 0
• AMC front panel providing 4x SerDes, JTAG, RS-232, and 10/100 Ethernet
• Vita 57 FMC site
• 4 SFP module available

BittWare GX-AMC

• Mid-size, single wide AMC
• Altera Stratix II GX FPGA implementing BittWare ATLANTiS FrameWork
• BittWare FINe bridge providing GigE on Port 0
• AMC front panel providing 4x SerDes, JTAG, RS-232, and 10/100 Ethernet
• 4 SFP module available

BittWare B2-AMC

• Full-size, single wide AMC
• Altera Stratix II FPGA
• Four Analog Devices ADSP-TS201S DSPs
• BittWare FINe bridge providing GigE
• AMC front panel providing 11 pairs LVDS IO, 1x Fiber transceiver, JTAG, RS-232, and 10/100 Ethernet

Software Support

• BittWorks Toolkit – host, command, and debug tools for BittWare hardware
• ATLANTiS FrameWork – FPGA development kit
• Altera Quartus II tools for Stratix IV GX FPGAs

Block Diagram

Ordering

Configuration Options

Part Number

Compatible Products

FPGA COTS Hardware

• D4-AMC [D4AM]
  Dual Altera Stratix® IV FPGA AdvancedMC with VITA 57 Site
• D4-AMC [D4AM] + FMC I/O Options
  Dual Altera Stratix® IV FPGA AdvancedMC with ADC, DAC and Processor Options
• S4-AMC [S4AM]
  Altera Stratix® IV GX AdvancedMC with Optional VITA 57 FMC for I/O
• S4-AMC [S4AM] + FMC I/O Options
  Altera Stratix® IV GX AdvancedMC with ADC, DAC and Processor Options

Value-Add Products for FPGA

• ATLANTiS™ FrameWork [AFW]
  FPGA Development Kit for BittWare’s Altera FPGA Boards

Development Tools

• BittWorks II Toolkit
  Application Development Software for BittWare COTS Boards
• Altera Quartus® II
  Quartus II Software: The Proven Productivity Leader