Posted to News on 23rd Jun 2007, 19:39
AMC module handles high volumes of data
Kontron is unveiling its new Kontron AM4100 Advanced Mezzanine Card (AMC/AdvancedMC). Based on the 1.5GHz Dual Core Freescale PowerPC MPC8641D, the Kontron AM4100 delivers up to 2.3 MIPS/MHz computing performance and high Ethernet bandwidth without breaking the power budgets of modular AdvancedTCA carriers or highly-integrated, redundant MicroTCA multi-processing systems.
The integrated Altivec 128-Bit Vector Processing Unit, which also replaces Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), makes the Kontron AM4100 an excellent design fit for telecommunication equipment manufacturers (TEMs) and enterprise datacoms. The Kontron AM4100 is also highly suitable for non-telecom markets such as medical, industrial imaging, and military/aerospace.
Its four Gigabit Ethernet interfaces have advanced capabilities for Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and User Datagram Protocol (UDP) checksum acceleration, QoS support, and packet header manipulation, and are able to sustain highest data rates. Communication-hungry applications with a demand for high data throughput will benefit from the vector processing unit that works to minimise cache pollution while processing vast amounts of data.
The Kontron AM4100 includes up to 2GB of soldered DDR2-SDRAM, 4MB bootable redundant NOR Flash, up to 4GB of NAND Flash, and EEPROM for user and configuration data. Two of the GbE interfaces can be routed to AMC connector or to RJ45 connectors on the front panel. The Kontron AM4100 supports PCIe x4 or Serial RapidIO x4 as a fat pipe fabric.
Furthermore, the Kontron AM4100 is fully hot-swappable, which makes it possible to replace the module without shutting down the AdvancedTCA carrier board or the MicroTCA system. A dedicated Module Management Controller (MMC) is used to manage the board and support Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) commands and PICMG (ATCA/AMC) command extensions, which enable operators to detect and eliminate faults faster at the module level.
The Kontron AM4100 AdvancedMC processor module will be available in Mid-Size and Full-Size variants. Samples are available on request and full production will start in September 2007. Board Support Packages (BSPs) are available for Linux and VxWorks.
