AdvATCAforDefense-ForDummies

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These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing, Inc. and any

di i ti di t ib ti th i d i t i tl hibit d


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by Mark Coppockand Clark Scheffy

AdvancedTCA

in Defense ApplicationsFOR

DUMmIES

RADISYS AND INTELEDITION




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AdvancedTCA in Defense Applications For Dummies, RadiSys and Intel Edition

Published byWiley Publishing, Inc.111 River StreetHoboken, NJ 07030-5774www.wiley.com

Copyright 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system ortransmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 ofthe 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of thePublisher. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to thePermissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/

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Contents at a Glance

Introduction ............................................1About This Book ............................................................1

How This Book Is Organized ........................................2

Icons Used in This Book ................................................2

Part 1: Getting Familiar with ATCA ..........3What Is ATCA? ................................................................4

Leveraging ATCAs Commercial Successin the Defense Industry ..............................................6

Key Benefits of Open Standards-based ATCA Enhancing Reliability, Flexibility, and Support .......8

Part 2: Adopting ATCA toNetwork-Centric Warfare .......................13

Recognizing the Technical Benefits...........................14

Recognizing the Commercial Benefits .......................16

Part 3: Putting ATCA to Work for You .....19Considering an ATCA Platform? .................................20

Taking Advantage of an Expanding Market ..............24

Looking Forward, Looking Back .................................27




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Publishers Acknowledgments

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Introduction

The growing scope of military responsibilities,including humanitarian, police, and combat opera-tions, makes it imperative to process and distributedata across the globe. In order to support these

diverse missions, military and aerospace equipment ispushing the performance envelope with applicationslike ground control stations and aerospace surveil-lance. Escalating industry requirements are thereforedriving the use of standards-based commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) solutions such as AdvancedTCA (ATCA),which deliver the latest computing and networking

technologies with reduced development and implemen-tation time and cost.

About This BookThis book explains the applicability and benefits ofATCA, an open standard that evolved from the PCI

Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group (PICMG), indefense markets. ATCA provides carrier-grade reliabilityand promises to vastly improve the way military net-works are built and maintained with shortened productdevelopment cycles and faster implementation for nextgeneration applications. ATCA meets the very specificneeds of Network-Centric Warfare (NCW), including high

bandwidth, reliability, interoperability, and cost control.This book was written for key decision makers regardingnetwork equipment purchases for defense applications,and should be shared throughout your organization. Its




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goal is to foster collaboration and innovative thinking onhow ATCA can help meet the challenges of integrating

COTS technologies into complex and mission-criticalmilitary networks.

How This Book Is OrganizedThis book is organized into three parts, which you canread in any order. Part I introduces you to the basic

capabilities and technology of ATCA. Part II covers thetechnical and business advantages of using ATCA fordefense applications. Finally, Part III provides guidanceon how to leverage ATCA architecture to achieve theobjectives of NCW. ATCA goes beyond the old limits bymeeting the needs of traditional defense applicationswhile enabling the next generation.

Icons Used in This BookFor Dummies books highlight certain kinds of informa-tion with icons to attract attention. The following is anexplanation of those icons:

The text accompanying this icon is good to

keep in mind for future consideration of ATCAtechnologies.

This icon indicates details that may interestthe technically savvy.

When you see this icon, some pieces of infor-

mation are offered to clarify certain specificpoints.

2




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Part 1

Getting Familiar with ATCA

In This Part Understanding ATCA

Explaining ATCAs telecom success

Defining ATCAs value for defense applications

The Network-Centric Warfare (NCW) doctrine repre-sents a fundamental shift in military culture, away

from powerful compartmentalized war machines andtoward interconnected units operating cohesively. Inaddition to the increasing need for robust information-sharing, access, and speed brought about by NCW, therugged requirements of defense applications have his-torically driven system engineers to use expensive,inflexible, and proprietary components to keep up withcurrent technologies. However, an alternative exists.

Today, the high-performance and bandwidth capabili-ties of ATCA bring the latest technologies to COTS-based applications such as command and control,aerospace surveillance, land mobile communications,

and maritime networks that must collect and managelarge amounts of data in real time.




