Speaker
Description
In the context of the HL-LHC upgrades, xTCA (Advanced/Micro Telecom Computing Architecture) is a common standard in high energy physics. To keep it is a serious candidate for future readout systems and save the previous development investments in the post-telecom era, when classical telecom vendors migrating to cloud-based solution, the new coordination with manufactures is required. PICMG (PCI Industrial Computing Manufacturer Group) reacts by revising ATCA family specifications to support next level of performance and scalability of modular computing modern application for non-telecom markets
Summary (500 words)
The ATCA and uTCA (xTCA) based solutions are widely used in number of high-energy experimental physics and radio astronomy applications mostly two decades already, including ATLAS and LHC projects. However, both architectures originally driven by the Telecom industry are continuously falling the vendors diversity and reducing the equipment availability, starting from the migration of 4G/5G Telecom applications to the cloud-based solutions. On another side xTCA become popular on different markets including Industrial, Semiconductor, Instrumental, Edge-AI and Quantum computing applications. The challenges of new requirements and applications driven number of vendors to join forces to upgrade the performance and scalability levels of the Advanced TCA for futured markets by forming new PICMG sub-committee. Targeting applications which requires the integration of big numbers of high-performance FPGAs, modern interconnects and Time sensitive network switching. The current goal of PICMG 3.1R4 group is to bring the 200G/400G fabric channels performance into the ATCA backplane interconnects and keep the backward compatibility and cost efficiency by the end of the year.
The modern inter-modules communication protocols like 200GBase-KR4 and PCIe gen6 are PAM-4 based. The challenge is not only with signal integrity questions of new channels, but also the cost-effective way of the new standard compliance methodology to design and proof inter-vendor compatibility of the futured equipment. The big part of the PICMG 3.1R4 draft is developing the compliance methodology, guiding of the building module/connector/backplane models accordantly and providing the standard references models which will be using by cascading required models for final compliance check of integrated system. Additionally, new standard would cover the required extension for the shelf management and connector requirements. Supporting the existing extension of ATCA (PICMG 3.7) like extended RTMs, double side chassis, double wide modules together with optional using Zone3 backplanes of extended communication and new fabric channels performance provide new level of scalability for futured ATCA based solutions for next decades.
Another PICMG committee is working on next generation of the MicroTCA.0 specification. The goal is to provide several upgrades including higher power dissipation (up to 220W per module), additional signals to prevent data corruption, accommodate higher fabric speed (100GbE and PCIe gen5), and achieve up to PCIe x16 to AMC modules. Also the integration FMC modules on the AMC carriers is specified.