NAT-MCH - Mezzanine Modules

Clock Mezzanine

The Clock Mezzanine Module allows a flexible selection of the telecom and non-telecom clocking structures as defined in MicroTCA.0. The on-board Stratum 3/3E type PLL sources its clock reference configurably from either any of the 12 AMCs or from an external clock via the front panel BNC type connector.

In conjunction with the PCIe Hub module it provides a PCIe compliant fabric clock (FCLKA) to all AMC slots. This can be either a 100MHz fixed or 100MHz Spread Spectrum clock (SSC) at HCSL signaing level.

Key Features:

• Support for AMC clocks CLK1, CLK2 and CLK3 for up to 12 AMCs
• Update clock for a second NAT-MCH in a redundant system
• Reference clock In/Output on front panel
• Stratum 3/3E type PLL clock source for telecom applications
• Variable switching and distribution of clocks by on-board FPGA
• Reference for the Stratum 3/3E PLL can be either CLK1 or CLK2 from any AMC or sourced from the front panel
• PCI Express compliant clock signal can be distributed via CLK3 to all 12 AMCs

Physics Clock Mezzanine

Beside the standard clock mezzanine, N.A.T. offers a clock mezzanine for Physics. The development of this module is driven by the demand of physics groups requiring very low jitter and constant latency. These features are realised by using a special Clock Multiplexer developed in cooperation with IDT (Integrated Device Technology Inc.).

Key features:

• CLK1 connections for all 12 AMC multiplexed by one device
• CLK2 connections for all 12 AMC multiplexed by one device
• Two direct multiplexer interconnections
• Fixed low jitter reference clock
• Connection to front panel clock interfaces
• PCIe reference clock distribution for 12 AMCs via CLK3 (AMC.0 R2.0 - FCLKA)

PCIe Gen 3 Switch

The PCI Express Switching Mezzanine is an AMC.1 compliant module for the NAT-MCH that enables users to add scalable high bandwidth, non-blocking interconnection to a wide variety of applications including servers, storage, video streaming, blade servers and embedded control products.
The PCIe Hub module supports full non-transparent bridging functionality to allow implementation of multi-host systems and intelligent I/O modules in applications such as communications, storage and blade servers.

Key Features:

• PCIe Gen 3
• Support for 12 (option- x48) AMC modules, Fabrics D-G
• Non-blocking switch fabric
• Upstream port configurable to any of the 12 AMC slots
• PCIe hot plug support for each AMC slot
• Secondary (failover) host possible
• Clustering support for 6 independent clusters with one configurable non-transparent upstream port; each cluster offers its own transparent upstream port
• Supports x1 and x4 width ports to any AMC
• Configuration option for Spread Spectrum Clock (SSC) or 100MHz fixed PCIe clock
• PCIe clock can be provided as Fabric Clock (FCLKA) to the AMC slots

10GbE (XAUI) Switch

The NAT-MCH 10 GbE Hub Mezzanines provides high performance, low latency and robust Ethernet packet switching service for MTCA systems.

Key Features:

• 10GbE port for 12 AMC slots
• 2 uplink ports on front panel
• Per port selction of:
  • 10GbE (XAUI)
  • 2.5 GbE
  • 1 Gb
• Link aggregation (802.3ad)
• 240 Gbps bandwidth

Layer 2 Bridging Features:

• VLAN priority (802.1Q,P)
• Link aggregation (802.3aad)
• Duplex flow control (802.3x)
• User defined monitoring and
  filter rules
• Jumbo Frame Support
• 2 uplink ports on front panel
• Per port selection of:
  • XAUI - 10GBase-CX4/-SFP+
  • 2.5 GbE
  • 1 Gb
• 240 Gbps bandwidth

Security:

• MAC address security port access control (802.1x)

SRIO Gen 2 Switch

The SRIO Gen 2 Mezzanine module provides a non-blocking high performance data switching functionality for up to 12 AMCs.

The non-hierarchical structure of SRIO allows for superior bandwidth data communication between each end point. Additonally, SRIO data integrity and health checks are performed by hardware.

Key Features:

• SRIO Gen 2
• Flexible port width: x1 and x4
• 20 Gb/s bandwith per port (x4)
• Operating baud rate per data lane 1.25 Gbaud, 2.5 Gbaud or 3.125 Gbaud, 5.0 Gbaud and 6.25 Gbaud
• Transport layer error management
• Low latency packet transport
• Power down modes and routing capabilities per port
• Decentralised communication model: peer-to-peer

Custom Protocol Switch (based on Xilinx Kintex-7 FPGA)

The NAT-MCH-FPGA combines the above described SRIO Gen 2 switching features and a fully-customizable Xilinx Kintex-7 FPGA. This special FPGA hub module is intended to be used for switching or multiplexing CPRI, OBSAI, as well as other standard protocols (e.g. SRIO, XAUI) or any fully customized serial protocol.

Key Features:

• Customisable high speed serial connection (up to xxGbaud) to AMC1-6
• Two High speed optical uplinks via SFP+
• Dual x4 bridging data path between switch and FPGA
• 1Gb Ethernet connection to MCH base switch
• Two independent DDR3 memories for user application (up to 4Gb each)
• On-board low jitter PLL (Texas Instruments CDCE72010)

SRIO Gen 2 Switch

• x1 SRIO GenII Switch connection to AMC1-6
• x4 SRIO GenII switch connection to AMC 7-12

NAT-MCH double-width with µRTM COM Express Carrier

The new double-width MCH can be used as a standalone product in all systems requiring the double-width form factor. It is ideally suited for MTCA.4 applications allowing the use of MicroTCA rear transition modules (µRTM).

Combining this MCH with the µRTM COM Express Carrier, allows you to use the unused space behind the MCH. The COM Express carrier can be equipped with any Type 6 Computer on Module (COM) Express module that suits your system requirements.

The benefit of using COM Express modules is the broad range of configurations (processor architecture, performance, memory, etc.), a rich offering by various manufacturers, long-term availability and system configuration flexibility.

Key Features MCH

• NAT-MCH in double-width, full-size
  • With standard CLK and Hub Module (PCIe Gen 3)
  • RS232 for MCH serial console
  • Optional: 2x SATA Flash Drives (SSD), accessible by COM Express Module
• Support for µRTM COM Express carrier for standard COM Express Type 6 Module 
  • Direct access to Fat Pipe via PCIe Gen 3 Switch on MCH Hub Module
  • Access to backplane Ethernet via MCH-Switch and on-board GbE Controller

Key Features µRTM COM Express Carrier

• Access to interfaces provided by MCH (via RTM connector)
  • 2x SATA devices
  • x4 PCIe Gen3 connection between MCH switch and COM Express PEG 0-3 interface
  • Access to MCH Ethernet Switch via on board Ethernet controller, using COM Express PCIe 0 interface
• Front panel interfaces
  • Gigabit Ethernet (COM Express GbE-0 interface)
  • 2x Display port
  • 4x USB 3.0
• PCIe Mini card support (including SIM) for wireless applications
• MicroSD card support
• IPMI controller