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NAT-MCH
NAT-MCH
Single- or double-width MicroTCA Carrier Hub
  • Power and system management for up to 12 AMCs, 2 CUs, and 4 PMs
  • 40G Ethernet towards the backplane and front uplink (HUB-Module required)
  • PCIe Gen3 towards the backplane and front uplink (HUB-Module required)
  • Various clocking features (CLK-Module required)
  • Choice of interfaces towards the front panel

NAT-MCH

Single- or double-width MicroTCA Carrier Hub

  • Power and system management for up to 12 AMCs, 2 CUs, and 4 PMs
  • 40G Ethernet towards the backplane and front uplink (HUB-Module required)
  • PCIe Gen3 towards the backplane and front uplink (HUB-Module required)
  • Various clocking features (CLK-Module required)
  • Choice of interfaces towards the front panel

Description

The NAT-MCH is a MicroTCA (MTCA) Carrier Hub in the form factor of a single or double width, mid- or full-size Advanced Mezzanine Card (AMC). As a MicroTCA Carrier Hub (MCH) it  provides the central management and data switching entity for any MicroTCA system. The NAT-MCH comprises of a base module and numerous optional daughter cards which can be mounted on the base module.

The NAT-MCH offers power and system management for MTCA systems with up to 12 AMCs (13 in a non-redundant system without 2nd MCH), support for up to two Cooling Units and up to four Power Modules, which can be configured in various (redundant) configurations.

The single-width NAT-MCH aims for applications in MTCA.0 form factor, whereas the double-width NAT-MCH-M4 is the ideal choice for a MTCA.4 system. Functionally both variants are identical in most parts, however, the NAT-MCH-M4 provides the option for a Zone3 connector and mounting space for two SATA-HDDs, both useable in combination with an optional NAT-MCH-RTM.

The NAT-MCH-M4 is the base of the NAT-MCH-PHYS/-PHYS80, which is designated for physics applications.

Generally, the NAT-MCH / NAT-MCH-M4 offers Gigabit Ethernet supporting port-based and tagged VLAN, Rapid Spanning Tree, as well as a port-based rate control via Fabric A. It also provides uplink ports on the front panel to interconnect to other systems.

For advanced clocking switching and distribution, a separate clock module can be mounted on the MCH base board:

  • The NAT-MCH-CLK mezzanine is a clock distribution module available in several variants. It features an onboard Stratum 3 type PLL, which can be locked on a clock signal coming from any AMC in the MTCA system. The front panel SMA connectors can be used to provide the internal clock to external devices or vice versa.
  • The NAT-MCH-CLK-PHYS mezzanine is a specialized clock module for physics applications, but is also ideally suited for uses cases, which demand a low-jitter and low-latency clock functionality.

If the base board is equipped with one of the HUB-Modules, SRIO, PCIe, or Ethernet are supported via Fabrics D-G towards the backplane and an optional front uplink.

  • The NAT-HUB-E HUB Modules are available in several variants. Depending on the chosen option, the module provides twelve ports of up to 40GbE to the backplane and three optical uplinks of up to 100GbE towards the front panel. Thus, this HUB-Module is highly suitable for applications demanding highest bandwidth Ethernet in MTCA towards the backplane and the front panel. XAUI support is available as an option, too.
  • The NAT-MCH-PCIEx48 HUB-Module provides an PCIe Gen3 x1/x4 link to each of the 12 AMCs in an MTCA system.
  • The NAT-MCH-PCIex80 HUB-Module features an PCIe Gen3 x1/x4 link to each of the 12 AMCs in an MTCA system, two x8 or one x16 towards the front panel (option), and one x16 link towards an optional RTM. Due to it double-width form factor, it is available for the NAT-MCH-M4

Key Features

CPU and Memory

  • NXP (Freescale) ColdFire MCF54452 CPU @ 266MHz
  • DDR2 RAM: 32/64MB
  • FLASH: 16/32/64MB

IPMI and Compliance

  • 13 AMCs
  • 2 Cooling Units
  • 1-4 Power Modules
  • PICMG AMC.0
  • PICMG 2.9
  • Update to 2nd MCH

Supported Fabrics and Compliance

Fabric A: GigaBit Ethernet switching

Fabrics D-G: Fat Pipe for 12 AMCs

  • Serial Rapid I/O Gen 2, x1 or x4 (PICMG AMC.4)
  • PCI Express Gen 3, x1 or x4 (PICMG AMC.1 R1.0)
  • 10GbE (XAUI) (PICMG AMC.2)

Clock Distribution for 12 AMCs

  • Telecom: Stratum 3/3E PLL with reference from either 1 of the 12 AMCs or external clock via front panel, MLVDS signaling
  • PCIe: Spread Spectrum Clock (100MHz mean) or oscillator (100MHz fixed), HCSL signaling

Carrier Management

  • Management of up to 13 AMCs, 4 Cooling Units, and 1-4 Power Modules
  • Supports redundant architectures and fail-over procedure
  • Support configurable emergency shutdown of AMCs or entire system

Shelf and System Manager

  • For detached or stand-alone operation both managers are available on-board, hook-in for external managers via 1GbE port at front panel

Operating System and API

Indicator LEDs

  • 3 standard AMC LEDs
  • 12 bi-colored LEDs for AMC slot states
  • 2 bi-colored LEDs for Cooling Units
  • 2 bi-colored LEDs for Power Modules

Front Panel Connectors

  • 2x 1GbE for management connection and Fabric A system up-link (load sharing supported)
  • 1GbE system up-link for Fabric A
  • External clock reference (bi-directional)
  • USB debug connector (console)
  • Fat Pipe uplink for Fabric D-G (SRIO and XAUI)

Features on NAT-MCH-M4 only:

  • Zone3 connector for optional NAT-MCH-RTM
  • Mounting Space for one standard or two half-size SATA-SSD(s)
  • RS232 console via RJ45

Related Products

Order Codes

NAT-MCH-[Option]

-Base12-GbE  

MCH Base module with GbE (1000Bx) supplement for Fabric A including GbE uplink at front panel and update link to 2nd MCH; Micro-USB included

-E1-T1-CLK-IO  

E1-T1-CLK Transceiver Module including GbE uplink at front panel and update link to 2nd MCH – BITS element; Micro-USB included

 

Front Panel

-FP0S MTCA.0 compliant front panel; single full-size
-FP1S MTCA.1 compliant front panel; single full-size
-FP1D MTCA.1 compliant front panel; double full-size

 

Accessories

-CAB-USB2RS232 USB to RS232 converter cable
-CABDBG USB to mini-USB converter cable

Solutions / Applications

  • High density audio conferencing
  • MTCA solutions for wireless networks
  • Energy industry
  • Industrial automation
  • Civil aviation
  • Research and development
  • Various other MTCA.0 application, depending on choice of Clock- and HUB-Modules