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What Is ATCA?ATCA is a system form factor defined by the PCIIndustrial Computers Manufacturers Group (PICMG) toprovide an industry standard platform that enablesbuilding telecommunication-grade products in a multi-vendor compatible environment. This form factor isbecoming a popular standard for such productsbecause of the promising economical and functional

advantages it offers.

ATCA a set of standardsMore specifically, ATCA is a set of standards defined bythe PICMG intended to provide an industry-standardplatform enabling organizations to build carrier-gradeproducts in multi-vendorcompatible environments.

The popularity of ATCA is rapidly increasing becauseof the potential cost savings, increased functionality,and multi-vendor compatibility it provides. In addition,ATCA offers drastically reduced development time,which in turn leads to a faster time to market.

At its core, ATCA is a set of documentsspecifying all the electrical and mechanical

requirements of the ATCA industry standardplatform backplane properties, module sizeand backplane interface specifications, powerrating, cooling, and so on. ATCA is designatedPICMG 3.x, and builds upon the earlierPICMG2.xx(Compact PCI, or cPCI) specified by thesame body.

ATCAs backgroundCOTS is loosely defined in the defense industry.Though the intent of adopting COTS solutions is to

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leverage existing solutions in commercial markets andreuse for military needs, a lot of these products out

there in the market are built on proprietary standards,which doesnt give the flexibility to mix and matchproducts from different vendors. In the past decade,open standards-based COTS solutions have movedfrom hypothetical to accepted options for the defensemarket segments. Making impressive inroads, openstandards-based COTS technologies such as ATCA

offer longer life than standard COTS products, anddemonstrate reliability and ruggedness which arekey to risk-averse defense customers. ATCA productshave matured over the years and are currently in theirthird generation of deployment. More than a hundredcommunications industry leaders have been workingwith the PICMG standards organization to create ATCA.

The goal of ATCA is to reap the benefits of a standard-ized platform architecture while maintaining carrier-grade reliability.

ATCAs success in the Telecom/Networking industryProducts that are late, overly complicated, hard to inte-

grate with other vendor products, or not easily scal-able have a significantly reduced chance of success. Inthe past, rolling out a new service or product meantsignificant expenditures for research and development,and, ultimately, a costly product with a great deal ofassociated risk.

The strategy to deal with these issues has historically

been to modularize your systems. ATCA has insteadoffered the telecom and related industries a modularstandard to deal with them.




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Only a truly open architectural framework like ATCAprovides the flexibility to support new services and

those not yet designed. Though other blade architec-tures are available, some are based on proprietarystandards and feature proprietary closed designs withtheir origins in enterprise servers. Although they claimto benefit from open standards, in fact they are openonly to a short list of vendors. Without a truly openstandard such as ATCA, the benefits of rapid innova-

tion and cost savings are impossible to realize.Because of ATCA, telecom and network equipmentmanufacturers have seen faster development times,reduced costs, and reduced risk associated with newproduct implementations.

You likely share these goals as well. If so, then yourenot alone. According to the Global xTCA Opportunitys2009 Market Demand and Requirements Analysis con-ducted by VDC Research Group, billions of consumersin commercial networks rely on ATCA infrastructure,and ATCA has grown into a $500 million segment wellon its way to several billion dollars over the next fewyears.

Leveraging ATCAs CommercialSuccess in the Defense Industry

Although the needs of the telecommunications indus-try prompted the creation of ATCA, a number of otherindustries, including defense, have widely adopted it.

Anyone who can benefit from a common form factor,modularity reliability, and switch-fabric flexibility is acandidate for ATCA.




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Along with the well-established VERSAmodule Eurocard(VME) and cPCI standards, other COTS technologies,

such as ATCA, microTCA, and PCI, are gaining ground,as shown by their Defense market size numbers inTable 1-1.

Table 1-1 Defense Markets for COTS Technologies

COTS Computing Solution Mil-Aero Market Size (USD)

2007 2010 (projected)

VME & VPX (VITA46) $279 $347

Compact PCI (cPCI) 113 140

AdvancedTCA (ATCA) 23 49

PCI with passive backplane 18 30

MicroTCA 5 30

Source: VDC Research

ATCAs maturity in defense industryATCA has already made significant inroads intodefense applications that need high compute perfor-mance. Looking to the near future, command and con-trol and secured network appliances are the types ofapplications that will be deployed. In the longer term,ATCA is expected to be a good choice in secure net-

work infrastructure and video imaging applications inmany different deployment environments.




