At recent conferences and exhibitions we (Emerson Network Power) have shown a video clip we made to demonstrate the idea that MicroTCA is suitable technology as a base for various rugged applications. Ahead of the official Rugged MicroTCA specifications, this video was created to show what might be possible in an air cooled environment.

Previously we’d developed a video clip showing a proof of concept MicroTCA system using totally standard AMCs operating while being vigorously shaken on a vibration table in our lab. This was pretty impressive even though the vibration was limited to a single axis. This time we wanted to widen the scope to show a more realistic scenario that included temperature. Since most automotive companies test their prototype vehicles in the desert near Emerson’s Embedded Computing headquarters in Arizona, where summer temperatures often exceed 110ºF (whew!), we used the same environment to demonstrate the system’s ability to withstand extreme temperatures.

We used an M561 Gama Goat vehicle for our somewhat unscientific, but nevertheless interesting test. The Gama Goat is a six-wheel drive, semi- articulated vehicle that was widely used by the US military from the 1960s to 1980s. It has exceptional off-road manoeuvrability while generating incredible amounts of noise and fumes from its rather environmentally unfriendly diesel engine!

We mounted one of our standard PrAMC7210 AMCs, based on the Intel Core 2 Duo processor and a physical AMC hard disk inside a ruggedized MicroTCA enclosure from Hybricon. Running a standard OS, the processor AMC was set up to capture video from an external webcam connected via a USB port. The ruggedized Air Transport Rack (ATR) was physically bolted to the roof of the Gama Goat using some metal brackets along with the webcam, which was positioned to show the ATR box in the foreground with the environment in the background.

We hit a temporary problem with applying power to the system; due to time limitations and availability of connectors we couldn’t make use of the rugged connectors on the front of the ATR box. We had to run cables directly into the top of the box, which meant we had to leave the lid off, mitigating any cooling effect of the forced air fans and instead exposing the AMC boards to the full effect of the sun.

I’m not sure who was the hottest: the driver of the Gama Goat, the camera team who had to climb the desert hills with their equipment or the AMC modules. Either way, they all survived and as you can see from the video clip, the Intel AMC board recorded some great footage. Since we’ve now recovered, we’re looking for the next idea to show off a MicroTCA system………..ideas on a postcard please?

A snippet of the full video in WMV format can be downloaded from the resources section at http://communities.intel.com/docs/DOC-1990

…. when you’re just back from vacation, reading this blog and wondering how you’re going to architect your next project. You’ll have heard of AdvancedTCA and MicroTCA but are they suitable? Maybe your application is not telecom related but does have a communication aspect?

Well, for a relatively minor outlay there are a number of events coming up that will enable you to see the rapidly expanding range of Intel x86 based processor AMCs and xTCA systems available. In addition to tabletop exhibitions where you actually get to see and touch the products, you can talk to the technical experts. These events tend to have comprehensive speaking programs covering a variety of compelling topics from keynotes and industry perspectives to detailed technical workshops.

MicroTCA Conference 2008, September 24th at Reading, UK http://www.mtcacon-uk.com/

ATCA/uTCA Special Focus Workshop as part of the 2008 Nuclear Science Symposium, October 18-19th at Dresden, Germany, http://www.nss-mic.org/2008/NSSMain.asp

AdvancedTCA Summit featuring MicroTCA, October 21-23rd at Santa Clara, CA, USA, http://www.advancedtcasummit.com/ Rose Schooler, General Manager of Intel’s Performance Products Division in the Embedded Computing Group will be giving a keynote on Network 2015 along with other industry luminaries such as our own Shlomo Pri-Tal.

Embedded Conference Scandinavia 2008, October 21-22nd at Stockholm, Sweden, http://www.embeddedconference.se/index.php?Itemid=47

If you want to learn more about xTCA and AMC technology, then attending one of these events can be a very effective use of your time. While I’d like to think you’d come straight to the Emerson Network Power booth, the best thing about all these shows is the diversity of content you will see. There are an amazing number of modules, carriers, systems and other assorted building blocks available today, and it is possible to construct many more solutions off the shelf for fast prototyping and development.

There is one other event worth mentioning, although it is not open to the public, and that is the latest Advanced Interoperability Workshop (AIW) which is being held in Germany during September. The AIW gives engineers the chance to do detailed interop between all the elements of a system including the chassis, power modules, processors and switches and enables them to iron out any issues before making these products available to the public. At some point in the future, the Communications Platform Trade Association www.cp-ta.org will formally certify products. Meanwhile, the work of the AIW continues to make AMC ‘plug and play’ a reality in most instances.

Have a great summer and perhaps I’ll see you at one of these events!

One of the subjects I’m most interested in is how MicroTCA and AMC modules are evolving to open up opportunities in lower cost spaces such as the enterprise and industrial markets.

As many people know, the AMC specifications were driven out of the need for hot swappable mezzanines for ATCA blades. The MicroTCA specification was kicked off based on the belief that by plugging the AMCs into a backplane wrapped by a smaller enclosure that the AMC market would be greatly expanded. One of the more contentious issues in the specification discussion was about potential cost targets. At the time, it must have been difficult to imagine how new integrated devices such as the Intel Atom processor would drive system level pricing down when combined with lower cost packaging and other optimizations. Now, a couple of years after the MicroTCA specification was ratified, I am often amazed by some of the applications for which potential customers are thinking of using MicroTCA systems. Maybe I shouldn’t be so surprised, as I started my own career by using open standards-based boards for embedded applications, but that’s another story.

Back to the subject, one question I’ve been asked is whether it is possible to remove some of the built-in AMC features such as hot swap, in order to save cost. Most of these questions come from people who have legacy hardware and who believe that hot swap particularly is not of any use to them. I suppose a typical application might be in industrial automation where the system is controlling and/or monitoring a process. Typically, to carry out maintenance the controller is switched off, as well as the equipment or production line, so there is no need for hot swap and therefore it appears irrelevant.

As industrial automation becomes more complex, I have seen installations that are complex to shut down and take a long time. Having the ability to add an additional module on the fly, even if only for troubleshooting, can be extremely beneficial.

I have also started to see a few instances where one MicroTCA box is used for more than a single function. For example, the ability to add an additional Intel-based processor for monitoring or server functionality without requiring all the existing modules to be powered off is extremely useful. The idea of upgrading these embedded systems while live seems to be gaining a bit of momentum, especially now that other techniques such as virtualization have started to break the mental barrier that one module does a single task in one box.

If anyone has similar views on how they envisage hot swapping to be used I would be interested to hear.