Telecom Industry Hardware Standards – AdvancedMC

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Last month’s issue of Future Technology Magazine included an overview of the Advanced Telecommunications Computing Architecture (AdvancedTCA) and the products that Tyco Electronics offers for this industry standard. In this month’s issue, we will provide an overview of the Advanced Mezzanine Card (AdvancedMC) industry standard.

The AdvancedMC standard was created to meet the AdvancedTCA standard’s need for a new style of mezzanine card. The standard allows the mezzanine card to have three different heights and be front loadable and hot swappable from the front edge of the AdvancedTCA card (or blade). The AdvancedMC electrical interface to the AdvancedTCA card supports data rates up to 12.5 Gbps.

The impetus for the creation of this standard was to define a module that had the physical size and configuration flexibility to enable reduced development time and costs while supporting a rich mix of processing power (compute processing, network processing, and digital signal processing). The idea was to provide a means to enable maximum configurability, service availability and cost effectiveness for the critical functions within the AdvancedTCA chassis.

The resulting module specification has a great deal of configuration flexibility. The printed circuit board can be either of two widths: single wide is approximately 74mm wide and double wide is approximately 149mm wide. All modules are approximately 180mm deep. The height of the module has 3 options: compact modules are approximately 13mm high, mid size modules are approximately 18mm high and full size modules are approximately 28mm high. All of these module variations can be used on AdvancedTCA blades. Figure 1 shows mechanical modules with all three heights. From left to right, the compact module shows Tyco Electronics offset RJ45 Mod Jack, the mid size module shows Tyco Electronics MRJ21 connector (enabling six, one (1) Gigabit Ethernet ports per connector), and the full size module includes Tyco Electronics stacked SFP cages.

 

 

After the initial draft of the AdvancedMC specification was completed, the PICMG organization developed the MicroTCA specification, which allows these same AdvancedMC modules to be plugged directly onto their own backplane. The combination of these two standards (AdvancedTCA and MicroTCA) both using the same AdvancedMC modules, potentially allows further efficiencies of operation and maintenance for network system operators. Watch for Tyco Electronics’ article on the MicroTCA specification in the next issue of the Future Technology Magazine.

To maintain a balance between cost and performance, the interconnection between the AdvancedMC and the AdvancedTCA or MicroTCA host is a card edge type of connection. The AdvancedMC printed circuit board has circuit traces at the back of the module which are received into a card edge style connector on either the AdvancedTCA or MicroTCA host system. The same connector is used on both single wide and double wide modules.

For AdvancedTCA applications the AdvancedMC connector is a right angle style to transition the connection to the AdvancedTCA blade. This connector is shown in figure 2 and is Tyco Electronics P/N 1367703-X. The various dash numbers call out different compliant pin metallization and different features for interfacing to the printed circuit board. Tyco Electronics offers multiple mounting features to maximize flexibility in application of the connector to the PCB.

 

 

For MicroTCA applications the AdvancedMC connector is a vertical design to interface to the backplane. The vertical connector is shown in figure 3 and is Tyco Electronics P/N 1469820-X. Again, the dash numbers allow for different metallization and mounting features.

 

 

Both of these connectors have 170 contact positions, utilize compliant pin mounting to the PCB (flat rock installation tooling), and have electrical models available.

One of the functions that is often required on an AdvancedMC module is memory. However, the commonly used industry standard SO DIMM sockets are slightly too wide to fit on AdvancedMC applications. Tyco Electronics has modified SO DIMM memory sockets to enable them to fit on AdvancedMC modules. This enables the use of existing industry standard memory modules. Tyco Electronics offers two heights of SO DIMM sockets that are available to fit: 5.2mm and 9.2mm, and both are available either standard or reverse keyed. These sockets can be seen in Figure 4 and are Tyco Electronics P/Ns 1981281-4, 1981276-4, 1981287-4, and 1981284-4.

 

 

Industry standard RJ45 connectors have been modified to fit in AdvancedMC module heights by designing offset versions. They include the Low Profile Mod Jacks in 1x1 and 1x4 configurations that are ideal for AdvancedMC compact modules. There is also a full line of offset, stacked configurations for AdvancedMC full size modules. See figure 5. These designs maximize space utilization and PCB real estate in the system by optimizing the number of ports packaged within the faceplate. Refer to Table 1 for LED and grounding options.

 

 

 

There are many additional standard Input/Output connectors available from Tyco Electronics that are used on AdvancedMC modules. Some of these items include MRJ21, SFP and SFP+ module cages, MiniSAS and MiniSATA connectors, etc.

Tyco Electronics looks forward to working with Future Electronics and its customers to meet the interconnect needs for application on AdvancedMC modules.

In the next issue of Future Technology Magazine Tyco Electronics will provide an article on the MicroTCA standard from this series of articles on the AdvancedTCA, AdvancedMC and MicroTCA standards from the PICMG organization. Stay tuned….

 

AdvancedMC, AdvancedTCA, MicroTCA, and PICMG are registered trademarks of the PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group.

MRJ21, TE logo and Tyco Electronics are trademarks. Other products, logos, and company names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

 

 

 Featured Products

Part Number		Description	Data Sheet	App. Notes
1-1469820-2		Card Edge Connector, Vertical, MicroTCA
1367073-1		PT Connector, 20 Position, 0.8mm Pitch, Right Angle, SMT, 15µ Gold
1367337-1		PT Connector Assembly, 70 Position, 0.8mm Pitch, Right Angle
1489669-1		Cage Assembly, 11 Press Fit, SFP
1489948-2		Heat Sink Clip, XFP
1489951-1		Cage Assembly, 10 Gigabit, XFP
1658391-1		Cage and PT Connector Assembly, 2 x 1, Press Fit, Standard Profile, SFP
1658744-1		Cage Assembly, 1 x 4 Press Fit, SFP
1761008-1		Cage Assembly, 1 x 4 with Light Pipe, SFP
1888250-1		PCB Mounted Jack - Single Port, Multi-port and Stacked
1888251-2		PCB Mounted Jack - Single Port, Multi-port and Stacked
1888509-3		Stacked Modular Jack Assembly, 2 x 6 with LEDs, 8 Positions
1888653-4		Stacked Modular Jack Assembly, 2 x 1, 8 Positions, Offset
6367034-1		Cage Bottom, SFP

refers to New Product Introduction