The World's First Mixed-Signal FPGA for TCA
Simplifies Designs and Lowers Costs

Actel TCA free and open reference designs and development kits drastically reduce risk, component count, and time to market. The Telecom Computing Architecture (TCA) encompasses a series of standards defined by the more than 250 members of the PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group (PICMG®), including AdvancedTCA® (ATCA), AdvancedMC™ (AMC) and MicroTCA™. These standards reduce the cost of telecommunications, industrial, medical, and military equipment. Manufacturers adopting these standards are engaged in a transition similar to the replacement of the mini-computer by personal computers—a variety of custom electronic equipment can be replaced by a modular, high-availability, low-cost ATCA or MicroTCA chassis. Actel provides a silicon solution for TCA system management.

Actel provides highly integrated solutions for TCA system management. Actel supports the Fusion-based solutions with reference designs, semiconductor intellectual property (SIP), software, and customization services that enable quicker time to market for Actel customers with reduced risk, lower costs, and improved availability over existing solutions. The high integration of Actel TCA solutions also provides increased functionality in a fixed form factor.

Nearly every electronic system needs system management, especially those with telecommunications-driven standards like ATCA, AMC, and MicroTCA, as well as those with server-driven standards like Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI). Fusion and ProASIC3 are adept at supporting both proprietary and standards-based implementations.

Actel Fusion mixed-signal FPGAs enable customers to improve MicroTCA system management implementations. As the world's first mixed-signal FPGAs, Fusion Programmable System Chips (PSCs) integrate analog, embedded flash memory, and live-at-power-up FPGA fabric in a single chip. This integration reduces system cost and board space and provides the flexibility to support proprietary and standards-based system management. Fusion single-chip implementation improves reliability, low-power operation, and system security.

Read more about Fusion Benefits.

Actel provides reference designs and design kits with hardware, software, and SIP. Actel has partnered with Pigeon Point Systems and MicroBlade®. Pigeon Point Systems is the dominant supplier of world-class management components for modular platforms based on the AdvancedTCA, AdvancedMC and MicroTCA architectures to leading companies worldwide. MicroBlade is a pioneer, supplying design solutions, firmware customization, and hardware modules and chassis to the growing MicroTCA market. Actel Protocol Design Services provides customization services and support for the semiconductor intellectual property. Customers have the choice of taking the reference design and using it without modification, modifying the design, or outsourcing changes to the design through Pigeon Point Systems, MicroBlade, or Actel Protocol Design Services. Actel offers reference design boards and design kits for purchase in sample quantities, and production quantities of the MicroBlade partnered AMC and MicroTCA Power Module designs can be ordered directly from MicroBlade.

Free Fusion-Based MicroTCA Power Module Reference Design

Actel partnered with MicroBlade to develop a Fusion-based MicroTCA PM reference design that meets the MicroTCA specification version 1.0 and includes an enhanced module management interface (EMMC). Core8051s and dual CoreI2C cores are the foundation for an IP and software platform that includes an IPMI protocol stack per IPMI specification 2.0, which supports the IPMB-0 connection and the power module EMMC interface to the MicroTCA carrier hub. This is the first free and open reference design available for MicroTCA.

Because Fusion mixed-signal FPGAs enable unprecedented integration in system management applications, Actel is able to reduce the bill-of-materials (BOM) cost of typical MicroTCA power modules by over 50%. The Fusion PSC also helps reduce the system management footprint while delivering better performance than other solutions. Unlike slow, software-based microcontroller solutions, Actel can achieve the MicroTCA specification 100 µs switchover due to the internal voltage monitoring and switchover functionality working in FPGA logic gates.

Request a free Fusion-Based MicroTCA Power Module Reference Design.

Free Fusion-Based Advanced Mezzanine Card Reference Design

Actel also partnered with MicroBlade to develop a Fusion-based Advanced Mezzanine Card (AMC) reference design. The Fusion-based AMC reduces the amount of required parts and provides a unique reference design platform that includes hardware, firmware, and intellectual property. The AMC reference design is ready to plug in to ATCA AMC carriers or MicroTCA chassis for evaluation and interoperability testing and conforms to the PICMG® AMC.0 ECR001 RC1.0 specification. It includes a module management controller (MMC) based on the Core8051s processor and CoreI2C .

In this design, Actel provides a solution that uses a Fusion PSC for single-chip system management. The reduced part count from single-chip system management offers better performance and more features than typical AMCs, which use microcontrollers and a number of discrete components. Since this Fusion-based solution enables integration of payload and management functions, customers can realize even further levels of component part integration as well as cost savings. Actel flash FPGA devices also enable in-system changes and upgrades often requested by telecom service providers, yielding an obsolescence-proof design.

Request a free Fusion-Based MicroTCA Advanced Mezzanine Card Reference Design.

Use All or Part of an Actel TCA Reference Design

The key benefit of the Actel reference designs is that customers can quickly take advantage of the head start provided by our reference designs by using all or a portion of the design. Many customers in the ATCA or IPMI markets will be able to use existing reference designs to get started. Customers who want to customize a reference design will often find it useful to make their custom changes on a versatile Actel system management board.

Fusion Single-Chip System Management

Actel, the world's only supplier of mixed-signal FPGAs, delivers a single chip that performs system management, as shown in the AMC reference design. The Actel Fusion PSC integrates configurable analog, large flash memory blocks, comprehensive clock generation and management circuitry, and high-performance programmable logic in a monolithic device. This level of integration and configurability establishes Fusion as the definitive system management solution.

Intellectual Property for ATCA, MicroTCA, IPMI, and Proprietary System Management

Actel IP cores support Actel silicon devices and MicroTCA for processing as well as MMC, EMMC, and MCMC interfaces. Additionally, Actel IP cores can be used for shelf management as well as carrier management IPM-C interfaces. Finally, these cores also support baseboard and network management as well as satellite control in IPMI.

• Remote Communications: Core10/100, CoreI2C, CorePCIF, CoreUART, and CoreSMBus
• Processing: Core8051s and CoreMP7
• Analog and Memory Interfaces: CoreFMEE, CoreAI, CorePWM, and CoreCFI

Actel TCA Partners

Actel is partnered with Pigeon Point Systems—world class industry-leading system management supplier of management components for modular platforms based on AdvancedTCA, AdvancedMC, and MicroTCA architectures. Actel and Pigeon Point Systems will be bringing a range of development kits to market to address the TCA market.

Actel has partnered with MicroBlade, a leader in MicroTCA design services, to develop the AMC and MicroTCA Power Module reference designs and to provide support and customization services.

Actel Protocol Design Services provides support for the intellectual property that works on Fusion devices in the power module and AMC reference designs.