Also in this issue

Also in this issue IPTV and VoIP Implementation Storage Interfaces The magazine of record for the embedded computing industry

High Availability

August 2006 www.rtcmagazine.com

ATCA: Bringing

“Triple Play”

to the Home and Office

An RTC Group Publication

EPIC™ XE–900 1.0 GHz CPU

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RS–422/485

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Dual 10/100 Base–T

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Typical Linux kit includes: • Target CPU card • Preloaded OS image on 256 MB industrial CompactFlash • 256 MB SO–DIMM module • Interface cables • Hard copy of manual • Mouse • CPU OS bootable CD • Optimized OS version • Full driver support for on–board hardware • X–Windows support • Example applications and source code • Extra documentation

X–SRAM–2 MB • 2 MB high speed, SRAM • Read and write at full bus speed • Pointers to memory saved if CPU resets or loses power X–DIO–48 bit programmable digital I/O • 48 digital I/O, 5V compatible • Source and sink 16 mA per output • Direct connection to opto-module racks X–COM–2 dual UART • Up to 230.4 kBaud data rate • Supports RS–232/422/485 • RS–485 fault protected to ±60V

XBLOKs offer the best compromise in cost and function for both PC/104 and PC/104-Plus. Only 44% the size of a standard PC/104 card, you can add two functions to your system but increase the stack height by only one level. –40° to 85° C. Heat diagram shows enhanced cooling.

Designed for the XE-900, our conduction cooling system eliminates a fan even at 1.0 GHz.

X–LAN–1 Ethernet LAN • 10/100 Base–T, Intel 82551ER • Fully plug–n–play • High performance, PCI bus interface X–USB–4 quad USB 2.0 • Speeds up to 480 mbps • Mix and match USB 1.1 and 2.0 • Current–limited ports can supply 500 mA to external devices

For a full listing of Octagon Systems products, visit us at www.octagonsystems.com

GE Fanuc Embedded Systems

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This PICMG® 2.16 compliant computer, for example, offers 3 Gigabit Ethernet ports, 16 programmable GPIO ports, a 167 MHz MPX system bus, and gives you the choice between a 1 GHz or a 1.4 GHz Freescale™ PowerPC® G4 processor. It can be

ordered with convection or conduction cooling, and it’s just one of a dozen of our off-the-shelf cPCI single board computers, most of which are available in multiple configurations.

We not only offer you cPCI in 3U and 6U, Intel® or PowerPC with convection or conduction cooling, we also have a range of VME, PMC and AdvancedTCA® and AdvancedMC™ processor boards. Take a look at our selection. We’ve spent a lot of time pulling it all together so you don’t have to.

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Departments 9 Editorial: On the Road to Triple Play, IMS Could Show the Way www.rtcmagazine.com

11 Industry Insider 64 Products&Technology

Features Technology in Context

ATCA Systems

14 Dual-Core-Based AdvancedMC Modules: A Better Solution than DSP for Mobile Networks

AMC standard hot-swappable, single-wide, full-height card • Pg. 21

Sven Freudenfeld, Kontron

21 AdvancedTCA Provides Foundation for Next-Generation Telecom Equipment Thanh Nguyen, Emerson Network Power

Signal Cable

Solutions Engineering

IPTV and VoIP Implementation

26 AdvancedTCA and MicroTCA: Where the Action Is in VoIP & IPTV Paul Sethy, Aviva Networks

31 QoS Challenge: Can Quality Be Assured When Transmitting Video over Today’s Networks?

SAS/SATA Signal Connector Right-Angle or Vertical

Mahmud Noormohamed, Net Insight Inc.

Hard Disk Drive Connector Power Cables

SAS interconnect. • Pg. 36

Industry Insight Storage Interfaces 36 Storage Interfaces Shift from Parallel to Serial Ken Grob, ACT/Technico

43 FPGAs Implement Storage Interfaces for Data Recording Systems Steve Birch, TEK Microsystems

Executive Interview 49 RTC Interviews Dan Dodge, CEO, QNX Software Systems

Software & Development Tools High Availability 57 Embedded Databases Are Becoming More Essential for High Availability Nigel Day, Enea Embedded Technology

61 Replicated Databases Achieve High Availability in Real-Time Systems David Barnett, Real-Time Innovations

Software Radio XCVR Module Boosts FPGA, Memory, A/D • Pg. 64 August 2006

August 2006 Publisher PRESIDENT John Reardon, johnr@r tcgroup.com VICE PRESIDENT, European Operations Zoltan Hunor, zoltanh@r tcgroup.com EDITORIAL DIRECTOR/ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Warren Andrews, warrena@r tcgroup.com

Editorial

EDITOR-IN - CHIEF Tom Williams, tomw@r tcgroup.com SENIOR EDITOR Ann Thr y f t, annt@r tcgroup.com MANAGING EDITOR Marina Tringali, marinat@r tcgroup.com STAFF EDITOR Craig Choisser, craigc@r tcgroup.com COPY EDITOR Rochelle Cohn

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August 2006

Published by The RTC Group Copyright 2006, The RTC Group. Printed in the United States. All rights reserved.

All related graphics are trademarks of The RTC Group. All other brand and product names are the property of their holders.

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Editorial August 2006

On the Road to Triple Play, IMS Could Show the Way

by Tom Williams, Editor-in-Chief It looks like the gold rush for providing “Triple Play” services is about to get underway. Triple play refers to the ability to provide integrated services including data (traditional Web and e-mail), voice-over-IP (VoIP) and high-definition video over the digital network. Now, the term is in the process of being replaced

by IMS, which refers to “IP multimedia subsystem,” a much more comprehensive concept that includes both fixed cable and mobile networks that will hopefully be able to adapt to and accommodate services we haven’t even thought of yet.

One of the prime movers in this direction has apparently been Verizon Wireless, which, according to the Wall Street Journal, has been quietly working with five major telecom equipment vendors—Cisco, Lucent, Motorola, Nortel and Qualcomm—to get them to develop products that fit Verizon’s requirements. The five companies are reportedly making major changes to their next-generation network technologies to accommodate Verizon’s needs. However, they are also indicating that they will be selling their new technology to other carriers as well.

We can extrapolate several possible conclusions from this.

First is that the companies will be offering standard, interoperable products and that most likely means that they will be based on the ATCA/AMC standards, which will allow multiple vendors to sell to multiple customers and also let those customers select various components from the mix of vendors. Second, it is most likely that the bandwidth requirements will be such that the push for “fiber to the home” (FTTH) will be greatly accelerated.

While data and voice over the Internet are pretty well understood and becoming more widespread, adding IPTV is a bigger challenge.

Quality of service (QoS) becomes imperative because dropped or late packets can disrupt the viewing experience as described in the article QoS Challenge by Net Insight in this issue of RTC. The solution aims at the use of intelligent protocols rather than brute force buffering or wasteful reservation of resources. The tradeoff there is that QoS for IPTV will require large amounts of very fast processing power, which semiconductor manufacturers such as Freescale, Infineon and Intel are busily developing and announcing now.

So the term “Triple Play” represents the ideal, the goal, while IMS represents how it will be achieved. Getting to the holy grail of a fully converged, all-IP fixed/mobile network will still take a long time and will have to deal with a large amount of still extant fixed network equipment and services. Still, estimates are that by mid-2007 there will be some 25 million phone lines using VoIP in Europe in addition to the tens of millions still using the older telephony technologies. Thus, managing the transition will still be an enormous issue, but it looks like the roadmap is becoming clearer.

The question now seems to be, “What does this mean for the immediate future?” Well, for one thing, it seems to indicate that those who early on hitched their wagons to the PICMG 3.x and subsequent AMC stars will be rewarded. The idea that the manufacture of boards and systems will be taken over by a small number of very large companies will no doubt be realized to a certain extent. However, it looks like those equipment providers (the Lucents, Motorolas, Nortels, etc.) will be offering products based on the open standards and not proprietary, incompatible designs as was once feared. But then, off shoring and commoditization of high-volume products is basically a given.

Nonetheless, the size of the coming market and the variety of niche or specialized (and as yet unanticipated) products and services that will graze in that pasture will continue to offer opportunities to innovative companies supplying more specialized products in terms of ATCA and AMC modules, protocols, middleware and applications. It should be especially fruitful for the AMC arena. In addition, I predict a sort of “Windows phenomenon.” That is that the existence of this standard and the size of the market created by the very big players will open opportunities for large numbers of smaller companies addressing needs that are beneath the radar of the big players, just as the existence of the world of Windows has offered opportunities for innovators and entrepreneurs. So not only is the network converging, our conception of how that convergence will happen is converging as well, and the future looks bright indeed.

August 2006

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Industry Insider

August 2006

PICMG Approves MicroTCA Spec The PICMG executive membership has ratified the PICMG MTCA.0 Specification, known as MicroTCA. This specification was developed over 18 months with the participation of over ninety-five companies. The MicroTCA specification defines systems that accommodate plug-in cards complying with the successful Advanced Mezzanine Card (AMC) specification.

These cards, which were originally designed as daughter boards for ATCA, plug directly into a MicroTCA system backplane, thus extending the market for AdvancedMC cards and providing an existing supplier base for MicroTCA. The specification incorporates the system management and fabric features from AdvancedTCA into a platform that is scalable from small, cost-effective systems to highly available redundant systems. MicroTCA brings the robustness and reliability of the AdvancedTCA approach to market segments requiring a small footprint such as access and edge applications in telecom networks.

It may well with extend into other Get Connected technology and applications including medical, industrial control and military.

Theproviding MicroTCA specification will be distributed free to PICMG companies solutions now members and is available purchaseis abynew non-members.

More information, including product Getfor Connected resource for further exploration intothe products, technologies andat companies.

Whether your goal listings can be found at PICMG Web site www.picmg.org.

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is to research the latest datasheet from a company, speak directly with an Application Engineer, or jump to a company's technical page, the goal of Get Connected is to put you in touch with the right resource.

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Freescale First to Market with Commercial Magnetoresistive RAM

The commercialization of magnetic memory (MRAM) introduces a non-volatile memory Power.org with unlimited endurance and Architecture Roadmap, www.rtcmagazine.com/getconnected 35 nanosecond read/write cycle based on Power Architecture are at the heart of voice-overLaunches Unified Brand times. The device, which is now technology for a broad range of Internet protocol (VoIP) networks Identity on the market from Freescale markets and applications. and emerging IP Multimedia What was formerly known Semiconductor, is a 4 Mbit part The Power.org community Subsystem (IMS) deployments as the “PowerPC” is being involving more than 100 Freescale is also preparing to release a that enable telecommunication rebranded under a consortium patents, including toggle-bit collaboratively developed open service providers to deliver a broad known as Power.org and will switching.