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8

Key Benefits of Open

Standards-based ATCA Enhancing Reliability,Flexibility, and SupportATCA is an open standard so the more people whoadhere to it, the more benefit the standard creates. Asmomentum and participation build, you can expectquality and reliability to increase the more qualityengineers that work to solve common problems andimprove the standard, the more robust and reliable thestandard becomes.

InteroperabilityATCA blades share a common form factor, so you canbuild many different applications using ATCA platforms.This shared form factor means that you can createmultiple network elements on a standard architecturesimply by selecting the appropriate set of ATCAblades. This common architecture fosters multi-vendor interoperability and maximum flexibility in

your implementation.

Although the higher layer applications may be quitedifferent among various products, they are achievedvia software that is integrated with the embeddedsystem platform based on ATCA.

Several different products will likely share

several common building blocks, leading tosignificant cost and time savings as well asconsistency across systems.




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Ruggedization

As the military moves to a network-centric doctrine,the majority of devices and systems require a muchhigher level of robustness than their enterprise andbusiness counterparts. For example, systems used formobile, mission computing, or high-performance appli-cations must meet stringent requirements for environ-mental durability such as shock, vibration, and extendedtemperature (for example, MIL-STD 801F). Many COTStechnologies were designed to withstand the rigors ofmilitary environments while offering developers readilyavailable, interoperable hardware that reduces designeffort.

With features such as conformal coating, mechanicalstiffeners, and MIL-STD 801G tested chassis, ATCA solu-

tions are rugged enough to handle the toughest envi-ronmental factors: shock, vibration, and G-forces. Atthe same time, they are efficient enough to meet appli-cation needs for power and heat dissipation. ATCAsolutions are rigorously tested and able to integratewith a vast array of existing systems, and because theyare built with COTS components, you can reduce cycletime and quickly deploy applications with improvedperformance.

Fault toleranceATCA standards are developed to provide redundancyin hardware at every level including fans, power entrymodules, backplane data redundancy, and shelf manag-ers. Open standards-based high available (HA) middle-ware on ATCA platforms provides further fault toleranceon an application level that allows continued opera-tions of critical missions even with some hardware andsoftware failures.




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The level of redundancy achieved by ATCA is calledcarrier-grade reliability(equivalent to out-of-service

time of 30 seconds to 5 minutes per year). With ATCA,mission critical equipment functions seamlessly in adata-centertype installation.

Although the term comes from the telecommu-nications sector, carrier-grade reliability andavailability may be worth considering for anyindustry in which a single point of failure can

jeopardize the whole mission.

Remote managementATCA provides mechanisms to remotely monitor andmanage the health of the hardware through industrystandard protocols such as Intelligent PlatformManagement Interface (IPMI) and Hardware Platform

Interface (HPI). ATCA thus enables operators to moni-tor, diagnose, and debug systems in real time and toeliminate the need to be physically present at thedeployment. It also allows operators to manage equip-ment from safe zones and to be more efficient in man-aging multiple systems simultaneously.

ScalabilityATCA platform providers currently support hardwareplatforms ranging anywhere from 2U to 14U. Systemintegrators find such options attractive to scale theirapplications as their capacity requirements expand.Although a 14U option might be ideal for deploymentin mid- to large-size ground vehicle shelters, large air-

planes, ships, and fixed locations, 2U and 5U platformsare ideal for applications with space constraints.System integrators can also find chassis vendors to




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provide ruggedized ATCA chassis in multiple optionsto meet unique requirements for different applications.

SupportDue to the open standards and success of ATCA in thetelecom industry, multiple ATCA vendors provide criti-cal processing and networking components needed tobuild a robust application. Over the last decade,Telecom Equipment Manufacturers (TEMs) have

increasingly moved from building proprietary systemsto open standards-based COTS systems. TEMS cantherefore utilize the best technology on the market,reduce development time, concentrate on their corevalue, and mitigate risk on vendor issues. Many systemintegrators in the defense industry are already reapingsuch benefits with current ATCA product offerings. As

the momentum continues, system integrators can fur-ther leverage the experience and wide portfolio pro-vided by these vendors to design more sophisticatedmission critical systems.




