DATASHEET
The ATCA-AMC-CARRIER board is a cutaway quad-AMC module carrier, compliant with the ATCA (PICMG 3.0) specification and compatible with the upcoming ATCA extensions for Physics. Most mid/full-size AMC modules available from industry can be installed in the board.
Its main charateristics are summarized bellow.
PCI Express switch
Inbound and outbound data connectivity is predominantly PCIe-based. Data switching is 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) compliant modules
- 4 AMC modules (four ×4 PCIe links)
- 1 RTM module (one ×8 PCIe link)
- The onboard FPGA (one ×4 PCIe link)
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.
- The connection to compliant modules within the shelf is assured via the ATCA connector clock and synchronization lines.
- Each clock signal source may be independently located (from any of the AMCs, from the RTM or from the ATCA backplane).
- Support for IEEE-1588-2008 is provided on the FPGA (physical connector on the RTM card).
Rear Transmission Module
- Compliant with PICMG 3.8 (ARTM)
- Connectivity:
- 1 PCI Express channel (×16 link)
- 1 full-duplex RapidIO channel (×4 link) to each AMC slot
- 1 full-duplex RapidIO channel (×4 link) to the FPGA (MGT transceivers)
- 8 LVDS pairs to each AMC slot
- 8 LVDS pairs to the FPGA (SelectIO)
- 1 GbE channel (connects to AMC1)
- 1 GbE channel (connects to the FPGA - IEEE1588 support)
IPMC controller
- CoreIPM OPMA2368
- Hardware management of all AMCs and RTM (IPMB-L)
Block diagram of the board:

PCIE-RTM details
ATCA-AMC-CARRIER details