New Advantech MicroTCA System tops with 26-cores

Advantech's UTCA-6302 (click image to zoom by 1.8x)

12 Full-size Intel® Core™ 2 Duo payload slots and 2 Intelligent MCH's in 3U

Advantech introduced today what may well be the most original MicroTCA system product released in 2009. Advantech's uniquely engineered UTCA-6302 comes with up to twelve of the latest 45nm Intel® Core™ 2 Duo based processors in full-size AMC format for optimal cooling in just a 3U or 4U form factor. The system introduces an innovative front-to-rear cooling scheme, advanced redundantpower design and is fitted with redundant MicroTCA Carrier Hubs (MCH). Advantech will be showcasing the system in their booth at the AdvancedTCA summit in Santa Clara this week with a second system participating in the Video Server Interoperability demonstration.

“The system is ideal for High Performance Computing and for Application Service Providers where blade density is important.” said Peter Marek, Director of Advantech's Blade Computing Division. “Telecom Equipment Manufacturers and Network Equipment Providers will benefit from the performance, cost and reliability gains which are vital to get them ahead of competition, especially in the wireless base station business where MicroTCA is gaining a strong foothold. We successfully engineered this system to meet one infrastructure customer's aggressive design-to-cost goals without sacrificing functionality.” he added.

At the centre of the system, Advantech's DualCore Processor AMC's provide exceptional levels of scalability for software designed hardware functions such as Radio or Host Media Processing. They provide the building blocks for unprecedented levels of reliability, performance and power savings. The MIC-5602Rev2 PrAMC's loaded in the system support Intel® 45nm Core™ 2 Duo Low Voltage processor (Penryn) with up to 4GB memory.

The processor payload is safely cooled by four hot-swappable fans providing redundant cooling whilst four rear -48V DC power supplies provide true 600W redundancy (with 24V options in design). By extending the depth of the chassis and moving the power modules to the rear, all the front-side slots are available for the AMC payload needs and the entire system fits in a 3U height envelope for bottom-to-top cooling. For front-to-rear cooling needs, the system comes with unique top and bottom angled air-duct designs allowing 4U lossless stacking between adjacent systems in a rack.

A cost-optimized backplane supports the fabric switching infrastructure provided by the new generation UTCA-5504 MCH. The onboard Carrier Manager, 24-port non-blocking L2+ Ethernet switch and Intel® EP80579 Integrated Processor with Intel® QuickAssist open the doors to new levels of processing and connectivity on an MCH.

“Four GbE and Four E1/T1 ports provide fresh options for backhaul and gateway needs whilst the on-chip accelerator provides security co-processing options for functions such as encryption.” said Paul Stevens, Telecom Marketing Director at Advantech. “Moreover, the Intel® EP80579 on the MCH runs a standard x86 Linux platform providing opportunities for control and application processing, higher-level system and switch management or boot server functions for in-system PrAMC's.”

Fully integrated UTCA-6302 systems are available now for customer evaluation and benchmarking needs with volume production starting in December 2009.

For more information, visit Advantech networks and telecom at www.advantech.com/NC or E-mail to NCG@advantech.com.