Freescale Semiconductor is showcasing Linux-based AdvancedTCA designs at its developer event in Orlando this week. Freescale's Open AdvancedTCA Development Platform includes reference designs for an AdvancedTCA blade and Advanced Mezzanine Card (AMC) supporting Serial RapidIO and Ethernet backplanes, and a “DSP farm module” AMC based on an eight-way StarCore DSP.

Freescale says its AdvancedTCA Platform enables rapid, flexible prototyping of a wide range carrier-class devices, including digital subscriber line access multiplexers (DSLAMs), IP-DSLAMs, IP-PBXs, media gateways, high-density voice over IP (VoIP) systems, enterprise routers, host processing farms, and radio network controllers (RNCs) used in 3G wireless infrastructure.

The AdvancedTCA Platform consists of modular, board-level building blocks based on a carrier board form-factor designed to fit both AdvancedTCA racks and standalone PC chassis, via replaceable power modules. A Freescale PowerQUICC communications processor serves as a controller on the baseboard. A gigabit Ethernet switch links the baseboard to the control plane. The modular AdvancedTCA baseboard can support up to four AMC cards. These cards can be mixed and matched on the carrier card to address various applications, such as RNCs, base station controllers (BSCs), serving GPRS support nodes (SGSNs) and gateway GPRS support Nodes (GGSNs), Freescale says.

Linux application programming interfaces (APIs) reside on the AdvancedTCA carrier card, which can be remotely booted through Gigabit Ethernet or RapidIO endpoints on plug-in cards, according to Freescale. The company's Linux-hosted CodeWarrior tools provide a commercially-supported, open-source development environment for the AdvancedTCA platform.

Freescale says its AdvancedTCA Platform is designed to evolve with interconnect and silicon advances, and will support its forthcoming MPC8641D Dual Core processor. Additionally, Freescale says it is actively participating in the development of new and complementary standards, such as MicroTCA, which in concert with AdvancedTCA and AMC platforms provides an end-to-end framework that addresses the complete range of high-availability telecom applications.

Freescale silicon and system partners include Embedded Planet, Artesyn, Mercury Computer Systems, and Tundra Semiconductor, each of which provide semiconductor and board-level components for Freescale's AdvancedTCA Platform. Software partners include MontaVista, QNX, Wind River, and Enea.

Embedded Planet says it is developing three new products that support Freescale's AdvancedTCA platform: a RapidIO ATCA carrier module, an MPC8548-based AMC processor module, and an 8122-based AMC DSP module.

David Perkins, GM of Freescale's Networking and Computing Systems Group, said, “Freescale's AdvancedTCA development platform showcases a significant increase in MIPS-per-watt density. As a founding member of the RapidIO Trade Association and the first semiconductor vendor to deliver a RapidIO technology-enabled processor, Freescale is committed to the commercial success of the RapidIO standard and the AdvancedTCA specification.”

 
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