Overview

The NAT-MCH is a MicroTCA (uTCA) Carrier Hub in the form factor of a single width double height Advanced Mezzanine Card (AMC). It provides the central management and data switching entity for all MicroTCA systems.

The NAT-MCH comprises of a base module and numerous optional daughter cards that can be mounted on the base module. The NAT-MCH is MicroTCA.0 R1.0 compliant and delivers switching and hub functionality for the various system fabrics as defined in the AMC.x standard series; that is, Gigabit Ethernet, PCI Express (PCIe), Serial Rapid I/O (SRIO), and Serial Attached SCSI (SAS). The NAT-MCH can also provide a centralized clock distribution to all AMCs in a system.

CPU, Memory, and OS

The NAT-MCH base board is equipped with a CPU of the Freescale ColdFire family of processors. The CPU operates at core frequency of 200 MHz. The NAT-MCH provides 32/64MB SDRAM and 16/32/64MB FLASH memory. The operating system used with the NAT-MCH is OK1 or Linux.

Gigabit Ethernet Hub and Switch

The Gigabit Ethernet Switch incorporated in the NAT-MCH provides a layer 2, non-blocking, low-latency Gigabit Ethernet switch, supporting VPN as well as a port-based rate control. The NAT-MCH supports Fabric A according to MicroTCA.0 R1.0 and PICMG SFP.1 R1.0, serving up to 12 AMCs as well as the update channel from the second MCH in redundant environments. Also supported is an uplink port at the front panel of the NAT-MCH in order to interconnect to other carriers, shelves, or systems.

PCIe Hub and Switch

The PCI Express (PCIe) Switching option allows PCIe connectivity for up to 12 AMCs at PCIe rates from x1 to x4. The PCIe chipsets provide a Quality of Service (QoS) module and are configurable in terms of a non-transparent port for multi-Host support. The PCIe option can optionally provide a PCIe clock by a Spread Spectrum Clock (100 MHz mean) or a fixed 100-MHz clock.

SRIO Hub Module

Optionally, the NAT-MCH can be equipped with a Serial Rapid I/O (SRIO) daughther board to support contention less point-to-point connectivity between up to 12 AMC modules. The SRIO hub supports 1x and 4x fat pipe transport density.

Clock Distribution

Besides the PCIe clocks the NAT-MCH also offers a sophisticated clock distribution module for special requirements (for example, as by comms applications). Thus the module allows a flexible selection of the telecom and non-telecom clocking structures as defined in MicroTCA.0 R1.0. The onboard Stratum 3 type PLL sources its clock reference configurable from either any of the 12 AMCs or from an external clock via the front panel BNC type connector.

Management

The NAT-MCH incorporates a MicroTCA Carrier Management Controller (MCMC) which supports and manages up 12 AMCs, 2 cooling units, and 1-4 power units. Special care has been taken to support numerous aspects of system architectures; that is, E-Keying, redundancy, clocking, fail-over scenarios, or system integrity. In order to connect the MCH to an external shelf or system manager the NAT-MCH offers a 100BaseT port at the front panel. The management interface and the available N.A.T. remote control and visualization application, µView, is based on the HPI recommendation of the Service Availability Form (SAF).

For more information about the NAT-MCH, see www.nateurope.com.