Get Connected with technology and companies now multimedia platform architecture, called the providing range solutions of value-added henceforth be called the Power MRAM usesthe latest magnetic Power Architecture Platform services to their and residential Get Connected is a new resource for further exploration into products, technologies companies.and Whether your goal is to research Architecture. Power.org is an open materials combined is to put with datasheet from a company, speak directly withspecification. an Application Engineer, or jump to a company's technical page, the goal of Get Connected you Reference (PAPR) business customers. collaborative organization with conventional silicon circuitry to in touch with the rightPAPR resource.provides Whichever level service you require for The whatever type of technology, the offoundation acquisition of Convedia over 40 member Get companies thatwill help you connect with the companies and products you are searching for.

Connected offer the speed of SRAM with the for rapid development of standard will make available a broader enables, develops and promotes non-volatility of flash in a single www.rtcmagazine.com/getconnected Power Architecture platforms set of technologies and solutions Power Architecture technology. device. Freescale’s first commercial based on the Linux operating delivered by an expanded team The group has unveiled several MRAM product is called the system for select applications. with greater scale and breadth to initiatives designed to accelerate MR2A16A and is expected to be Additionally, Power.org is fully support customers’ product the development of innovative, incorporated in applications such as launching a new, unified Power initiatives.

It will expand global high-performance, power-efficient networking, security, data storage, Architecture branding system that reach and ability to service and devices and applications. gaming and printers. It is intended to places all the various elements of support customer needs on a The merged instruction set be a single-component replacement Power Architecture technology worldwide basis.

The combination architecture is called Power ISA for battery-backed SRAM. It could under a common brand with an will facilitate RadiSys’ penetration version 2.03 and incorporates the also find use in cache buffers, updated visual identity. of the high-growth VoIP equipment various capabilities of previous configuration storage memories and and IMS infrastructure markets Power ISA versions, including other applications that require speed, as well as accelerate RadiSys’ virtualization, variable length RadiSys Announces endurance and non-volatility. strategy Get to Connected provide turnkey Get Connected with companies and encoding, vector processing Agreement to Acquire This first part is a commercial products featured in this section. networkingwith platforms. companies mentioned in this article. technology (also know as AltiVec), temperature range 3.3-volt device Convedia www.rtcmagazine.com/getconnected Convedia has deployed www.rtcmagazine.com/getconnected and more. The aim is to give with 35 nanosecond read/write.

RadiSys has announced that their products with more than semiconductor vendors access to It is an asynchronous memory it has entered into a definitive 200 customers around the globe, more categories of capabilities for organized as 256k 16-bit words. It agreement to acquire privately their implementations. Moving held Convedia, a specialist in IP forward, software and system Get Connected with companies mentioned in this article. media processing technologies developers will have a more and products featured in this section. www.rtcmagazine.com/getconnected Get Connected with companies

Products

End of Article

www.rtcmagazine.com/getconnected

August 2006

11

Industry Insider

Event Calendar 09/12/06 Real-Time & Embedded Computing Conference Calgary, AB www.rtecc.com/calgary

09/15/06 Real-Time & Embedded Computing Conference Vancouver, BC www.rtecc.com/vancouver

09/19/06 Real-Time & Embedded Computing Conference San Diego, CA www.rtecc.com/sandiego

09/21/06 Real-Time & Embedded Computing Conference Los Angeles, CA www.rtecc.com/losangeles

09/24–27/06 Air & Space Conf 2006 and Technology Expo Washington, D.C. www.afa.org

09/25–28/06 Embedded Systems Conference Boston, MA www.esconline.com/boston

10/9–11/06 2006 AUSA Annual Meeting & Exposition Washington, D.C. www.ausa.org

10/17/06 Real-Time & Embedded Computing Conference Patuxent River, MD www.rtecc.com/paxriver

10/19/06 Real-Time & Embedded Computing Conference Tyson’s Corner, VA www.rtecc.com/tysonscorner If your company produces any type of industry event, you can get your event listed by contacting sallyb@rtcgroup.com.

This is a FREE industry-wide listing.

12

August 2006

uses an industry standard SRAM pin-out for design flexibility without bus contention. It is housed in a 400 mil TSOP type-II RoHS package and is manufactured at the Freescale fab in Chandler, AZ. Freescale has said it will license it patents to other companies.

SanDisk Will Buy Israeli Data-Storage Supplier M-Systems

SanDisk has agreed to buy M-Systems, another supplier of data-storage technology, for stock currently valued at about $1.55 billion. The deal is the latest sign of consolidation among companies associated with flash memory technology that is popular for storing data in digital cameras, phones and music players. Micron Technology Inc. in June purchased Lexar Media Inc., another specialist in the technology, in a stock deal then valued at $850 million.

SanDisk, based in Milpitas, Calif., is the largest maker of removable flash storage cartridges.

M-Systems, based in Kfar Saba, Israel, is known for flash devices that aren’t removable, though it also makes USB drives.

M-Systems has had a turbulent time lately. The company in late May canceled a stock offering, citing an internal review of its stock-option grants. In mid-July, the company said it was restating six years of financial results after a special board committee found irregularities related to stockoption grants from 1999 to 2003.

Judy Bruner, SanDisk’s chief financial officer, said the two companies’ businesses are complementary, and MSystems can benefit by making use of SanDisk’s manufacturing capacity, which it jointly owns with Toshiba Corp. “It’s a rapidly changing business and a very capital-intensive business,” Ms. Bruner said, noting that SanDisk hopes to spend about $5 billion on manufacturing capacity between 2006 and 2008. She added that the company had studied M-Systems’ stock-option problems. “We understand what the potential issues are,” she said.

The deal is subject to approval

by M-Systems shareholders and Israeli courts, the companies said.

Assuming the deal closes, M-Systems will maintain its operations in Israel, Ms. Bruner said.

of commercial microprocessor core density, speed and power.

Themis Slice Technology Selected for Submarine SDR System

Crossbow Technology has announced that it has entered into a partnership agreement with Atmel to accelerate time-to-deployment for 802.15.4 wireless sensor network OEM designs. The partnership will deliver optimized integration of hardware and software platforms for OEMs and includes: • Support for Atmel’s AVR ZLink 802.15.4 hardware solution in Crossbow’s MoteWorks wireless sensor network mesh networking platform • Development of a Crossbow MICA OEM transceiver module, integrating Atmel’s ATmega1281 microcontroller and AT86RF230 802.15.4 transceiver chips into a lowpower module for wireless sensor applications with multiple years of battery lifetime • Delivery of MoteWorks evaluation copy in Atmel’s 802.15.4 Demonstration Kit, providing OEMs with a complete hardware and software solution for reliable, low-power mesh networking applications • Leverage Crossbow’s expertise in sensors and sensor integration and engineering services capabilities to provide OEMs with fast time-to-deployment for 802.15.4-based wireless sensor network applications

Themis Computer has announced an agreement with MEDAV GmbH, a provider of products for signal analysis, automatic detection and classification, demodulation and decoding. Themis will provide its Slice technology for integration

by MEDAV into a submarine communication intelligence system. MEDAV is supplying their tuners, as well as signal and data processing software, running on Themis Slice servers. Themis’ Slice subrack will be integrated into 19” bays, with other MEDAV equipment, for this submarine application. Themis Computer will provide technology from its new Slice switched computing initiative, including liquid cooled servers and solid-state storage units, designed to meet the escalating thermal and kinetic management demands, of next-generation, high-density/ performance, mission-critical computing.

A processor-independent architecture, the Themis “Slice” platform allows users to mix, match and manage SPARC and x86 architectures, Solaris, Windows and Linux operating systems, in combination with third-party networkservers,storageandswitches.

Quorum, Themis’ real-time, policybased resource manager, ensures contracted application Quality of Service (QoS) for heterogeneous computing resources. Designed for high-density, high-performance computing, the Themis Slice Architecture is ideal for those who are looking for highly available, horizontally scalable processing power and lower life cycle cost of ownership. Themis Slice is offered in air and liquid cooling variants that provide thermal headroom to accommodate aggressive scaling

Crossbow, Atmel Partner to Enable 802.15.4 Wireless Market

MoteWorks is an open standards-based platform for lowpower wireless sensor network OEM designs. Atmel’s solution includes their ultra low-power, highsensitivity 2.4 GHz AT86RF230 802.15.4 radio, a choice of ultra low-power AVR microcontrollers with flash densities of 64, 128 or 256 Kbytes, along with small footprint, fully compliant media access control (MAC) software optimized for the AVR architecture.

High-Performance 3U CompactPCI Intel® Pentium® M Processor/ Intel® Celeron® M Processor-based SBC with Dual GbE on PCI Express

ETXexpress Module with Intel® Pentium® M Processor and Mobile Intel® 915GM Express Chipset As the first member of the ADLINK ETXexpress family, the ETXexpress-IA533 uses low power IntelÆ PentiumÆ M processor 760 at 2.0GHz and the Mobile IntelÆ 915GM Express Chipset. Both the processor and chipset are part of the embedded IntelÆ architecture that ensures a long production life for applications that need extended availability.

The ETXexpress-IA533 supports dual channel DDR2 533MHz memory and comes with a single on-board Gigabit Ethernet port. In addition to the on-board integrated graphics, a Graphic PCI Express x16 slot is also available. The board connects up to four additional PCI Express x1 devices. The module has legacy support for 32-bit PCI and ISA through LPC.

The cPCI-3915 CPU board is a 3U 4HP or 8HP system slot single-board computer with up to 2.0GHz for the IntelÆ PentiumÆ M processor. This SBC is based on the Mobile IntelÆ 915GM Express chipset with 400 or 533 MHz FSB. One SO-DIMM socket carries up to 1GB 400/533 MHz non-ECC DDR2 RAM. The cPCI-3915 offers two Gigabit Ethernet ports, two RS-232 ports, one IDE ATA 100/66/33 port, one CompactFlash socket, two SATA-150 interfaces, quad USB 2.0, and a VGA/DVI interface.

The Ethernet ports support PXE remote boot.

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Full-size Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor-based SBC (LGA775) The new NuPRO-851DV has a high-computing capability. It supports an 800MHz FSB and IntelÆ PentiumÆ 4 processor with Hyper-Threading technology (LGA775). It has a large communication bandwidth with two PCI Express x1 Gigabit Ethernet ports. It supports Serial ATA for high-speed storage, USB 2.0 and other generic features including VGA, COM, keyboard, mouse and hardware monitoring.

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6" Cube Multi-App Embedded Computer w/ Lots of Possibilities!

The GEME computer is powered by low-voltage fanless CPU making it ideal for embedded motion, vision, DIO, communication and high-speed link applications. It has an expandable enclosure designed for one PMC and up to three PC/104 modules. Integrated four-channel video capture supports NTSC/PAL cameras at up to 30 frames per second. The GEME is compact with frontal I/O access and multi-storage options.

