PICMG Holds Third AdvancedTCA Interoperability Workshop

    WAKEFIELD, Mass.--April 15, 2003--The PICMG(R) specification group has completed the third in its series of AdvancedTCA(TM) (Advanced Telecom Computing Architecture) interoperability workshops, aimed at proving out the technologies in the PICMG 3.0 AdvancedTCA base specification.
    The March 25-27 event at Schroff's facility in Warwick, R.I. included equipment from 11 companies, including chassis, backplanes, CPU boards, switch boards and management controllers, and participants came from Canada, France, Germany, Poland and Russia, as well as from the U.S.
    This latest AdvancedTCA interoperability workshop built on the success of the prior two events, which tested electromechanical and basic system management aspects of the specification. This workshop extended the system management interoperability testing into detailed management functionality on each of the Field Replaceable Units (FRUs) in a system such as temperature, power capabilities, LED control and management communications capabilities.
    The workshop also tested key features in the "electronic keying" (e-keying) parts of the specification. This advanced feature prevents the boards in the system from enabling their interfaces and key features until the shelf manager has determined that they are compatible with the other components in the system. Some participants also tested the Ethernet base interface and passed packets between different vendors' boards.
    "This workshop and the others before it are showing the robustness of the specifications," said Rob Davidson of Intel, PICMG's Vice President for Marketing. "Their results should build confidence among customers on the interoperability of AdvancedTCA products."
    This series of workshops testing different parts of the AdvancedTCA spec has been building to the next event, taking place in May in Las Vegas, which will test complete system interoperability. Unlike previous events, the May event will include demonstrations of interoperating AdvancedTCA equipment and an AdvancedTCA tutorial for PICMG members.
    Participants in the March Workshop included Carlo Gavazzi Mupac, Comtel Electronics GmbH, Elma Electronics, Inc., Force Computers, Inc., Intel Corp, Motorola Computer Group, NMS Communications, Schroff, Pigeon Point Systems, Rittal/Kaparel and Tracewell Systems Inc. - all Executive or Associate members of PICMG and participants in the PICMG 3.0 technical subcommittee. Schroff hosted the event at the company's Warwick facility and contributed the necessary facilities, power, and test equipment.
    The AdvancedTCA specifications for next-generation telecommunications equipment 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 also expects to see interest in AdvancedTCA from other industries, such as data communications and military equipment manufacturers. Additional specifications in the series cover the mapping of various high speed serial fabrics to the AdvancedTCA platform: PICMG 3.1 for Ethernet, PICMG 3.2 for InfiniBand(R), PICMG 3.3 for StarFabric and PICMG 3.4 for PCI Express(TM).
    Anyone with an interest in AdvancedTCA technology may subscribe to PICMG's AdvancedTCA reflector (or listserv) at no charge - instructions on joining the list are on the Web at http://www.picmg.org/newinitiative.stm#Reflector. Companies manufacturing products that comply with AdvancedTCA specifications, even non-members of PICMG, are invited to list them in PICMG's free online product directory, at www.picmg.org/picmg_cfmfiles/generalv3/search1.cfm?bus=AdvancedTCA.

    About PICMG

    Founded in 1994 as the PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group, 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 more information on AdvancedTCA or to view a short form version of the 3.0 specification, visit http://www.advancedtca.org/.
    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 (781) 246-9318.

    PICMG and CompactPCI are registered trademarks of the PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers' Group. AdvancedTCA is a trademark of the PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers' Group. InfiniBand is a registered trademark of the InfiniBand Trade Association. PCI Express is a trademark of the PCI SIG.