White Paper
Bringing Thermal and Integration Expertise to ATCA Systems
Realizing all the benefits from using standardsbased Advanced Telecommunications Computing Architecture (ATCA) components requires a combination of telecom and ATCA expertise. Two key benefits, improved modularity and multi-vendor compatibility, are predicated on solid thermal design and system integration practices, often derived from years of industry experience. Such best known methods (BKMs), complementing the modularity and capability guidelines built into ATCA specifications, enable developers to achieve higher levels of system performance, robustness and reliability.
PICMG 3.0 provides one-stop shopping for ATCA specifications, including detailed support material to enable more choice and interoperability of components at multiple levels of the solution stack. However, there’s no guarantee that multi-vendor ATCA components will flawlessly work together for all applications and targeted conditions. As a result, equipment manufacturers need to conduct thorough thermal characterization and perform rigorous integration testing to ensure system stability.
As telecom companies transition from proprietary to standards-based architectures, some are now saving resources and capital by outsourcing critical design and validation tasks. RadiSys is providing these services and helping telecom equipment manufacturers (TEMs) reduce risk and ramp up on ATCA, decreasing development cycles that can take up to three years down to just 12 to 18 months. This paper reviews many of the thermal design and system integration practices developed by RadiSys over the last 20 years.