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The new aTCA-6891 processor blade features: � PICMG 3.4 ATCA Advanced Switching Option3 �Quad ASI x4 Fabric Interface Channels up to 5- Slot Full-Mesh Configuration, 32Gbps � Dual 64-bit Low Voltage IntelÆ Xeon Processor 2.8GHz with Hyper-Threading Technology, 1MB L2 Cache � Dual DDR2-400 REG/ECC Channels with 16GB max. Capacity � IntelÆ E7520 Chipset with IntelÆ 6300ESB I/O Controller Hub and 6700PXH 64-bit PCI Controller Hub �Dual 64-bit 33/66/100/133MHz PCI/PCI-X PMC with PIM �RAID 0/1 SATA Support

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TechnologyInContext ATCA Sysytems

Dual-Core-Based AdvancedMC Modules: A Better Solution than DSP for Mobile Networks Savings in code complexity, board real estate, memory and power consumption can be realized by letting the new generation of dual-core Ad Index processors take over many of the tasks formerly assigned to a DSP.

by S ven Freudenfeld Kontron

Get Connected with technology and companies providing solutions now

Get Connected is a new resource for further exploration into products, technologies and companies. Whether your goal is to research the latest datasheet engine from a company, speak directly or mobile network operators and content adaptation that ensures an with an Application Engineer, or jump to a company's technical page, the content service providers, real- optimal subscriber experience. goal of Get Connected is to put you in touch with the right resource. time multimedia applications suchlevel of service With subscriber netWhichever yougrowing require for whatever type ofbases, technology, as streaming audio and video, video te- work deployments need to include new Get Connected will help you connect with the companies and products you are searching for. lephony, video mail, video conferencprocessing systems at the media-server

F

VoiceAge Networks, a solution provider in the emerging rich media content adaptation market, has conducted a benchmark study of the performance of an Intel CPU platform that consists of two www.rtcmagazine.com/getconnected ing, video ringback tone and mobile TV level that can handle the compute-inten- Intel Dual-Core Xeon processors, pitted among many others, offer attractive new sive processing of a high number of mul- against two other CPU platforms—an Inmarket opportunities. timedia streams in the smallest footprint, tel Dual Xeon (single-core) platform and Media server vendors and video ap- while minimizing any thermal issues. an AMD Dual Opteron. These tests were plication developers are at the other end— What is very encouraging for de- conducted using VoiceAge Networks’ looking for a real-time transcoding engine sign engineers is the arrival of Intel application SPOTxde Live. (See sidebar Get Connected with technology and companies providing solutions now that can be easily integrated as a building Dual-Core technology, which provides “Comparing Dual-Core Processors in Get Connected is a new resource for further exploration into products, technologies and companies. Whether your goal is to research th block into their product portfolio. No matbetter performance Audio and Video.” datasheetincreasingly from a company, speak directly with an Applicationper Engineer,Streaming or jump to a company's technical page,)the goal of Get Connecte ter which end they are on, their revenue watt than Whichever what islevel currently in touch with the ratios right resource. of service availyou require for whatever type of technology, Get Connected will the help you connecttoday. with the companies and productsMultimedia you are searching for. will be positively impacted by a real-time able on market Content Adaptation www.rtcmagazine.com/getconnected for Mobile Networks Real-time content adaptation is a key Total Power Consumption technology for realizing the adaptation of Dual DC Dual Dual DC rich media audio and video streams in real Sossaman Xeon Opteron time. The proliferation of video stream1GB 2GB 4GB ing-based services requires transcoding CPU Power 31W/CPU 55W/CPU 95W/CPU technology to adapt the bit rates and forChipset* 12W 12W — mats of the video streams to the end-users’ devices. For instance, a Content Provider Memory** 4.33W 8.66W 78W who streams a simple video clip from a Total Power 78W 131W 268W

Products

* Based on Intel Lindenhurst chipset for Sossaman and Xeon; AMD Opteron integrates memory chipset.

Get Connected with companies and ** Features DDR2 for Intel-based platforms and DDR for AMD platform.

Table 1

14

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Comparison of total power consumption.

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August 2006

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TechnologyInContext

newly released movie to devices with different video capabilities will need to convert both the audio and video format as well as the bit rate for each device, ensuring that the converted stream fits both network and device requirements.

VoiceAge Networks’ SPOTxde LIVE addresses the barriers to seamless real-time delivery of mobile rich-media data services.

It ensures interoperability between the source of the live feed and the receiving devices (mobile phones, PDAs and IP terminals), as

well as across networks that adhere to different standards. It provides real-time, highdensity transcoding capabilities for an ever expanding set of audio and video codecs.

SPOTxde Live enables a multitude of simultaneous sessions to be run in paral-

Comparing Dual-Core Processors in Streaming Audio and Video Total Watts/Stream—Less is More

To calculate the maximum number of streams, we examined the stability of the stream dataflow and the load (as in the Linux system load) of the machine. If the dataflow became unstable or the load started to increase in a sustained manner, we rejected this maximum. So the maximum number of streams detailed here represents a stable dataflow and a stable load, so we can be confident that these numbers represent what the system could do in a real-case scenario.

- VoiceAge Networks

Config. No. 1

Config. No. 5

Test Hardware

Config. No. 6

Hardware used includes:

Config. No. 7

1.4

Dual Sossaman CPU: Dual Sossaman 2 GHz Chipset: 667 MHz Bus Intel E7520 Memory: 1 Gbyte Dual Xeon Server Type: HP Proliant G4 DL360 CPU: Dual Xeon 3.4 GHz Memory: 2 Gbyte Dual Opteron Server Type : IBM Blade LS20 8850 CPU: Dual Opteron 2.2 GHz Memory: 4 Gbyte

Dual Core Performance Test The performance statements herein measure the maximum number of streams that can be transcoded and streamed live.

Whereas performance tests can often serve as a good metric for comparing systems, it is important to note that several variables—even if slightly changed—may impact the results. For transcoding, these include: • Input media type, format, codec and size (bit rate, frame rate, etc.)

• Output media type, format, codec and size (bit rate, frame rate, etc.)

• Interface used, if this is included in the duration of the measure • Hardware

Dual DC Sossaman

Dual Xeon

Dual DC Opteron

1GB

2GB

4GB

1.8

4.4

8.9

80%

Config. No. 2

2.1

5.0

8.6

76%

Config. No. 3

2.0

4.1

7.2

73%

Config. No. 4

1.9

4.1

6.7

72%

1.4

2.6

4.5

70%

1.3

3.0

6.4

74%

2.6

5.5

75%

Sossaman vs. Opteron

Test Setup The tests were conducted with a streaming server application called SPOTxde Live supplied by VoiceAge Networks and a client application that can request multiple streams. The Live content adaptation module is a rich-media content adaptation engine providing real-time transcoding capabilities for audio and video streams. The real-time throughput, low latency, speed, flexibility, scalability, compatibility and effectiveness of the real-time content adaptation engine provide subscribers a live, rich-media experience. The streams are requested by the client to SPOTxde Live, which asks a Streaming Server to start the feed, then SPOTxde Live transcodes/streams the audio/video.

Test Analysis If we extrapolate from the test results, we can see that even with a minimum hardware configuration of only 1 Gbyte of memory compared with 2 Gbytes and 4 Gbytes of memory respectively for two other platforms, then the Dual Intel Dual Core CPU “Sossaman” platform simply outperforms in the case of streaming both video and audio.

In the first audio/video test, as an example, we see that the Dual Sossaman platform processed 43 concurrent streams, a 30 percent increase in performance over the Dual Xeon and the AMD Dual Core Opteron. One could translate this kind of performance onto an AdvancedTCA processing node and possibly integrate 12 such nodes in a 14-slot AdvancedTCA system. This would result in a total of 516 concurrent streams or channels per system, realizing a highly dense processing system within a 12U footprint.

August 2006

15

PrAMC | PrAMC | PrAMC | PrAMC

PrAMC | PrAMC | PrAMC | PrAMC

PrAMC | PrAMC | PrAMC | PrAMC

PrAMC | PrAMC | PrAMC | PrAMC

PrAMC | PrAMC | PrAMC | PrAMC

PrAMC | PrAMC | PrAMC | PrAMC

ATCA Switch GbE GbE

ATCA Switch GbE GbE

PrAMC | PrAMC | PrAMC | PrAMC

PrAMC | PrAMC | PrAMC | PrAMC

PrAMC | PrAMC | PrAMC | PrAMC

PrAMC | PrAMC | PrAMC | PrAMC

PrAMC | PrAMC | PrAMC | PrAMC

PrAMC | PrAMC | PrAMC | PrAMC

TechnologyInContext percent less wattage per transcoded stream than the Dual AMD Dual Core Opteron.

This has tremendous ramifications with respect to keeping power costs down for operators who want to deploy many of the new mobile applications. Convert that kind of savings over the course of a year and MNOs can expect an optimal return on investment. If designed on an AdvancedTCA system, the Sossaman would successfully contribute toward the requirement that each node maintain a power envelope of 200W. However, one could further increase the processing density and cost efficiencies by taking an AdvancedMC processor module approach. This would entail using an AdvancedTCA carrier that supports four single-width, full- or mid-size AdvancedMC processor modules, each one populated with one Intel Dual-Core 64-bit processor and up to 4 Gbytes of memory. The potential result is essentially a doubling of performance per node, with 43 to 86 or more concurrent streams processed. Going back to our 14slot AdvancedTCA system, this could conceivably equate into 1,032 concurrent audio/ video channels streamed across 12 slots.

Dual-Core AMC versus DSP modules

Figure 1

An ATCA board has a (fairly generous) power allowance of 200W per board.

Four Intel Dual-Core “Yonah” or “Merom”-based AMC modules would fit within that power budget with enough left over for the carrier board electronics.

lel, unprecedented rapid session setup, minimal latency, real-time throughput and error resilience while maintaining the fidelity and integrity of the original media, ensuring that each end-user’s experience is notably enhanced.

When mobile network operators (MNOs) and content providers deploy the SPOTxde Live content adaptation module, it relieves them from the painstaking manual editing process for hundreds, if not thousands, of devices that can now have access in real time to video streams, because the risks arising from interoperability issues are automatically neutralized by the platform.