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Part 2

Adopting ATCA to Network-Centric Warfare

In This Part Recognizing the technical benefits of ATCA

Identifying the commercial advantages of ATCA

As technology evolves, defense forces increasingly relyon network-centric infrastructure that enables them toprocess data in real time and to rapidly execute theirmissions. Although the previous generation COTS tech-nology supports legacy applications, it lacks the band-width and scalability to handle the most critical part ofthe network-centric infrastructure, that is, data, voice,and video traffic for new applications. ATCA delivers

those capabilities and supports compute-intensiveapplications such as multimedia streaming and routingin secured networks.




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Recognizing the Technical

BenefitsATCA offers you a number of key technical advantagesthat make it particularly well-suited for defense appli-cations. These advantages include enhanced security,higher performance per watt, and higher bandwidth.

Enhanced security at hardware levelMilitary networks require technologies that providestrong authentication and easy configuration capabili-ties to improve security and reduce maintenance costsover the life of the network. ATCA server productsbased on the latest Intel processors implement TrustedExecution Platform (TXT) that, along with Trusted

Platform Module (TPM) devices, provide security atthe hardware level and authenticate hardware and soft-ware configurations in runtime environments. In addi-tion, advanced system software and dedicated networksecurity processors provide the necessary capabilitieslike IPSec and deep packet inspection in the system.This combination enables security in the network and

at the same time processes the packets at wire speeds,reducing congestion.

Performance/watt and thermal benefitsSuccessfully integrating a high level of computingpower basically comes down to board size, boardpower consumption, and backplane technology. In all

of these areas, ATCA has a significant advantage overother open standards-based COTS products, as shownin Table 2-1.

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Table 2-1 ATCAs Power Advantage

COTSTechnology

Board Size Board Power Consumption

cPCI 6U: 160 x 233 mm

Area: 373 cm2

50W

VPX 6U: 233 x 160 mm

Area: 373 cm2

115W

ATCA 8U: 355.6 mm x280 mm

Area: 996 cm2

200W

An ATCA board is 2.7 times the size of other form fac-tors, which affords developers more area for proces-sors, chipsets, memory, and graphics processor units(GPUs), and enables a more powerful design. ATCA hasmore than 1.7 times the thermal budget of VPX (referto Table 2-1), allowing vendors to integrate higher per-formance components like Intel Xeon processors givingmore than twice the performance of VPX-based serversolutions and comparable performance to rack mountserver solutions.

Higher bandwidth for video applicationsMilitary networks host applications to keep soldiers incommunication with their command units during mis-

sions and with their families at other times. Video andaudio are increasingly becoming critical elements ofthese applications, which combine to create tremen-dous bandwidth requirements. Current ATCA




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technologies can fully support 10Gb of traffic on thesystem backplane to process voice and video traffic,

while future ATCA solutions will handle 40Gb of trafficfor video applications.

Recognizing the CommercialBenefitsIn addition to its significant technical advantages,ATCA offers you certain financial benefits that maxi-mize the return on your technology investments andmake more efficient use of those technologies in thefield. ATCA allows you to reduce your initial and long-term costs while getting new technologies in the fieldand becoming operational more quickly.

Reducing development timeYou can spend significant resources, money, and timein validating a new chassis, which often requires six tonine months. For some complex applications, develop-ment can even require 18 to 24 months to complete.Consequently, organizations typically sustain chassisdesigns for five to six years.

The sooner a new product is made available to unitsin the field, the sooner that product starts making anoperational impact. The modularity of ATCA fostersquick development to handle new capabilities and toget them into the battlefield more quickly. It also pos-sesses the flexibility to address entry into new areas of

operation more quickly and with minimal downtime.




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Saving on total cost of ownership

As a proven open standards-based technology, ATCAlowers the cost of development and creates a commonplatform, thus reducing the integration cost of hard-ware and software needed to build an application. Infact, according to industry experts cited in a 2006 whitepaper on AdvancedTCA and Sun Microsystems, ATCAblades can save up to 40 percent in overall productdevelopment costs for a system integrator.

