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NAT-AMC-DISCOVERY
NAT-AMC-DISCOVERY
Development Kit for AMC Modules
  • NAT-eMCH included on Base PCB
  • Support of single- and double-width AMCs in compact, mid-, and full-size form factor
  • Operation in standalone mode
  • Operation in different extender modes (MTCA / PCIe) – Extension Kits required
  • Loopback Mode support

NAT-AMC-DISCOVERY

Development Kit for AMC Modules

  • NAT-eMCH included on Base PCB
  • Support of single- and double-width AMCs in compact, mid-, and full-size form factor
  • Operation in standalone mode
  • Operation in different extender modes (MTCA / PCIe) – Extension Kits required
  • Loopback Mode support

Description

The NAT-AMC-DISCOVERY is a development kit for operating an AMC independently from an MTCA system. Moreover, it can serve as AMC extender connecting to an MTCA system or a PCIe slot, while giving free access to bottom and top of the AMC-under-test.

Firstly, the NAT-AMC-DISCOVERY consists of a Base PCB with an embedded MCH, the so-called NAT-eMCH. An Atmel / Microchip SAM4E microcontroller simulates the basic management and switching functionality of a standard NAT-MCH. Moreover, the base board includes an elementary power supply and a fan.

Standalone Mode

In standalone mode, the NAT-AMC-DISCOVERY serves as a separate development board. As the Base PCB includes all required MTCA infrastructure, just a 12V power supply ist needed.

The NAT-AMC-DISCOVERY-StarterKit provides everything to bring up and test an AMC. It features:

  • the Base PCB with an LCD display providing useful information about the NAT-eMCH, the AMC state, link status of the AMC-under-test, and information about current and voltage sensors
  • a 120W auto-range AC/DC power supply, including a 1m power cord
  • a removable low-noise fan to cool the AMC-under-test
  • an USB cable to connect to the serial console of the NAT-eMCH
  • a CAT5 patch cable to connect the network to AMC ports #0 or #1 of the AMC-under-test

The add-on option NAT-AMC-DISCOVERY-AddLoopback is mandatory for performance of loopback tests on ports #0-20 of the AMC-under-test.

Extender Mode

By means of an add-on kit, the NAT-AMC-DISCOVERY can be setup in extender mode. This means, that the AMC-under-test operates as if it would have been inserted into the particular system, but with the benefit of giving free access to its PCB. Also JTAG connections and functionality is included to simplify the testing and debugging process.

Via the NAT-AMC-DISCOVERY-AddConMTCA, the user gets full connectivity to an MTCA system. In this case, the AMC-under-test is transparently linked to and managed by the MTCA system; the NAT-eMCH is disabled.

With the NAT-AMC-DISCOVERY-AddConPCIe, one can connect to a PCIe x8 slot (typically on PC or Server mainboards).

The NAT-AMC-DISCOVERY seamlessly ties into an Altera or XILINX IDE. It can operate as JTAG master or JTAG slave which allows to easily program any FPGA on the AMC-under-test directly from the IDE work station.

Key Features

Features in Standalone Mode:

  • Mandatory MTCA infrastructure (MCH, PM, CU) included on Base PCB
  • No need for external MTCA system hardware
  • 1000Base-T Ethernet connection to AMC Port 0 / 1 with Ethernet plugs located on baseboard
  • VLAN capable
  • 12V local power supply over banana plug or 4 pin AC/DC power plug
  • NAT-eMCH on Base PCB for IPMI management
  • MCH connected with Ethernet for external system manager and update
  • MCH connected with Micro-USB for serial output and configuration
  • MCH can be configured to use the AMC in unmanaged mode
  • MCH controls and monitors FAN
  • AMC status LEDs

Features in Extender Mode:

  • Full connectivity over cable interface to external MTCA system or PC
  • NAT-AMC-Discovery-Connect-MTCA
    • Connects to MTCA system
    • Ports #0-20, TCLKA A-D, FCLKA , JTAG , I2C, Power
  • NAT-AMC-Discovery-Connect-PCIe
    • Standard PCIe-x8 Card
    • Ports #4-11, JTAG, I2C, Power
  • NAT-AMC-Discovery-Loopback
    • Cross-over connect TX and RX signals of AMC ports #0-20
    • Useful for production testing

Order Codes

NAMC-DISCOVERY– [Option]

-StarterKit Discovery/engineering platform containing infrastructure to run a single AMC as stand-alone application including 120W autorange AC power supply, fan / fan guides / card guides for AMC / cable MicroUSB  and CAT5 patch cable
-Base  

Discovery/engineering platform containing infrastructure to run a single AMC as standalone application incl. fan / fan guides / card guides for AMC / cable MicroUSB

-ACDC120W  

120W AC-DC High Reliability Industrial Adapter without cold appliance cable

-AddCabDAT  

special data cable to connect NAMC-DISCOVERY-StarterKit with NAMC-DISCOVERYAddConMTCA or NAMC-DISCOVERY-AddLoopback or NAMC-DISCOVERY-AddLoopback
(all separate order items)

-AddCab-MGMT  

special management cable to connect NAMC-DISCOVERY-StarterKit with NAMC-DISCOVERYAddConMTCA or NAMC-DISCOVERY-AddLoopback or NAMC-DISCOVERY-AddLoopback
(all separate order items)

-AddConAP  

Piggy board mounted on NAMC-DISCOVERY-Connect-AP

-AddConMTCA  

AMC module to connect NAMC-DISCOVERY-StarterKit to a standard MTCA system => requires 2 x NAMC-DISCOVERY-AddCabDAT + 1 x NAMC-DISCOVERYAddCabMGMT
(separate order items)

-AddCon-PCIe  

PCIe card to connect NAMC-DISCOVERY-StarterKit to a standard PC system => requires 1 x NAMC-DISCOVERY-AddCabDAT + 1 x NAMC-DISCOVERY-AddCabMGMT
(separate order items)

-AddLoopback  

Loopback adaptor card to allow loopback of fat-pipes of NAMC-DISCOVERY-StarterKit => requires 2 x NAMC-DISCOVERY-AddCabDAT
(separate order items)

Solutions / Applications

AMC testing and development in stand-alone mode or in combination with an MTCA / PCIe system