ATCA-PTSW-AMC4

DATASHEET

The ATCA-PTSW-AMC4 board (Pcie and Timing SWitch with 4 AMC slots) is a cutaway quad-AMC module carrier, compliant with the ATCA (PICMG 3.0) specification and compatible with the ATCA extension for Physics (PICMG 3.8 ARTM). Most mid/full-size AMC modules available from industry can be installed in the board.

The AMC slots support a broad range of AMC module types, including Digitizers, Waveform Generators and Processor cards (up to Intel i7 or Xeon processors).

When a connection to an external computer is required, a COTS PCIe host adapter card (16x, 8x or 4x) shall be installed on the host computer and a PCIe Cable (up to 7 m) shall be connected from host to carrier. Alternatively, some manufacturers also supply PCIe 4x fibre optic cables, suitable for longer distances.

Multiple-processor configurations using virtual PCIe switches are also feasible:

1. n individual domains each with one root-complex processor (an example is shown in this page);
2. one domain with one root-complex processor and n non-transparent PCIe processors;
3. a mixture of both configurations.

Details of the ATCA-PTSW-AMC4 board can be found on the Technical User Manual.

The board main charateristics are summarized below.

PCI Express switch

PCIe data switching performed by a PLX PEX8696 (PCIe Gen 2), which interconnects:

• 13 fabric channels (×4 links), connecting up to the other 13 PCI Express (PICMG 3.4 R1.0) compliant modules
• 4 AMC modules (four ×4 PCIe links - AMC.1 R2.0)
• 1 RTM module (one ×16 PCIe link)
• Onboard FPGA (one ×4 PCIe link, PCI Express® External Cabling R1.0.) 

Any of the PCIe links listed is settable as "upstream" (where the PCIe host is connected).

Clock/timing distribution crosspoint-switch

The ATCA, AMC and RTM timing/clock lines are managed and routed by a crosspoint-switch implemented on a Virtex-6 FPGA, which:

• Distributes clocking and synchronization signals to/from compliant AMC/RTM inserted modules.
• Interfaces to ATCA clock and synchronization bus: for clock distribution to compliant modules within the shelf.
• Routes any clock signal source from any of the AMCs, from the RTM, from the ATCA backplane or even locally generated in the FPGA, to any synchronization input.
• Other external synchronization signals may be input through the RMC module on the RTM card. Currently, IEEE-1588-2008 and standard TTL clock/trigger sync interfaces are available.

(Correspondance between "ATCA clock and synchronization interface" and AMC/RTM clock lines and respective function (middle column). "slot 1" / "slot2" indicates that the particular signal is active when the ATCA-PTSW-AMC4 front board is inserted in slot 1 / slot 2.)

User Manual