Looking into the future, increased competi-tion, pre-integrated components, and econo-mies of scale will bring further cost savings.As the common, open architecture of ATCAtakes hold, vendors compete on a level playingfield, and you can find the best solution based

on cost and performance for your needs withthe expectation of multi-vendor interoperability.

Saving on operations expendituresEvery organization needs to save on training and per-sonnel costs. ATCA provides a common managementspecification that leads to less training (and retraining)

required for staff to perform multiple maintenancetasks and significantly optimizes the operationresources needed to maintain equipment.

You can also expect to get superior services from ven-dors to resolve issues in a timely manner. Everyonewho works on your systems can draw on experiencefrom working with other ATCA systems.




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On the maintenance side, you can

Save space and money by sharing commonsystem components across a number of modules

Reduce your spare inventory to a smaller numberof common modules that serve multiple functionsacross your systems

Reduce the physical footprint of your hardwarevia the much smaller footprint of ATCA products

The lifecycle of embeddedserver productsCOTS products have long had difficulty gaining accep-tance in the defense industry. The equipment neces-sary to accomplish todays NCW objectives must often

remain in the field for many years after their initialdeployment. As such, you need solutions with life-cycles of a decade or more that support efficient andcost-effective technology insertion to manage obsoles-cence. ATCA supports these requirements by utilizinglong-life embedded components provided by vendorswho will support them throughout their lifecycles, andwho create and communicate long-term product road-maps. Unlike proprietary COTS, ATCA also supportsperformance upgrades by replacing boards, allowingfor cost-effective and quick fielding of performanceimprovements.

Typically, embedded silicon components likeIntel Server Processors has extended support

compared to the support for the same siliconin commercial grade equipment.




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Part 3

Putting ATCA to Work for You

In This Part Considering the benefits of an ATCA platform

Identifying the advantages of an expanding market

At the end of the day, everyone is looking toimprove operational efficiencies and performance.

However, the success of a particular system is difficultto predict and potentially risky. You dont want to putall your money into a system that will be a burden ifyou have to alter or redirect the development path.

Modular infrastructures have been available in bothpacket-based and circuit-based data networks. Theadvantages of standardization in terms of ease of man-agement, cost savings, and flexibility are clear.

At the same time, NCW systems have a different setof criteria and some entrenched methods that haveslowed development of truly modular infrastructuresin the defense industry. The goal now is to develop anopen modular standard that meets or exceeds military-

grade performance expectation.




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Considering an ATCA Platform?The ATCA platform is designed to support distinctsystem architectures. The advantage of such architec-tural flexibility is that products can be easily designedto meet specific needs. This can be accomplishedthrough the use of specific modular components toprovide options for switching fabric configurations,switching fabric technologies, and processing systems

and shelf management schemes.As the following sections explain, the modularity ofATCA enables you to mix and match these options tocreate a highly customized, yet still standardized,solution.

Understanding shelf managementShelf managers oversee the health of the system and pro-vide hooks to vertical applications to custom-manage ahardware platform. The management messages usedadhere to the Intelligent Platform Management Interface(IPMI) protocol as defined by the ATCA specifications,and are exchanged between the shelf manager andATCA modules in the shelf. Most shelf manager modules

are dependent upon the chassis/platform vendor andare purchased with a chassis.

Each shelf manager is designed with the capabilities ofa chassis in mind, for example, whether it has 6 or 14slots, whether it utilizes Ethernet or SerialRapid I/Ofabric, or other possibilities. Choices also exist amongchassis/system vendors, where shelf manager function-ality can be implemented on separate modules or in amandatory module as on a switch blade.

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Clearly, combining processors for system and shelfmanagement offers simplified physical implementation

and a potential cost savings in terms of hardware.However, in some systems breaking out system andshelf management processing may make sense, andmay prove to be the more scalable alternative becausethe functions are kept discrete. ATCA has the capabil-ity to handle either configuration.

Utilizing processing and storage modulesATCA is a modular computing platform composed ofmultiple blades/modules that can span one or morechassis depending on the capacity required and thetype of performance needed. An ATCA computemodule can also use embedded storage media as partof its own design or external network-based storage in

multiple RAID configurations.