16

August 2006

Equally critical to MNOs is how much power is needed for various performancehungry applications, which essentially has a direct effect on operating costs. In comparing the average amount of wattage required (Table 1) for these three CPU platforms plus the wattage of memory and chipsets, we see that the Dual-Core Intel “Sossaman” processor has a typical power consumption of 31W, compared to 55W for the Intel Xeon, and 95W for the AMD Dual Core Opteron. Looking at the benchmarking study, the results show that in nearly every testing scenario, the Dual Sossaman required 70 percent to 80

Examining the design options available in the development of a transcoding platform—say a Media Resource Function Platform (MRFP)—designers will look at performance/cost ratios, among other criteria, to make a final selection. An open standard solution based on AMC processor modules designed with Intel Dual-Core CPUs, bundled with transcoding software such as that provided by VoiceAge Networks, would be much more cost-effective while still achieving the same performance if not better than proprietary-based systems fully loaded with DSP modules used to achieve the same or similar functionality.

The hardware costs alone are quite different. A DSP module is three times the cost of an AdvancedMC processor module.

And, as the benchmark study illustrates, less memory is needed for the Dual-Core Xeon to process streaming video, which further helps reduce costs.

More importantly, an open standard AMC processor module is much more flexible in that it can be re-used for other compute-intensive applications. Conversely, a DSP module is used for all sorts of media

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TechnologyInContext processing but is essentially tied to its own DSP functionality and its limited support of codecs. So in comparison, an AMC processor module using Intel Dual-Core will generate a quicker and better return on investment, plus give mobile network operators the much needed flexibility to swap-in or swap-out any subscriber service with negligible risk.

The ancillary benefits of the AMC open standard cannot be ignored—ease of manageability through Intelligent Platform Management Interface; high avail-

ability (hot-swap/hot-plug); low-power, ultra-dense processing; lower operating costs and most significantly, enabling greater equipment consolidation to dramatically reduce the need for surplus network “real estate.”

To replicate the above example of the live transcoding application without open modular building blocks, one would need to deploy both a DSP farm of media gateways and a separate set of application servers to approximately achieve the same

result. The general costs to deploy this as a carrier-grade solution are prohibitive.

An Intel-based Solution

Intel Dual-Core processors have closed the performance gap—with more applications being designed to take advantage of hyperthreading and the new Intel micro-architecture technology. Going back to the AMC processor module, a proposed product would be designed with the Intel Core Duo “Yonah or Merom” CPU with the space-saving Intel chipset “Whitmore Lake,” which integrates memory and I/O controller hub in one chip.

One of the new advances of the Core Duo offering is smart-cache technology, where each of the two CPU cores can intelligently access the same cache. It increases performance and saves on power compared to conventional architectures that would require having to go out the front-side BUS. Other enhancements include even smaller power dissipation (roughly 40W for an AMC module) by ensuring there is a dynamic and independent power control over each core.

As for Merom, there are other new features on top of what Yonah offers, such as extending the cache out to a full 4 Mbytes at 64 bits, and a new feature called wide dynamic execution, basically consisting of wider pipes and deeper buffers for a greater increase of instructions.

MNOs typically concern themselves with obtaining the most performance and the greatest flexibility at the lowest cost. While DSP products are widely mainstream, they are losing ground to general-purpose processors with respect to providing support for new multimedia, mobile applications.

New ground is being broken with Intel Dual-Core developments—either as single or dual processors—being incorporated with the roll-out of new open modular systems based on AdvancedTCA and AdvancedMC hardware configurations. With more software applications taking advantage of open standard, off-the-shelf platforms, MNOs will enjoy exceptional operating savings and a faster ROI on equipment expenditures, along with the option to reuse equipment for other purposes while still maintaining more space-efficient networks.

Kontron Poway, CA. (858) 677-0877. [www.kontron.com].

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TechnologyInContext ATCA Sysytems

AdvancedTCA Provides Foundation for Next-Generation Telecom Equipment ATCA and AMC offer a level of open standards, high-level integration and flexibility that give telecom equipment manufacturers a higher level at which to start adding value.

by T hanh Nguyen Emerson Network Power

A

s service providers build out their A Modular Telecom Framework protocol-agnostic, enabling it to support broadband packet networks to ofAdvancedTCA is an open architec- multiple packet-oriented protocols, infer enhanced triple play services, ture framework for building high-perfor- cluding Ethernet, InfiniBand, PCI Express telecom OEMs (TEMs) are working over- mance, high-density, high-availability, and Rapid I/O. time to provide the equipment needed to NEBS-compliant, 19-inch, rack-mountIn addition to its high-speed fabric, deploy those services. Historically, TEMs able telecom shelves.

ATCA provides a number of other feahave built this equipment from the ground ATCA’s centerpiece is its high-speed tures that are critical for TEMs. Its large up using proprietary platforms. A growing switched fabric, which supports a full form-factor (8U) and high-power capabilnumber, however, are finding it increas- mesh interconnect and provides a peak ity (200W per blade) give it the capacity to ingly difficult to deliver homegrown equip- throughout of 10 Gbits/s per link, ten times support complex functions and high-denment in a timely, higher than that of PICMG sity configurations. Its redundant fabric, nies providing solutions now cost-effective fashion.

To enhance their competitive position, 2.16 backplanes.

The redundant power and hot on into products, technologies and companies. Whether your goal is to research the latest are beginning utilize open ar- Connected ATCA isswitched swappability tion Engineer,many or jumpTEMs to a company's technicalto page, the goal of Get to put you you require for whatever type of technology, platforms, which chitecture AdvancedTCA fabric is and productsmake you areitsearching easier for. for them to outsource their also equipment design. Open platforms reduce the time and cost associated with designing and manufacturing telecom equipment, savings that are ultimately reflected in reduced capital expenditures for service providers.

They also facilitate the design of modular, flexible telecom systems that are easier to scale, upgrade, service and maintain, benefits that are ultimately reflected in reduced service provider operational expenditures.

Figure 1 A configurable AdvancedTCA (ATCA) blade for telecom infrastructure

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applications supports all standard AdvancedMC modules, including single-width half-height, single-width full-height and double-width fullheight. Fully configured, the blade can accommodate up to four modules within the limits of its 200W power dissipation.

August 2006

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21

TechnologyInContext

Figure 2

The example of an AMC standard hot-swappable, single-wide, full-height card makes it easy to add processing power and other functionality to AdvancedTCA blades. This module can act as a control plane processor for optical and wireless infrastructure as well for augmenting packet processing and routing performance in voice gateways, and for enhancing protocol processing performance in SS7 and SIGTRAN signaling control points and gateways.

reduce susceptibility to point failures and enable individual blades to be serviced and upgraded without disrupting overall service. In addition, its Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) system con-

trol framework enhances availability by facilitating active monitoring of and control over individual ATCA blades (Figure 1).

AdvancedMC is a field-replaceable mezzanine interface for ATCA systems

Shelf External System Manager

Shelf Manager Active

Shelf Manager Backup

ShMC

ShMC

Key: ShMC IPMC Carrier IPMC MMC

Shelf Management Controller IPM Controller Carrier IPM Controller Module Management Controller

Redundant IPMB-0 ATCA Board

IPMB-L

IPMC

Carrier Board Carrier IPMC Isolator

MMC

AMC

Isolator

MMC

AMC

Isolator

MMC

AMC

Isolator

MMC

AMC

2x Redundant Radial Internet Protocol-Capable Transport

Figure 3

22

Different levels of management over the IPMB work in a hierarchical structure for management of large and small modules and individual peripherals.

August 2006

that enhances ATCA flexibility by extending its high-bandwidth, multi-protocol interface to individual hot-swappable modules. AMC’s high-speed, protocolagnostic, serial packet interface provides up to 21 I/O channels, each supporting data transfer rates of 12.5 Gbits/s per channel. AdvancedMC modules are hotswappable, enabling service providers to replace them in the field without taking entire ATCA blades off line. They offer high-power handling capability (up to 60W per module), which enables TEMs to implement complex functions at the module level. They also provide an IPMI interface, which enables shelf management to monitor and control individual modules residing on ATCA blades (Figure 2).

Interoperability and Compatibility

For TEMs who are considering a move from a proprietary in-house platform to an ATCA open architecture platform, interoperability and compatibility are top concerns. The promise of open frameworks is a plug-and-play shelf environment in which blades, system software and applications from multiple vendors and applications work together out of the box. What TEMs want to know, however, is how the promise of open architecture squares with the reality? How compatible is the platform hardware and software offered by COTS suppliers. How easy is it to integrate? What are the “gotchas” and higher level integration and development concerns?

As with any new standards, particularly in the OEM space, the AdvancedTCA and AdvancedMC standards are still evolving. However, the base standards are quite stable, and most interoperability problems are the result of faulty implementation rather than a lack of specificity in the standards.

Consider, for example, power management. ATCA blade suppliers may offer a carrier whose baseline power consumption falls within the ATCA limit. However, that blade’s total power consumption may exceed the allowable power allotment when populated with AdvancedMC modules. In such cases, shelf management will refuse the blade’s power request during the boot process, rendering the blade inoperable.

One of the principal sources of early ATCA compatibility problems has been

TechnologyInContext shelf management. Some ATCA blade suppliers, for example, have elected to design their own IPMI controllers. This is perfectly allowable but some suppliers have misinterpreted the spec and/or have added their own proprietary functionality.

As a result, shelf management can have difficulty recognizing and communicating with these blades, thereby complicating board bring-up and ongoing management.

The addition of AdvancedMC modules to ATCA carriers adds another level of complexity to the shelf management equation. AdvancedMC modules are essentially a blade within a blade, equipped with I2C management infrastructure that enables shelf management, through the blade’s IPMI controller, to monitor and control each module.

To facilitate communications with shelf management, each module is equipped with a module management controller (MMC), a kind of lightweight IPMI controller that provides information such as module ID, FRU data, power payload information and temperature to the blade’s central IPMI controller. The IPMI controller, in turn, aggregates this information for all the modules (and the carrier) and conveys it to shelf management (Figure 3). The problem is that some module providers are not adhering to the MMC design guidelines. This prevents the blade from locating the module and bringing it out of reset, thereby making the module invisible to the blade and shelf management.

Fortunately, both problems are easy to avoid. For example, blade designers can now purchase COTS IPMI controllers that follow the spec to a tee, thereby eliminating interoperability problems at the controller level. COTS MMC solutions are not yet available but this functionality is straightforward and can be readily implemented in a compatible fashion by simply adhering to the standard.

In the past, where single-processor, single-node blades were the norm, the only system software that a blade supplier had to provide was a set of drivers for the target operating system. The blade architecture was also straightforward and accessible, employing an internal PCI bus for memory access, a backplane interface for shelf access and an external TDM bus for telephony access. The task of creating a framework to facilitate management of and communications between multiple

nodes/blades fell largely on the equipment maker.

Today’s high-density ATCA blades, however, are no longer individual nodes.

