NAT-AMC-PMC

The NAT-AMC-PMC is an AMC carrier board with one PMC (PCI mezzanine card) slot, which enables the shift of standard off-the-shelf PMC boards from cPCI or PMC based systems to MTCA. So applications can benefit from both standards: MTCA systems are known for their reliability and bandwidth, whereas advantages of PMCs are cost efficiency and a large variety of standard cards with low cost interfaces such as input/output (I/O).

A PLX PEX8112 PCIe to PCI bridge assures data transfer between AMC carrier and PMC via 32 bit PCI. Towards the backplane, the bridge’s PCIe interface connects on AMC Port 4. The PCIe reference clock can be derived from a local osciallator or an external source via FCLKA. An Atmel AVR1284P microcontroller acts as MMC (Module Management Controller). Furthermore, it implements various IPMI sensors for temperature, current, voltage etc.

The NAT-AMC-PMC provides payload power for the mezzanine.

All interfaces are determined by the mounted PMC, as the AMC carrier has no actual front panel (see note below).

Please note:
The NAT-AMC-PMC comes in single width, mid- or full-size AMC form factor. As the width of the PMC is just slightly smaller than the width of the AMC, the carrier is compatible with a standard MTCA backplane, but the mechanical conditions demand minor deviations from the AMC specification:

• The front panel of the NAT-AMC-PMC is just a metal frame to keep the PMC in place.
• The carrier owns neither a hot swap handle nor hot swap LEDs on the front panel. So hot swap function according to the specification is not supported.
• As a result, special card guides are needed to insert and extract the NAT-AMC-PMC into / from an MTCA system.

• AMC form factor, single mid- or full-size

PMC Interface

• 32-bit PCI bus
• JTAG

Front Panel Interfaces

• depends on mounted PMC

Backplane Connectivity

• 1x PCIe on AMC port 4
• PCIe-to-PCI bridge
• Selectable PCIe reference clock via AMC FCLKA or local oscillator