ATCA compute modules have many server-based applications. An example is processingand storing terabytes of information in P-8A-type reconnaissance vehicles. As processorsare becoming more powerful, ATCA serverscan also be used for processing signaling infor-

mation, thus replacing some custom and pro-prietary designs.

Because ATCA compute modules are similar to rackmount servers that are built on multi-core server classprocessors with large memories in the range of 64GBper processor, system integrators can take advantageof virtualization software to build multiple applications

such as those used in High Availability Platform (HAP)programs and other command and control applica-tions. Of course, a number of firmware and middlewarefunctions must be considered, including an operating




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system, high availability framework, distributedcomputing/load-sharing framework, and element and

system management that need to be integrated withthe hardware at the module and the system level toenable an operational application-ready platform. Usingthe appropriate combinations of modules for functionand capacity provides the platform over which all theaforementioned higher layer applications may besupported.

Configuring a switch moduleSwitching modules perform the function of transport-ing all traffic between the different modules of a system,both within a chassis and among chassis as well asexternal network equipment. There are two separatedata fabrics on the backplane of an ATCA chassis,

namely base and fabric.

Single fabricYou can build a system with a single switching fabric tohandle all traffic. That is, your single switching fabrichandles all user information as well as control andmanagement information. Even storage modules maybe interconnected through the same switching fabricas long as the fabric is an interface.

Separate fabricsAnother option is to use separate switching fabrics foreach different class of data. For example, you may usethe base interface for control data and the fabric inter-face for user and storage data.

In addition, the switch module provides the importantlayer 2 protocols (RSTP, LAG, VLAN, and so on) andlayer 3 protocols (VRRP, OSPF, and so on) needed toconfigure secure networks.




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UAV ground control stationAs described on the GlobalSecurity.org Web site (http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/systems/

uav_gcs.htm), ground control stations dictate the move-ments of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and process theimages provided by their on-board, high-bandwidth sensors.UAVs, traveling wide areas, can intelligently locate mobile

targets of interest via day and night radar imaging. Groundcontrol stations using fine resolution synthetic aperture radar(SAR) can detect, locate, and identify a half dozen or morehigh value targets simultaneously to accomplish automatictarget recognition (ATR).

The radar images are analyzed in real-world, tactical envi-ronments by advanced algorithms that identify targets amidst

a background of clutter. The algorithms scrutinize datagenerated over thousands of square kilometers and imple-ment techniques to overcome attempts at camouflage, con-cealment, and obscuration. Systems transmit data inreal-time, display it on the front panel, and save it in data-bases for future analysis. In order to process multiple streamsof radar images, ground control systems require high com-

puting performance and large storage devices (terabytes ofinformation per UAV each day) to handle continuous datastreams. System operators need high-end graphics thatclearly display images on the front panel. Further complicat-ing the requirements, ground control stations can be station-ary in the middle of a desert or mobile, thus requiring stringentruggedization that passes certain MIL-STD tests. Commercial

ATCA equipment not only can handle such high performance,but with minor modifications has already passed stringentMIL-STD-801G requirements for such applications.




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Consolidating I/O into a secured network

Legacy network environments consist of several 1Uand 2U servers, switches, routers, and confusing cablesrouting through the network elements. ATCA platformsprovide the same functionality but with less cablingand accommodating far tighter spaces. ATCA line mod-ules can consolidate multiple I/O routes from networkand switch packets to several ATCA server blades on10G backplanes. This consolidation eliminates the needfor expensive suites of equipment and the complexityassociated with legacy designs. Some ATCA line mod-ules can also provide additional functions like deeppacket inspection, IPSec, load balancing, and other ser-vices needed to create robust and secure networks.

Support high definition live videosUnmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are required todetect an ever-increasing array of objects, using multi-ple cameras to take high resolution pictures. All of thisdata is continuously processed and stored by the serv-ers in a ground control station. The servers feed thelive data to a number of high definition display moni-tors. ATCA solutions have the capability to stream

such high definition video using high resolution DVIand HDMI controllers integrated into the platform.