ATCA’s large form-factor, high power budget and multi-module expansion capabilities enable a single blade to support a half dozen processors or more, a cluster of nodes on a single blade. Utilizing these processors requires a scalable blade-level system software framework that enables developers to develop, deploy and man-

Blades Become More Shelf-Like

Beyond basic plug-and-play issues, what really concerns equipment makers who are selecting a COTS blade is how easy it is to integrate that blade with the rest of the shelf, including other blades, system software and applications. This is particularly true for complex blades equipped with multiple processors.

August 2006

23

TechnologyInContext age applications distributed across multiple cores and processors. It also requires a hardware framework with control, data and switched fabric pathways that provide the flexibility and throughput needed to coordinate the activities of multiple processors, both on the blade and between blades. In many ways, this framework mirrors the framework that equipment makers now provide at the shelf level.

Consider, for example, the blade-level architecture by an 10:57 ATCAAM carrier RTI RTC 06 employed Ad 12/21/05 Page

that combines a PowerPC processor with four AdvancedMC sites, each of which may be equipped with a Pentium M-based AMC module. To support this multiprocessor network, a multi-channel managed Ethernet switch links the PowerPC processor and four AMC sites with each other and the ATCA switched fabric. In a sense, this blade-level switched architecture is simply an extension of the shelf-level switched architecture.

Now that blade suppliers are utiliz1ing shelf-like switched fabrics, the pres-

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August 2006

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sure is on to deliver higher level switching capabilities. Most blade suppliers provide a basic API for interacting with the switch. What TEMs would like, however, are higher level Layer 2 capabilities like routing, VLAN and QoS, and ultimately a fully managed Layer 3 switch.

TEMs looking for an out-of-the-box solution are also demanding more robust management capabilities. IPMI is an important first step. But ultimately, TEMs would like a hierarchical reporting framework for system management that encompasses the blade, operating system, interconnect and application. To that end, blade suppliers are working to provide full shelf management capabilities up to the middleware level. Some application-specific blades and SIGTRAN signaling blades take system management to an even higher level, providing event, statistics, signaling and other reporting that extend past the middleware and into the protocol stack.

As blade manufacturers work to enhance their “value-added” and simplify system integration for TEMs, standards bodies like PICMG, OSDL and SAF are working to provide the standard operating system, shelf, middleware and application interfaces needed to facilitate interoperability and portability. At the same time, industry organizations are emerging that will provide functional and interoperability testing and certification for different classes of high-availability equipment utilizing open hardware and software platforms.

For TEMs accustomed to creating custom application-specific platforms inhouse, the decision to relinquish control and move to an open platform is a challenging one.

Ultimately, though, TEMs must weigh the incremental performance advantages of custom platforms against the cost, time-to-market and flexibility advantages of open platforms. Blade suppliers can expedite this transition more easily by providing system level solutions that ease the integration process and enable TEMs to focus their precious engineering resources on value-added application and service development.

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to provide IMS capabilities, an increasing number of telecom equipment manufacturers (TEMs) and network equipment providers (NEPs) are utilizing the Advanced Telecom Computing Architecture (ATCA) as their platform of choice for delivering next-generation networking technologies, inclusive of full IMS services. This industry-wide shift to ATCA, a modular, open standards, carrier-grade platform—and to a downsized version, MicroTCA—is poised 25mm to have a significant impact on the implementation services that can be addressed Get Connected with technology and companies providing solutionsof now by IMS, especially VoIP and IPTV. Get Connected is a new resource for further exploration into products, technologies and companies. Whether your goal is to research th Rear panel IO from a company, speak directly with an Application Engineer, or jump Why is the ATCA gaining datasheet to a company's technicalplatform page, the goal of Get Connecte Interconnect in touch with the right resource. Whichever level of service you require for whatever type of technology, such traction among hardware and software Get Connected will help you connect with the companies and productsvendors, you are searching for. the telecom and networkboth in www.rtcmagazine.com/getconnected ing industries? Why is AdvancedTCA reFront Board 322.25mm 75mm ally a superior platform for implementing (12.697”) (8U x 280mm) Metallic (140in2) IMS? Trying to answer these questions Cabling/ requires examining the technical capabiliRear Air 1.2” pitch ties, the economic advantages and the platTransition Plenum Zone 2: Module forms’ applicability to several over-arching · Keying/alignment (8U x · Synch. Clocks industry trends, such as converged networks · Update Channels 70mm · Fabric Interface and a preference for chassis/blade hardware x 1.2”) · Base Interface implementations. In terms of a sophisticated (35in2) Zone 1: · Power standard technical platform, there appears to · Management Zone 3

major concern currently vexing Getverged services be for delivered using Connected is a newcan resource further exploration network operators is the questioninto products, IMS, including calls (VoIP), video technologiesvoice and companies.

Whether your goal is to research the latest datasheetstreaming from a company, speak directly of how best to implement IP Mulcontent (IPTV), audio/video, with an Application Engineer, or jump to a company's technical page, the timedia Subsystem (IMS) capabilities.

Web surfing, instant messaging, e-mail, goal of Get Connected is to put you in touch with the right resource.

IMS supplies a framework for an IP-based conferencing, gaming and a Whichever level audio/video of service you require for whatever type of technology, network services architecture thatGet encomhost other applications.

Connected willof help you connect with the companies and products you areand searching for. Although some vendors rely on propasses wireless, traditional wireline www.rtcmagazine.com/getconnected cable networks alike. Many different con- prietary hardware and software solutions

End of Article

Z1

Products

Get Connected with companies and Figure 1

26

products featured in this section.

The form-factorwww.rtcmagazine.com/getconnected of the Front Board PCB for ATCA. The specification also allows for a rear transition module.

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August 2006

Get Connected with companies mentioned in this a Get Connected with companies and products featured in this section.

www.rtcmagazine.com/getconnected

SolutionsEngineering

be no other alternative than an ATCA architecture for future IMS applications in terms of meeting future telco requirements, traffic volumes and multi-service capabilities.

Technical Capabilities

ATCA was engineered from its very beginnings to meet the stringent requirements of the telecommunications industry.

Excellent performance, availability and scalability have been achieved by incorporating current best practices in all areas of system hardware and software/middleware design. Carrier-grade features abound, including conformance with NEBS and the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). The standard was developed by the PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturing Group (PICMG). Complete specifications are available at www.picmg. org. In creating the standard, PICMG paid a great deal of attention to flexibility, scalability and options for companies addressing a wide variety of telecom applications.

For example in ATCA, there are many different chassis currently available, from 2U entry-level units with a capacity of two slots, to 12U designs offering 14 slots. This gives system integrators and end users great flexibility in designing, implementing and upgrading ATCA-based systems. In addition, there are a variety of topologies available, including star, dual-star, dual dual-star and fully meshed. System requirements for cost, bandwidth and redundancy are all addressable in a single, flexible and high-performance platform. Specified bandwidth is in excess of 3 terabits per shelf. The ATCA specification also encompasses a number of options for interconnect technologies, including Ethernet and Fibre Channel, InfiniBand, PCI Express and Serial RapidIO. Future high-speed interconnect technologies can also be mapped. Maximum payloads of 10 Gbits/s per port are supported, including 10 Gbit Ethernet (using XAUI).

At a height of 8U and 30.48 mm wide by approximately 280 mm deep, ATCA cards have relatively large real estate and power dissipation (200W), compared to other specs such as CompactPCI. This enables engineers to design the high-performance and highdensity layouts required for next-generation

Key IPM Controller (IPMC) Shelp Management Controller (ShMC) AdvancedTCA Board Shelf Manager w/ Dedicated ShMC Other Field Replaceable Unit (FRU)

Shelf External System Manager

Fan Tray

Power Entry Module

Power Entry Module Implementation Dependent Connection 2x Redundant, Bussed or Radial, IPMB-0

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ATCA Board

ATCA Board

ATCA Board

ATCA Board

ATCA Board

ATCA Board

ATCA Board

ATCA Board

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2x Redundant Radial Internet-Protocol-Capable Transport

Figure 2

ATCA provides for extensive system management over the Intelligent Platform Management Bus (IPMB). This allows monitoring and control of all modules including fans, power supplies and other field-replaceable units (FRPs).

network applications, including IMS (Figure 1). Newer ATCA300 cards will be able to meet the requirements of numerous other optical transport applications.

In addressing the issues of modularity and scalability, it is possible to separate network processing, DSP, I/O, storage, switches and other functions onto modular blades, resulting in very efficient resource pooling. Systems can be easily scaled by populating a chassis with additional cards, and up to four 10U chassis can be placed in a single frame. This flexibility is especially valuable when implementing new network services, since customer demand is frequently quite difficult to predict. Designed to meet carrier requirements for at least a decade, ATCA gives customers the ability to upgrade individual elements of their systems merely by replacing a board.

ATCA has encouraged the development of open software standards as well. The Open Source Development Labs (OSDL) has been involved with the creation of an especially robust and secure version of Linux, known as Carrier-Grade Linux (CGL). In addition, a number of vendors are starting to offer system middleware that conforms to the interface specifications created by the Service Availability Forum (SAF).

In terms of reliability and high avail-

ability, ATCA can provide 99.999% uptime, using a variety of hardware technologies and software techniques. Redundant power supplies, fan trays and shelf management modules are typical, and are all hot pluggable, as are the ATCA cards themselves. The use of CGL and other high-availability software and middleware provides the services/ application failover necessary for a truly robust system. Chassis-level management is provided using the Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI), an industry standard. Various system parameters, including alarms, voltages, temperature, card insertion/removal, power ups/power downs, resets, etc. are all monitored (Figure 2).

Economic Advantages of ATCA

The collapse of the telecommunications sector that began in 2000 led equipment manufacturers and carriers alike to apply new business models. Carriers wanted to break free of the vendor lock-in associated with proprietary systems, while TEMs sought to re-direct their product development budgets from the basic system level toward the value-added services and applications arena. These goals can be greatly furthered by the creation and implementation of a standardized, open architecture platform. Some have likened this development to the creation August 2006

27

SolutionsEngineering of the IBM PC and its open architecture, and this seems to be an apt analogy.

An open platform utilizing commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components provides a wide variety of economic advantages to TEMs, carriers, system integrators, independent software vendors (ISVs) and their customers.

First and foremost, this has resulted in reduced development time and costs. Utilizing a common platform spares NEPs and system integrators from having to “re-invent

28

August 2006

the wheel” when developing new network elements and services. Using a pre-validated platform cuts hardware and software development (including integration and testing) costs, since the expense can be amortized not only across a company’s product lines, but also across the many companies involved in developing the base platform. Using a common, pre-validated platform, NEPs are able to get their products to market faster. Service providers are then able to rollout new, innovative services quicker— thus generating revenue sooner.

