Complete AdvancedTCA hardware solutions

Edited by the Processingtalk editorial team Oct 16, 2006

ACAL Radiatron with its proven track record of complete electromechanical system solutions has unveiled its new AdvancedTCA interconnection and hardware provision service

As the wide application potential and time-to-market benefits of AdvancedTCA are increasingly understood by network system designers and manufacturers so is the need to understand the system itself, potentially increasing rather than decreasing development times.

Addressing this requirement head-on, ACAL Radiatron with its proven track record of complete electromechanical system solutions has unveiled its new AdvancedTCA interconnection and hardware provision service.

AdvancedTCA or ATCA (Advanced Telecom Computing Architecture) is a burgeoning new set of standards defined by the PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group (PCIMG).

ATCA provides an international industry-standard enabling network system builders to create carrier-grade (99.999% availability) systems within a multi-vendor compatible environment.

Its inherent advantages include cost savings, increased functionality and dramatically reduced development times in the production of fast, flexible, secure, reliable and highly-scaleable systems.

The new service is designed to allow designers to concentrate on their system design, safe in the knowledge that their interconnection and power needs are optimally catered for and fully compatible with whatever AdvancedTCA hardware is ultimately adopted.

The service is based on a joint-development philosophy which enables optimum solutions to be realized via the adoption of the most appropriate application-specific connection, interconnection and system packaging solutions, significantly easing potential supply-chain problems.

Experienced engineers are available to advise on the best data, power and mezzanine connectors along with their backplane and system housing need to produce a safe and reliable bespoke ATCA, uTCA (micro TCA) or ATCA / uTCA hardware system - from prototyping to one-offs and high-volumes - for OEMs and blade manufacturers alike.

The AdvancedTCA system concept allows the convenient development of highly-versatile bespoke network solutions with the ability to add or remove modules as necessary offering high levels of future-proofing with design and development freedom.

The service exploits the best from a range of ATCA component manufacturers including Schroff enclosures and sub-racks, Tyco data and power backplane and daughter-board connectors, and Yamaichi AdvancedMC (mezzanine) connectors which for example can be used for hot-pluggable memory or data archive applications, and uTCA connectors.

"The ACTA system offers exciting next-generation network system potential way beyond its carrier-grade telecoms origins," says David Pike, Interconnection Product Manager, ACAL Radiatron.

"We expect to appeal to engineers specialising in their own field, who would like to take advantage of ATCA technology without necessarily having to become entrenched in the system itself - that's where we come in - you can concentrate on what you do best and then when you need housing and interconnection advice on ATCA integration we are just a phone call away.

The service allows them to take full advantage of the ATCA offering while doing what they do best.

We can facilitate a joint understanding of ACTA systems to ensure all their necessary performance needs are incorporated in the supply of the best possible connection, interconnection and housing solutions for hugely versatile open system for next-generation carrier-grade industrial computing from telecoms switching to data networking".