Taking Advantage of anExpanding MarketUnlike the earlier CompactPCI specification, which beganas an industrial computer specification and was laterpressed into service as a telecom and communications




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standard, ATCA was developed from the ground up.Several defense applications can see an immediate benefit

from ATCA, as described in the following sections.

Traditional defense applicationsTraditionally, military and aerospace COTS applica-tions were limited to mission computing and built withrugged VME or cPCI. These components managedheavy I/O, but their form factor limited networking and

processing capability (see Figure 3-1).

PERFORMANCE

MOBILE

(New Segment)

MISSION COMPUTING

(Traditional Market)

HIGH PERFORMANCE

(New Segment)

Wearable/Mobile

Computing

Computer Display Units

UGV/UAV

Small Control/Mission

Computing

Control/Mission

Computing

UGV/UAV

Avionics

Vetronics

Ground Station

C41SR

Data/Image Processing

Command Center

PC-104

MicroTCA

VMEcPCI

VPX

ATCA

COM EXPRESS

Figure 3-1: ATCA blades share a common form factor.




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The traditional markets for COTS solutions, which areserved mostly by VME, cPCI, and VPX, include the

following. Avionics

Control/mission computers

Unmanned

Vetronics

Next generation applicationsAs military and aerospace have expanded their network-centric operations, they have required significantlyhigher processing and networking capabilities. Nextgeneration network-centric defense applications can besegregated between two major categories:

C4ISR, including UAV ground control applicationsand cluster computing for large aircraft and navalunits

Secure network communications, such as ship-board networks where the infrastructure is similarto COTS IT networks

ATCA is the perfect fit for these requirements. UnlikeVPX, which is simply an updated version of the VMEstandard, ATCA was specifically designed to addresshigh-density network communications applications anddelivers up to 8x the performance of VPX and 40x theperformance of VME or cPCI. It can provide processingpower comparable to rack mount servers. In addition,

ATCA is a broadly adopted standard that has provenits interoperability through five years of deployment inthe communication segment.




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Looking Forward, Looking BackYou may already be excited about the possibility fornew applications. The question then arises, How can Iintegrate with my legacy systems? Fortunately, theanswer is clear. ATCA supports Advanced Mezzaninecards (AMCs) to provide legacy connectivity withcommunication equipment that performs functional-ities like Signal Intelligence (SIGINT) and Command

Intelligence (COMINT). Like many system integrators inthis space, you can quickly design your secret saucecomponents in ATCA or AMC form factor with the helpof ATCA industry experts. This allows you to startusing ATCA while maintaining interconnectivity witholder systems.

AMC includes the base ATCA specification plus subsid-

iary fabric specifications. Fabric support is availablefor GbE, 10GbE, PCI Express, and storage. With suchflexibility in connectivity between AMCs and base sys-tems, the ATCA architecture can provide capabilitieslike high-definition video outputs, real-time signal pro-cessing, compute intensive image processing, andsecurity in a single platform.

Whether youre building the next generation systemfrom scratch, or adding new equipment into an existingapplication, ATCA offers a flexible solution. And withthe wide (and rapidly growing) defense industry adop-tion of ATCA standard, you can bid farewell to the dayswhen network-centric architectures were proprietary,obscure, non-scalable, and potentially obsolete by the

day after you deployed them.




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Making Everything Easier!

Open the book

and find:

How to create robust

and scalable defense

systems

Tips for saving initial,ongoing, and future

costs

Ideas for planning

future advanced

applications

RadiSys (NASDAQ: RSYS) is aleading provider of innovative

hardware and software platforms

Go to Dummies.comfor videos, step-by-step photos,

how-to articles, or to shop the store!

Defense applications require reliability,

cost-effectiveness, and obsolescence

protection. This handy guide identifies

how ATCA can meet the needs of defense

applications today and in the future.

Understand ATCA past success

learn why ATCA has exceeded the

needs of complex commercial

organizations

Recognize ATCAs benefits see

how ATCA leverages its strengths

of modularity, performance, and

reliability for defense applications

Identify ATCA building blocks

discover how ATCA is a modular

system that can be adapted to a wide

range of defense requirements

Plan for the future see how ATCA

meets the needs of defense both

today and tomorrow

Choose the platform ofthe future for Network-Centric Warfare!

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