Kontron AT8904 - Manual (Page 15)

AT8904M Introduction
Page 1 - 2 AT8904M User Guide
1. Introduction
The AT8904M Board described in this manual is designed for the Advanced Telecom Comput-
ing Architecture (AdvancedTCA® or ATCA) defined by the PCI Industrial Computer Manufac-
turers Group (PICMG). The main advantages of AdvancedTCA include high throughput, multi-
protocol support, high-power capability, hot swappability, high scalability and integrated system
management. For further information regarding the AdvancedTCA standards and their use,
please consult the complete AdvancedTCA specification or visit the PICMG web site.
1.1 Product Overview
The Kontron AT8904M is a PICMG 3.0 and 3.1 compliant Hub Board for AdvancedTCA
shelves, designed according to the RoHS directive. Suitable for dual-star and full-mesh in 14
and 16 slot systems, it also provides 2 mid-size AMC slots for customization. This unique ver-
satile design allows cost-optimised tailoring to the requirements of the application.
The Base Interface switch provides Gigabit Ethernet services on Base Channels 2-16 and Fast
Ethernet to the Shelf Managers. The Fabric Interface switch provides 10 Gigabit Ethernet links
to all 15 Fabric Channels and both AMCs.
AMC slots can be equipped with
• Processor-AMC, e.g. acting as the system controller (saving one ATCA slot)
• Storage-AMC as mass storage device for the Processor-AMC
• Master Clock Generator AMC providing network synchronisation for telecom applications
• Dual 10GbE Fabric Inter-Link-AMC to enable multi-shelf AdvancedTCA systems
Performance
The AT8904M employs leading-edge switching technology providing full wire-speed through-
put at all load conditions. A powerful control processor runs higher layer protocols based on the
market leading LVL7 software suite.
Flexibility
The Fabric Interface is realized as a mezzanine on the base board. Therefore the AT8904M
can easily be adapted to customer requirements without re-engineering the whole board, thus
minimising time-to-market. Options include using Ethernet, Ethernet + Fibre Channel, PCI-Ex-
press or Advanced Switching on the Fabric Interface.
Management
The AT8904M is managed either in-band or out of band via 10/100 Ethernet or RS232 man-
agement ports. The comprehensive set of supported protocols rounds out the feature set of
Kontrons' second generation AdvancedTCA Hub Board.