Competition is bringing lower prices through the well-known laws of supply and demand. Equipment manufacturers in particular benefit from the ability to draw from multiple sources for product building blocks.

Carriers benefit from the standardization provided by the ATCA platform, and also from the competition among the providers of valueadded services and applications built upon it.

Based on customer take-up of new services, ATCA platforms allow service providers to flexibly respond to the demand placed on the relevant equipment and resources. Ideally, operators would respond to constrained capacity by adding modules of the appropriate resource, whether it be compute, I/O, storage, DSP, etc. Additionally, today’s telecom networks are becoming more and more heterogeneous, especially as service providers introduce new and innovative services and applications. As a result, dozens of vendors’ products comprise the typical mobile, wireline or cable operator’s network. In addition to PICMG, a number of industry associations and trade groups have been formed to bring the promise of an open, multi-vendor, carriergrade platform to reality: • Communications Platforms-Trade Association (CP-TA)—Created to drive a mainstream market for open industry standards-based communications platforms by certifying interoperable building blocks. www.cp-ta.org • SCOPE alliance—Formed to promote open, carrier-grade base platforms.

SCOPE’s members seek to accelerate the adoption of COTS hardware and open-source software, to encourage consistency across standards and specifications, and to enable improved interoperability in a multi-vendor ecosystem. www.scope-alliance.org • Open Source Development Labs (OSDL) Carrier Grade Working Group—focused on collecting requirements for and specifying the architecture of a Carrier Grade Linux platform, and promoting the development of commercial and open source software components to implement carrier-grade functionality. www.osdlab.org • Service Availability Forum (SAF)—Created by industry-leading communications and computing companies to develop and publish high-availability and management software interface specifications, and to promote and facilitate the adoption of these specifications. www.saforum.org

SolutionsEngineering By working together from the earliest stages, hardware and software/middleware vendors achieve tighter integration and better interoperability, which benefits equipment manufacturers, service providers, ISVs and system integrators alike.

MicroTCA — Smaller, but Still Powerful

Although suitable for installation in the central office, data center and enterprise, for many purposes using ATCA would be overkill. For applications that don’t require the large form-factor of ATCA, there is an alternative—MicroTCA. MicroTCA takes advantage of the fact that ATCA blades are designed for easy upgradeability using Advanced Mezzanine Cards. But these AMCs are also able to be inserted as blades directly into a smaller version of the ATCA chassis, called not surprisingly, a MicroTCA chassis.

MicroTCA chassis have many of the features of the full-size ATCA chassis, including redundant, hot-swappable power supplies, fans and shelf management modules. Like ATCA, MicroTCA chassis are available in a number of configurations, including a 1U rackmount chassis. A typical MicroTCA chassis is 5U, and provides 12 AMC slots. For many network applications in the data center, enterprise and even wireless base stations, MicroTCA provides ample capacities for compute, network processing, I/O, storage, DSP and other resources, all of which are hot-swappable.

Based on its capabilities, and lower cost compared to ATCA, some industry observers and market analysts contend that MicroTCA could represent an even larger market opportunity than ATCA. The most attractive uses are as varied as WiMax and cellular base stations; VoIP applications including IP PBXs, softswitches and session border controllers; and uses outside of the telecom sector, including military, medical and industrial applications.

By creating the foundation for multivendor interoperability, ATCA has already seen the creation of a vibrant ecosystem.

Top tier manufacturers, including Motorola, Siemens, Lucent/Alactel, Nortel and Ericsson have all begun shipping ATCA equipment, in some cases planning the transition of their entire product portfolio to the platform. Computing heavyweights, including Intel, Motorola, HP and Sun,

are all deeply committed to ATCA, and IBM has added an AMC carrier card to their BladeCenter/BladeCenterT line of blade servers.

Designed to meet the requirements of the telecommunications industry for the next decade, AdvancedTCA has been quite successful in a relatively short period of time—and there doesn’t appear to be anything on the horizon to challenge it. The platform is ideal not only for the telecom industry, but also the networking

AVIVA Networks Fremont, CA. (650) 529-4200. [www.avivanetworks.com].

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SolutionsEngineering IPTV and VoIP Implementation

QoS Challenge: Can Quality Be Assured When Transmitting Video over Today’s Networks?

The telecom utopia envisions a simple and inexpensive network capable of supporting all services ranging from data to video.

But how do we make sure that video is carried with no disruption of the viewing experience?

by M ahmud Noormohamed Net Insight Inc.

S

End of Article

Dropped Packets The result of congestion

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facilities efficient. The presumption is that if data is grouped into packets, with each packet having sufficient data in its overhead to identify its destination, then the packet will be free to travel across the network in an efficient manner determined by the intelligence of the switching network transport.

Sending packets in this manner across the network is somewhat problematic. Figure 1 is a simple depiction of what can happen to a packet traversing a network.

Notice that in the traffic pattern above,

Network Switch

ince discovering how to convert casters’ reliance on IP networks, broadcasters analog waveforms to binary bits, who demand high performance still operate telecommunication scientists have in a world almost separate to the rest of the worked hard to create transmission media telecom world. Some of this separation has and protocol capable of serving as the ideal to do with their reliance on satellite transmisconverged networking platform. Network sion and types of nonhierarchical interfaces operators hope the converged network will such as SDI and ASI. Additional separation be a single platform capable of transport- is attributed to broadcasters’ confidence in ing data, voice and video in addition to packet-switched networks to maintain video supporting signal formats of the future. On quality over large network deployments. nies providing solutions now a converged platform, network operators IP is a best-efforts, packetized transon into products, technologies and companies. Whether your goal is to research the latest want support for everything from best-efmission protocol tion Engineer, or jump to a company's technical page, the goal of Get Connected is to put youdesigned to make transport data to you requirefort for whatever typehigh-quality of technology, and high-definiTime Reference (t=0) and products youvideo. are searching for. tion Combining voice and data on a -8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 common network is relatively simple; but adding video—especially broadcast-quality video—presents a tremendous challenge for the converged networking infrastructure.

Because telecom companies have already mastered voice and data transport, looking at the network in terms of transporting video uncovers some of the problems associated with a truly converged networking platform. With jitter, wander and latency undermining broad-

Figure 1

When packets arrive simultaneously at a network switch without buffering, some of those packets must be dropped.

August 2006

Get Connected with companies mentioned in this article. www.rtcmagazine.com/getconnected

31

SolutionsEngineering Time Reference -6

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Adding a buffer to the switch lets it hold on to simultaneously arriving packets and queue them for transmission. This process inevitably introduces latencies.

there are two instances where packets simultaneously arrive at the network switch (t minus 0 and t minus 8). Without switch buffers, the switch has no choice but to drop the time-colliding packets. For a www surfer, the lost packets result in a Web page not being properly displayed. To the surfer, this is no big deal. Pressing the “refresh” requests the page’s re-transmission. However, in the world of video, particularly live video, dropped packets wreak havoc on the video transmission. Viewers anxious to see a particular news story or a sports contest may not be able to see the part of the news story that interests them or the score that wins the game. There are two commonly used methods for preempting packet collisions and ensuring an IP network will support broadcast-quality transmission of video: buffers and reserving network resources.

Buffers allow the incoming data to be queued and processed according to flowcontrol processes. The switch buffers store the arriving packets and process them ac-

cording to priority protocol, allowing the signal to flow through the network elements on to their proper destination. As is shown in Figure 2, packets can still arrive at the same time without being dropped.

Unfortunately, switch buffers do not completely solve the video quality problem because buffers introduce delay into the network’s transmission facilities. These delays can be unpredictable and inconsistent, which can inject jitter into the video stream and adversely affect the quality of the video.

Reserving network switch resources is another way to ensure all video data packets arrive properly. Various studies have investigated the connection between the size of an IP network and the quality of video transmission across the network. In order to control video quality across a growing IP network, the studies found that portions of the network’s capacity needed to be left empty to ensure no packet collision or congestion. In fact, as the network grew, the relationship between the number of hops and

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The consequences of reserving network resources in order to assure high quality increase with the number of hops the packets take getting to their destination. The main result is the loss of the use of those reserved resources and the associated costs.

August 2006

the amount of network facilities left empty had a strongly negative correlation.

Notice in Figure 3 that sending a video signal across one network hop results in the video signal being received with a hundred percent quality. No network resources need to be reserved to counteract the adverse effects of packet collision. However, for a video signal traversing 16 hops, almost 90 percent of the network facilities must be reserved in order to maintain quality.

Reserving network capacity to counteract packet loss and collision means that the reserved capacity is not available to carry traffic, which might add to the bottom line of a network operator’s income statement.

Even for networks of three hops, the opportunity cost of the vacant network resources is large, resulting in lowered ROI. Is it possible to build a viable, converged IP network capable of supporting broadcast-quality video? Because live video demands the highest priority in the network, the transmission medium should be one where other traffic will not interfere or impede the video transmission across the network infrastructure. When new paths are added, these new paths should not degrade the bandwidth path of the video transmission. As the network grows to include additional network elements, the added elements should not adversely affect the video transmission. Finally, as networks experience growing multicast group transport, the growth of the demand should not negatively affect the video quality.

With the ability to transport high-quality video over a large network infrastructure, SONET and ATM networks will transport the video signals with high quality, regardless of the network’s size. Additionally, when considering video quality, these two technologies are viable alternatives to IP. However, among network planners today, neither technology is being used or is planned for video-rich networks. Each technology has some flaws, particularly when used for a converged networking platform of video, voice and data transport.

SONET has a rigid frame structure, which may result in stranded capacity. The overhead needed for ATM transmission is relatively large, which means that it, too, has an opportunity cost, relative to other technologies.

IP, though not optimal for video applications, is the growing protocol for a next-generation converged networking platform. IP offers tremendous possibilities for network

SolutionsEngineering

Ethernet

ATM

ATM

IP PDH SONET/SDH

Interface Plane

Ethernet

Interface Plane

efficiencies; meanwhile, Ethernet is driving down the cost of building networks and offering new services. These efficiencies make a quick ROI possible, which companies must rely on to maintain their position in the market place. Therefore, if IP could be supplemented with some next-generation algorithms and technologies, IP may find a fit in the mediarich telecommunication applications where live video is an important component for a network operator’s product suite.

Designed to improve some of the shortcomings inherent in IP systems, Generalized Multiprotocol Label Switching (GMPLS), a protocol developed for unifying the network layers of media, equipment and application, offers hope that network platforms and facilities can be used efficiently to support high-quality broadcast video.

GMPLS speeds up traffic forwarding and gives users traffic engineering tools that can make an IP network behave more like a connection-oriented network (a requirement for video-transporting networks).

