ATCA-PTSW-AMC4
Table of contents
- 1. DATASHEET
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 upcoming ATCA extension for Physics (PICMG 3.8 ARTM). Most mid/full-size AMC modules available from industry can be installed in the board.
Its main charateristics are summarized below.
PCI Express switch
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 - AMC.1)
- 1 RTM module (one ×16 PCIe link)
- The onboard FPGA (one ×4 PCIe link)
Any of the PCIe links listed above is selectable as "upstream", where the PCIe host will be located.
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.
| AMC/RTM clock lines | function | ATCA "clock & sync" |
|---|---|---|
| TCLKA (slot 2) or TCLKB (slot 1) | synchronization clock (100MHz) | CLK1A (slot 2) or CLK1B (slot 1) |
| TCLKC (slot 2) or TCLKD (slot 1) | absolute time (IRIG-B) | CLK2A (slot 2) or CLK2B (slot 1) |
| FCLKA | PCIe reference clock | CLK3A (slot 2) or CLK3B (slot 1) |
- Clock distribution to compliant modules within the shelf is assured via the ATCA connector "clock and synchronization" interface.
- Each clock signal source may be independently located (from any of the AMCs, from the RTM, from the ATCA backplane or even locally generated in the FPGA).
- Support for IEEE-1588-2008 is provided on the FPGA (Ethernet physical connector on the RTM card).
Rear Transmission Module
The rear transmission module is compatible with the upcoming PICMG 3.8 (ARTM) standard. The card provides digital connectivity on the back-panel of the ATCA shelf and contains the following connectors:
- 1 PCI Express channel (×16 link)
- 1 full-duplex RapidIO channel (×4 link) to each AMC slot (onboard fiber optic transceivers)
- 1 full-duplex RapidIO channel (×4 link) to the FPGA
- 8 LVDS pairs to each AMC slot
- 8 LVDS pairs to the FPGA (reserved for controlling the onboard fiber optic transceivers)
- 1 GbE channel (connects to AMC1)
- 1 GbE channel (connects to the FPGA - for IEEE-1588-2008)
Multi-processor configuration
The following figure shows a configuration where an ATCA-PTSW-AMC4 switch is configured as a 5-virtual-switch hub (SW-H). Each virtual switch circuit connects 3 node cards (1 card on VC3). Each virtual circuit (except VC3) contains an ATCA-PTSW-AMC4 configured as node processor (SW-N). This card can connect up to 5 processors (4 AMC, 1 external - PCIe Cable) where one is configured as PCIe Upstream.
SW-H and SW-N will differ only on the PCIe switch programming (PLX PEX8696), which may be fixed (2 different board types) or eventually programmed through the IPMC. No modifications to the DAQ cards are required.
Other possible configurations are:
- 7 virtual switches each with 7 x (1 PTSW + 1 DAQ card).
- 5 (4+1) virtual switches with 5 x (1 PTSW + 2(1) DAQ cards).
- 3 (2+1) virtual switches with 3 x (1 PTSW + 4(3) DAQ cards).
An alternative configuration:
- Use just 1 ATCA-PTSW-AMC4 card configured for 3 virtual switches on Slot 1.
- Insert 2 AMC processor cards + 1 external PCIe cable computer to the PTSW card.
- Each processor controls up to 4 DAQ cards for a grand total of 12.
IPMC controller
- CoreIPM OPMA2368
- Hardware management of all AMCs and RTM (IPMB-L)
Figure 1 - Block diagram of the board.
