PICMG Adopts Name for New Series of Specifications for Next-Generation Communications Equipment.

Business/Technology Editors

WAKEFIELD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 16, 2002

"AdvancedTCA;" Launches 3 New Subcommittees for Ethernet, Infiniband, and StarFabric

The PCI Industrial Computers Manufacturers Group (PICMG(R)) has selected the name AdvancedTCA(TM) -- Advanced Telecom Computing Architecture -- for its 3.x series of specifications for next-generation telecommunications equipment.

The AdvancedTCA specifications, beginning with the core specification PICMG 3.0, are aimed at further expanding the market for off-the-shelf, modular solutions for carrier grade communications equipment, a move that was begun by the highly successful CompactPCI(R) specifications (PICMG 2.x series). PICMG's membership has registered unprecedented interest in the new series, with more than 70 companies participating in November's two-day kickoff meeting. PICMG is aiming for final ratification of the initial specifications before the end of calendar year 2002.

Added to the AdvancedTCA family tree are PICMG 3.1 for Ethernet fabric, PICMG 3.2 for InfiniBand(R), and PICMG 3.3 for StarFabric. Calls for participation in these technical subcommittees were issued early in January 2002.

"Our members' decisions to begin work on PICMG 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3 immediately and in parallel with development of the core specification show the strong momentum that our AdvancedTCA initiative is gathering," said Joe Pavlat, PICMG President, "as well as demonstrating high interest in these individual technologies."

PICMG 3.1, for Ethernet Fabric

PICMG 3.1 is a co-specification that will add to the core AdvancedTCA specification the capability of supporting Ethernet data link (L2) and physical layers (L1) over the PICMG 3.0 generic backplane fabric interconnect. PICMG 3.1 will define all elements necessary for interoperability between multi-vendor PICMG 3.1 products, including but not limited to specific bit rates, bit rate negotiation, pin mapping, physical and/or logical address mapping, specific backplane topologies, mechanical/electronic keying, hot swap, powerup/initialization, fabric specific system management, signal integrity validation, low level fault detection recovery/reporting and options for both redundant and/or multi-fabric architectures.

"PICMG 3.1 will take advantage of the core PICMG 3.0 specification for its basic mechanical, thermal, electrical, power, connectivity and system management requirements," said John Peters of Performance Technologies, organizer of the 3.1 subcommittee. "PICMG 3.1 will be defined to gracefully co-exist with the other AdvancedTCA data link specifications currently under development."

PICMG 3.2, for InfiniBand Interconnect

PICMG 3.2 will describe a PICMG 3.0 compliant system using InfiniBand backplane interconnect. The proposed PICMG 3.2 specification uses InfiniBand physical layers and protocols in a PICMG 3.0 compliant backplane to interconnect a number of circuit boards on a shelf. Several different backplane interconnection topologies are available, including dual star, quad star and full mesh. InfiniBand signaling rates of 2.5Gb/s (and optionally up to 10Gb/s) are supported on each link.

PICMG 3.2 will define how InfiniBand transport is mapped onto the AdvancedTCA base. It will specify the link physical layers, protocols, and protocol mappings needed to implement multi-vendor, interoperable systems. Specification of: addressing schemes, virtual lane mappings, initialization, keying, hot swap support, and hardware management will be included.

PICMG 3.2 will fully comply with, and build upon, the base provided by PICMG 3.0, including mechanical design, power, cooling and hardware management framework, and will coexist with and complement the other AdvancedTCA specifications.

"PICMG 3.2 will be an excellent platform for a variety of telecom and data network elements," said Bell Labs Fellow Chuck Byers of Lucent Technologies, organizer of the 3.2 committee. "The combination of the large, robust, infrastructure provided by the AdvancedTCA form factor with the fast, high quality of service, multi-protocol-capable links provided by InfiniBand should be particularly valuable in converged networks. PICMG 3.2 will be a natural choice for network elements such as voice gateways, core network switches, broadband access terminals, servers and storage farms."

PICMG 3.3, for StarFabric Interconnect

The proposed PICMG 3.3 StarFabric interconnect specification will define a redundant, point-to-point, high-speed serial interconnect within a PICMG 3.0 chassis providing TDM, control, cell, and packet connectivity among all slots using a single interconnect. StarFabric is a universal switched interconnect developed by StarGen, Inc. The specification will enable system development with the StarFabric 2.5Gb/s and 10Gb/s physical layers.

The PICMG 3.3 specification will also be applicable to distributed computing systems. With its memory mapped, load store programming model, StarFabric provides both an efficient loosely coupled processor-to-processor communication as well as a processor to dumb I/O communication at multi-Gigabit rates.

A related StarFabric initiative in the highly successful CompactPCI series of specifications, PICMG 2.17, was kicked off in July 2001 and is nearing completion. When ratified, the PICMG 2.17 specification will extend the life of CompactPCI systems by adding a high speed switched interconnect technology to the standard CompactPCI chassis.

For applications requiring additional board and backplane capacity or calling for greater board spacing due to processor power requirements, the PICMG 3.3 effort will allow developers to maintain their current investment in StarFabric. StarFabric is a multi-layered protocol that provides PCI software compatibility. The higher bandwidth capability in the PICMG 3.3 specification also provides a standards-based approach for routing high speed StarFabric links on a backplane.

"By defining StarFabric in both the standard CompactPCI and PICMG 3.0 chassis, PICMG is offering flexibility to the designers of developing tomorrow's communication equipment, such as VOIP and media gateways, wireless basestations, and broadband loop carrier equipment," said Steve Christo of StarGen, organizer of the PICMG 3.3 effort.

About PICMG

Founded in 1994, PICMG is a consortium of over 600 companies that collaboratively develops open specifications for high performance telecommunications and industrial computing applications. The members of the consortium have a long history of developing leading edge products for these industries.

For information about PICMG membership, or to find out how to obtain PICMG specifications, visit the PICMG website at http://www.picmg.org or call PICMG headquarters at [phone].

PICMG and CompactPCI are registered trademarks, and AdvancedTCA and ATCA are trademarks, of the PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group. InfiniBand is a registered trademark of the InfiniBand Trade Association. All other brand or product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.