GMPLS information is stored in the network elements and ensures quality of service (QoS) levels so high priority traffic receives the network facilities required for proper delivery. This is done using a common control plane across different layers of the networks. According to The International Engineering Consortium’s GMPLS Web Proforum Tutorial, GMPLS and “the common control plane promises to simplify network operation and management by automating end-to-end provisioning of connections, managing network resources, and providing the level of QoS that is expected in the new, sophisticated applications.”

Figure 4 implies that as the network grows, an increasingly large portion of the IP network must be set aside to accommodate the somewhat unpredictable path of connectionless circuits. GMPLS makes an IP network behave similarly to a connection-oriented network, and as a result, network operators are less dependent on the reserved traffic to maintain 100 percent QoS. Because GMPLS algorithms can easily determine the best route for the IP packets, network operators have to worry less about available network resources for end-to-end connections. Additionally, GMPLS, as a traffic-engineering tool, unifies layers one, two and three of a telecom network.

GMPLS makes the network elements aware of each other, defines path man-

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SolutionsEngineering agement and supports QoS levels. In its implementation, GMPLS provides a suite of protocols that not only control packetbased transport systems but can also control the network’s operation in the time, wavelength and space network domains— the “holy grail” of telecommunications.

GMPLS brings equipment manufacturers and network operators closer to the goal of a truly converged networking platform.

Though GMPLS is still a work in progress, some network operators are evaluating

GMPLS equipment for future deployments.

Once standards are finalized, GMPLS may be the next-generation technology that facilitates a rapidly expanding global network.

Since existing technology can provide the network efficiencies of a packet-switched technology and the quality of a circuitswitched technology, waiting for a fully mature GMPLS standard is not something operators reliant on video as a product offering may want to do. One technology providing efficiency and quality is Dynamic Syn-

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chronous Transfer Mode (DTM). Leading industry vendors define DTM as “a dynamic circuit-switched technology that provides transport between routers through channels and enables high-speed optical transport.”

In DTM, a channel has a dedicated bandwidth and forms a dynamic route between the sender and receiver, passing through the routers along the path. Quality of service channels are established quickly.

Routers along a channel’s path easily pass data from one link to the next because no address information must be checked. No packets need to be stored in buffers so no packet buffers are required. Consequently, there is no risk of buffer overflow, which could lead to packet loss and net congestion.

Though DTM is a current, viable technology for those looking to build high-quality video networks, it will not replace the importance of GMPLS in terms of unifying layers one, two and three of the telecommunications network. When combining the benefits of GMPLS with the benefits of DTM, network operators can build simplified networks capable of supporting data, voice and video, while at the same time operating the networks in a manner that aids rather than undermines revenue growth and long-term financial stability of network operators.

DTM is also being seen by a number of operators as a “means to an end” catalyst for GMPLS migration. DTM optimizes and enables significant gains in efficiency from the current and existing optical infrastructure. A hybrid approach to GMPLS migration with DTM appears to be a highly viable business approach.

While transmission networks have been able to transport video for a number of years, the quality of the video suffered because network resources were inefficiently used. The poor video quality has slowed the adoption of video-based products offered by network operators; and inefficient network resources did not give network operators the financial incentive to build video-rich networks. However, with advances in DTM and GMPLS migration, the industry is presented with a viable solution for efficiently delivering video with 100 percent quality of service while utilizing maximum bandwidth.

Net Insight Waltham, MA. (781) 530-3742. [www.netinsight.net].

A Compute Blade This Powerful Deserves A Cape.

The CPC5564 64-Bit AMD Opteron™ Single Board Computer The CPC5564 is the world's most powerful PICMG® 2.16 compute blade, and the first to be based on single- and dual-core AMD Opteron™ processors. The AMD Opteron™ processor provides a highly scalable x86 architecture that delivers next-generation performance as well as a flexible upgrade path from 32- to 64-bit computing. Its multi-core architecture offers advanced processing speed while reducing heat and power consumption.

With up to 8GB of ECC memory, multiple storage options and Linux, Solaris™ and Windows® operating system support, the CPC5564 is an ideal computer for high-end packet processing or multi-threaded software environments found in wireless, softswitch and defense applications.

Is it the superhero of the compute world? We like to think so.

Learn more at:

www.pt.com/sbc

IndustryInsight Storage Interfaces

Storage Interfaces Shift from Parallel to Serial The shift from parallel to serial storage interfaces means high data rates and better cabling schemes. Design engineers must carefully evaluate the effects on the intended application and how the new interfaces can improve storage systems.

by K en Grob ACT/Technico

S

torage interfaces used today include Ethernet is widely used in storage area ATA, SCSI, USB, Ethernet, Fibre networks (SANs), as well as to implement Channel and InfiniBand. These in- network attached storage (NAS) where acterfaces can be viewed on two different cess to the storage occurs over a network, levels: 1) native interfaces, or the point typically using TCP/IP. A newer trend, of direct connection to the drive, and 2) using the iSCSI protocol or SCSI comthe array or network interface, the point mands sent over the IP protocol, continues of connection to the array or network. In- to grow. This may push the Ethernet interterfaces such as USB are being used like face farther back toward the drive, end interconnects, where the interface eventually allowing drives to be conversion is incorporated at the deSignal Cable vice level using a bridge device. At the network level, interfaces such as Fibre Channel, Ethernet and InfiniBand are used.

connected directly to the network switch, as is the case with Fibre Channel drives.

Native storage interfaces are changing rapidly from parallel to serial implementations. With this evolution, the system designer must sort out the implications associated with the new technology. The intended application space, the feature set and how the new interfaces can improve storage system implementation must all be evaluated.

Parallel Interfaces Are Transitioning to Serial Interfaces

SAS/SATA Signal Connector Right-Angle or Vertical

Hard Disk Drive Connector Power Cables

Figure 1 36

SAS interconnect.

August 2006

Source: Molex Inc.

At hand are two major parallel-to-serial transitions. The first is occurring with the PATA interface, commonly known as the AT Attachment (ATA) interface. The second is occurring with SCSI. For the last 15 years, parallel ATA and parallel SCSI interfaces have dominated storage device design. Each interface has evolved

See the special Pull Out PDF about ATCA & AMC

See the special Pull Out PDF about ATCA & AMC

IndustryInsight

over time, driving transfer rates to 133 ATA SCSI Mbytes/s for ATA, and 320 Mbytes/s for Ultra320 SCSI. 40/80-Pin Connector 68-Pin Connector The serial version of ATA is called 16-bit Data 16-bit Data Serial ATA (SATA) and that of SCSI is Interface Limited to 18-in. Cables Cable Length to 12 meters called Serial Attached SCSI (SAS). The conversion of both of these interfaces Issues with Ringing and Skew Performance Limited by Drivers to their serial versions means that they Limited to 2 Devices Allowed 15 Drives now share a common physical interface.

Although the previous parallel electrical Required Jumpers for Master/Slave Required Jumpers for ID interfaces, connectors and pinouts were Not Hot Swappable Not Hot Swappable quite different between ATA and SCSI, the new serial designs have made the conMax Bandwidth 133 Mbytes/s 320 Mbytes/s nectors and electrical interfaces between Table 1 Characteristics and Limitations of Parallel Interfaces the two identical.

These serial interfaces offer much in the way of improved bandwidth, physical characteristics and electrical performance. Cable complexity and serviceability conBenefits of Serial Storage An important legacy characteristic is that siderations, such as hot swap, have also Interfaces the underlying interface command set driven the conversion to serial impleThe new interfaces were designed at the port level will remain largely the mentation (Table 1). to offer a lower implementation cost same. The ATA and SCSI command sets The root of the change is embedding while also providing higher perforremain backward compatible. the clock within the data. Data and clock mance, supporting both scalability and A major difference in the serial information are combined using the serviceability (Table 2). Furthermore, implementation is the packetization of 8B/10B encoding scheme. This elimithe interfaces have reduced packaging commands and data: both will now be nates signal skew issues while increasing complexity and unified the electrical sent serially. The SAS port is divided the data rate. In the case of SATA, the and physical implementation, allowing loration into four layers: PHY, Link, Port and initial data rate topped out at 1.5 Gbits/s, the use of both SATA and SAS in the our goal directly Transport, and packetization takes place or 150 Mbytes/s transfer to the device. same storage racks. ge, the within the Port layer scheme. At the Currently, SATA-II offers 3 Gbits/s.

Termination and device ID specificaource.

Port level, the interface is designed to SCSI allows bi-directional communication are now optimized. Device selection ology, tion and rates of 3 Gbits/s, or 6 Gbits/s if no longer requires jumpers. The cables products be transparent, so the software sees an ATA or SCSI device. both ports are used. are now only 0.25 in. thick (Figure 1), The connectors used for SATA and while the seven-wire connector takes only SAS are derived originally from InfiniBand. The Small Form Factor (SFF) committee controls the specifications.

SATA/SAS Benefit Versions of the connector include the 7-Wire Interface SFF-8482, the high-density SFF-8484 innies providing solutions now Transmit and Receive Simple Interconnect ternal connector for four devices and the 2 LVDS Pairs on into products, technologies and companies. Whether your goal is to research the latest high-density connection Engineer,SFF-8470 or jump to a company's technicalexternal page, the goal of Get Connected is to put you Small 1/2-in.Connector Takes Less Space torwhatever for four These connectors are you require for typedevices. of technology, and productsused you areon searching for. drives, host bus adapters (HBAs) Low Voltage Differential Signaling Better Bandwidth, Roadmap to 600 Mbytes/s and expanders.

Why Change to Serial Topology?

Since existing interfaces were hitting a performance wall, signal skew and overall transfer rate are driving the change to serial topology. The ATA interface was particularly constricted due to the ATA electrical implementation.

End of Article Get Connected

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CRC Around Command and Data

More Robust Transfer

Hot Swappable

Removable with Power On

1 meter Cable Length, Extended for SATA-II to 3 meters

Extends Interconnect in the Box, > 18 in. (IDE limit)

Point-to-Point Connection

Increased Number of Drives, up to 16,000 with SCSI

SCSI Allows 2 Ports Per Drive Providing Twice the Rate or Redundancy

Higher Data Rates

Cable is Smaller and Does Not Block Airflow in the System

Better Packaging and Thermal Performance

Table 2

SATA/SAS Interface Characteristics and Benefits August 2006

Get Connected with companies mentioned in this article. www.rtcmagazine.com/getconnected

39

IndustryInsight 0.5 in. of space (Figure 2). Standard connectors for the drive side and the motherboard that support direct plug of the drive, or interconnect to a mating point-to-point cable, are also available.

Features of SAS vs. SATA

With the consolidation of the SAS and SATA physical interfaces, the benefits within each protocol have become their major differentiators.

