The high energy physics community is adopting MicroTCA (MTCA) architecture, specifically MicroTCA.4, for a range of particle physics applications in research institutions, laboratories and educational organizations worldwide.  

 

A major goal for high energy physics users is interoperability between labs and a commercially viable upgrade path to high performance and more functionality. MicroTCA architecture not only ticks those boxes but also enables researchers to leverage a single design across multiple applications and multiple labs, provides a fault-tolerant and redundant platform where required, and includes remote firmware upgrades and health management and a special layer for triggering and timing.

 

VadaTech’s MicroTCA computing building blocks are widely used in military, aerospace and communications equipment and are ideal for a range of high speed, high density data acquisition applications in high energy physics. A full 12-slot chassis with integrated platform management (MCH), data acquisition, signal processing and power modules can reduce cost while our compact chassis solutions can enable you to locate the controls closer to the sensors. Our fast, multichannel, high resolution, low noise ADCs and DACs are proven solutions for large- and small-scale signal processing applications.

 

 

 

Applications
  •  Linear Particle Accelerators

  • Circular or Cyclic Accelerators

  • Synchrotron Radiation Experiments

  • Colliding Beam Accelerators

  • Neutrino Oscillation

  • Plasma Control

Application Case Studies

MicroTCA.4 for Physics

MicroTCA has seen strong adoption in the area of scientific research, particularly high-energy physics. The standard is well suited to this market since it provides high bandwidth on the backplane, is structured for availability/reliability, scales well with multiple processors, and supports flexible, high-bandwidth I/O. 

The VT892 is used within CERN and elsewhere, where full redundancy, a 1000W AC power supply option, and bottom-to-top airflow, make it a good solution. As a full-featured production-ready chassis it is becoming a solution of choice for many researchers in this area. 

The VT811 and AMC520 are finding strong adoption as MTCA.4 moves to become the prevalent standard in this market. 

The VT811 uses an aluminum construction to reduce weight, supports full redundancy, and has 16 fans in each cooling unit to ensure well-distributed airflow (important when using high-power processors). 

The AMC520 was designed in collaboration with the user community, with particular attention to detail in the analogue sub-system to optimize ENOB performance from the ADC. Interest in the product has led to several variants being defined to support installations in Europe and the United States.

White Paper -- About MicroTCA.4

Products

Related VadaTech Products for the Research/Physics Market

Chassis Platforms

The VT892 with rear IO is a 7U μTCA chassis that provides 12 AMC full-size double-width slots that can accept any AMC.1, AMC.2, AMC.3 and/or AMC.4. It provides CLK1, CLK2, and CLK3 to each slot.

TheVT811 is a 8U μTCA chassis that provides 12 AMC mid-size double-width slots that can accept any AMC.1, AMC.2, AMC.3 and/or AMC.4. It provides FCLKA, TCLKA, TCLKB, TCLKC and TCLKD to each slot.

The VT812 and VT814 are 2U chassis to MicroTCA.4.  The VT812 has 4 MTCA.4 slots and 4 MTCA.0 slots with dual MCH and Power Modules (PMs).  The VT814 is similar, but offers 6 MTCA.4 slots with 1 MCH and dual PMs.TheVT812 has 4 MTCA.4 slots and 4 MTCA.0 slots with dual MCH and Power Modules (PMs).  The VT814 is similar, but offers 6 MTCA.4 slots with 1 MCH and dual PMs.

The VT813 has 4 PSUs on the side of the card cage in an N+1 (3+1) configuration for up to 4400W of power.  The 8U high chassis holds 12 mid-size MicroTCA.4 AMCs.

ADC & DAC Converters

The AMC520 is a ten-channel ADC (Analog to Digital Converter) with two DAC (Digital to Analog Converter) compliant to the AMC.1 and AMC.2 specification. The unit has an on-board, re-configurable FPGA which interfaces directly to the GbE and PCIe bus.  The AMC522 doubles the MSPS.

Processor AMCs

The AMC725 has a high-performance Xeon E3 processor with dual 10 GbE ports to the front panel High-performance Xeon E3 processor with dual 10 GbE ports to the front panel.

Rear Transition Modules

The MRT520 is an RTM for the AMC520.  Contact VadaTech for RTMs for your application.

Data Processing Modules

The CM045 is a Kintex-7 Data Processing Module.  It has 8 SPF+ connectors on the front panel and has low latency signals to the RTM.

 

Product Locating Tips for Industrial Automation

The Product Finder page will also help you find various uTCA processors, switch modules, specialty boards, chassis platforms and more.

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