Serial ATA devices support single hosts and SCSI devices support multiple initiators, or hosts. The SATA interface is half-duplex, while the SCSI interface is full-duplex. Native Command Queuing,

Power Connector SAS/SATA Multi-Lane Cable Assembly

SAS/SATA Four-Lane PCB Connector Right-Angle or Vertical

Hard Disk Drive Side, SAS or SATA Backplane Connector, SAS Right-Angle or Vertical

Figure 2

40

Direct mating of drive with backplane.

August 2006

Source: Molex Inc.

IndustryInsight or the ability for the drive to order workload, is a benefit of SCSI and is now being implemented in SATA-II. Serial Attached SCSI will allow dual-port, full-duplex communication, doubling the data rate to the drive. It will also be extended using expanders that allow the connection of up to 16,384 devices, with 128 drives per expander. The SCSI protocol will continue to support Advanced Command Queuing to order the data requests.

Although there are functional differences between SATA and SAS at the interface level, the interface itself is far from the main distinction between SATA and SAS devices. One of the most important aspects related to overall performance is the construction of the device itself. Characteristics such as bearing type, controller bandwidth, number of controllers and motor speed vary between these two device types and are key to the performance distinction between different interfaces.

Does SATA Replace SAS?

At this point, if the convergence of SATA and SAS extends beyond the elec-

trical and mechanical features of the interface, the design engineer should investigate available options, since SATA does not replace SAS. More specifically, ATA drives do not replace SCSI drives.

However, due to bandwidth improvements, SATA drives may be suitable for some applications that previously used SCSI drives.

SATA drives are primarily intended for desktop storage, which is the lion’s share of the storage market, as well as for near-line backup devices used in arrays.

Other uses include embedded devices and automotive applications. On the other hand, SAS or SCSI will continue to dominate the enterprise space. SCSI drives remain more robust than the SATA drives intended for the desktop. Engineers should be diligent when making comparisons, as the industry has spent years perfecting the SCSI drive solution. In the short term, the parallel SCSI drive will quickly be replaced by SAS, offering physical benefits similar to those seen with SATA. The conversion from parallel to serial storage interfaces supports high data rates and better cabling schemes. A major

feature is hot swap at the drive level. SCSI and ATA drives will now share the same connectors and cabling, making all packaging virtually the same. Consistently solid roadmaps will drive interface bandwidth toward data rates of 600 Mbytes/s.

Point-to-point hot swap connections will support scalable drive arrays, allowing the use of expanders, as well as support techniques for RAID implementation at the controller level. The new serial technology has been well thought out, providing a solid foundation for the future of storage interface applications.

ACT/Technico Ivyland, PA. (215) 957-9071. [www.acttechnico.com].

See

ACT/TECHNICO September 19, 2006

at the RTECC San Diego

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Be a VIP guest of ACT/Technico and talk to their senior technical expert at the Real-Time & Embedded Computing Conferences (in San Diego, and Los Angeles on September 21). Find out much more about the shift from parallel to serial storage interfaces and exactly why changing to serial topology will help you stay away from hitting the performance wall.

San Diego

To view the full exhibitors’ listing and all open-door technical seminars you can attend for free, go to www.rtecc.com/sandiego. Pre-register online and your badge will be waiting when you arrive. Walk-in registrations also welcome; bring your colleagues to take full advantage of this unique event.

Event hours are 8:30 am – 3:00 pm.

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Storage Interfaces

FPGAs Implement Storage Interfaces for Data Recording Systems Implementing storage interfaces for data recording and playback systems can be tricky, due to bandwidth, size and reliability constraints. A novel approach uses FPGAs as part of a complete system-on-chip solution.

by S teve Birch TEK Microsystems

End of Article Get Connected

Figure 1

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Data rates in excess of 3 Gbytes/s from a single sensor channel are not uncommon.

The second challenge is the fact that embedded applications, especially those in rugged operating environments, may be

MGT

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PPC 405 Software for FAT32 + SCSI + Fibre Channel Initialization and Management

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eal-time data recording and playFirst, sensors such as radar front ends back is an important capability or camera systems may generate very in many high-performance pro- high bandwidths of digital data, and typicessing applications, such as military cally the storage system must offer realsensor processing. To enable this ca- time recording and playback capabilities. pability, it is highly desirable to leverage the rapid technological and economic advances that have been made Fiber Optic T/R in mass-market IT applications. The demands of these applications have nies providing now Fiber Optic T/R ledsolutions to a proliferation of cost-effective, on into products, technologies and companies.

Whether your goal is to research the latest high-performance, high-capacity data tion Engineer, or jump to a company's technical page, the goal of Get Connected is to put you Serial FPDP storage with well-defined infiber links you require for whateverdevices, type of technology, basedfor.on open standards proand productsterfaces you are searching tocols such as SCSI, Fibre Channel and Serial ATA. However, typical high-performance Fibre Channel fiber links processing applications offer some speRAID cific challenges that make it more diffiFiber Optic T/R cult to extract the required performance and functionality from standard storage interface implementations. There are two RAID challenges frequently encountered in the Fiber Optic T/R high-performance sensor processing application space.

Fibre Channel I/F 2

MGT

loration our goal directly age, the ource. ology, products

IndustryInsight

Fibre Channel I/F 1

FIFO 1

An FPGA can be used to implement a system-on-chip that converts Serial FPDP to Fibre Channel storage. The orange block area represents the Fibre Channel storage interface implementation.

August 2006

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IndustryInsight

FPGA

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Processor Card with multiple FPGAs and Fiber Ports

High Speed Backplane (e.g., VXS)

RAID RAID RAID RAID

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FPGA

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Fiber Tx/RX

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Fibre Channel I/F 2

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Data Record/ playback

Backplane Interface

Fibre Channel Storage Inferface

PPC 405 Disk Management

RAID RAID RAID RAID

Sensor

Figure 2

High-bandwidth analog recording using multiple FPGAs to implement multiple Fibre Channel interfaces.

constrained in terms of size, weight and volume, as well as by the need to operate reliably over extended periods of time.

Mass-market storage interface implementations typically utilize dedicated chipsets and standard storage interface circuit boards designed to operate within server or desktop computer environments.

Deploying such devices within embedded systems will not necessarily address these systemsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; bandwidth efficiency and size constraints.

Using FPGAs to Implement Storage Interfaces

Rather than using standard chips and interface cards to implement storage interface solutions, it is possible to deploy state-of-the-art FPGAs to realize the stor44

August 2006

age interface as part of a complete system-on-chip (SoC) solution.

FPGAs are increasingly employed in high-performance processing systems to provide both a flexible interface component and a high-speed data processing resource. These devices now also include a rich set of on-chip hardware resources that can be used to build storage interfaces such as Fibre Channel, Serial ATA and InfiniBand.

For example, some devices in the Xilinx Virtex 2 Pro, Virtex 4 and Virtex 5 FPGA families contain multi-gigabit transceiver (MGT) resources. These resources can be employed to implement the physical layer of storage area interfaces such as Fibre Channel. Larger FPGA chips contain up to 20 such MGT resources, al-

lowing the implementation of multiple storage interfaces on a single device.

Devices in these FPGA families also contain embedded PowerPC processing cores that can be employed to implement the more intricate parts of the storage interface protocol layers using software.

By coupling these types of hardware resources with the very large configurable logic arrays found on FPGAs, it is possible to design storage interface implementations optimized to exactly meet the needs of the target application. This is done via custom hardware and software implemented in the FPGA. Furthermore, due to the degree of flexibility and reuse offered by implementing the storage interface entirely within the FPGA, it is relatively easy to create optimized solutions for a wide range of different real-time applications. For example, a Fibre Channel storage interface core can be deployed in one application where input data is being received from an A/D converter device. The same core could be easily retargeted for an application that receives input data from some form of highspeed digital interface.

All of this can be achieved within the confines of a single physical chip, alongside other system functionality such as digital signal processing if required.

Consequently, the FPGA approach to implementing the storage interface is also attractive in terms of its size and system reliability improvements.

Two different types of systems may be examined to show how storage interfaces on an FPGA can be used to realize data storage functionality for high-performance, real-time embedded applications with a range of constraints and requirements.

FPGAs in a Serial FPDP Compact Digital Data Recorder

Serial FPDP (SFPDP) is a popular interface standard widely used in highperformance systems. The protocol has been kept very simple in order to support high-bandwidth, low-latency transfer of data streams between remote nodes in a system. A data stream is serialized onto a fiber optic link that also enables transfer of data over long distances. A typical application of serial FPDP would be to interface a front-end sensor, such as a radar an-

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tenna located on the outside of an aircraft, to a remotely located processing or display system inside the aircraftâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cockpit.

An FPGA can be used to implement a complete system-on-chip solution that converts an SFPDP data stream to a Fibre Channel storage interface to a Fibre Channel disk or RAID system (Figure 1).

In this case, the complete system is implemented using a single FPGA device, a Xilinx Virtex II Pro P50, equipped with four fiber optic transceivers for converting the high-speed serial signals from the MGTs in the FPGA to fiber.

Firmware in the FPGA is used to provide more than one type of functionality.

It can, for example, implement the SFPDP protocol. Two sets of firmware can be instantiated, using two of the available MGTs, to achieve up to double the bandwidth available from a single SFPDP link.

Firmware can also be used to provide optional, high-speed processing of the data received or transmitted via the SFPDP interface.

A third type of functionality is the implementation of a Fibre Channel storage interface. Two MGTs are employed to provide two high-bandwidth Fibre Channel links to two hard disk systems, dou-

bling the I/O bandwidth available for realtime recording and playback.

The Fibre Channel storage interface is a well-defined subsystem inside the FPGA. It is cleanly decoupled from the rest of the system by using a FIFO buffer arrangement. The FIFO serves the dual purpose of managing the ebb and flow of data to and from the storage interface while providing a simple, easy-to-use, high-bandwidth interface to which the SFPDP application can connect its data.

The Fibre Channel storage interface function utilizes the embedded PowerPC cores in the FPGA to execute the control and management logic required for the Fibre Channel protocol and the disk filing system. These functions are well suited to software, rather than hardware, implementation due to their complexity. In addition, the processor provides sufficient performance to execute them at the rate required for the Fibre Channel protocol.

At the same time, the FPGA also provides dedicated, customized hardware data paths to allow the real-time data to be streamed directly to and from the disk systems. This optimal combination of resources in the FPGA yields a system that is extremely compact, yet sufficiently

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powerful to support real-time data transfer for many applications.

FPGAs in a Scalable Storage Interface System for Very HighBandwidth Analog Signals

There are many examples of embedded processing cards that combine very high-speed A/D and D/A converters with FPGAs to provide real-time DSP platforms for high-bandwidth signals. Realtime data recording and playback is a common requirement in such systems.

However, some currently available commercial A/D cards operate at sample rates in excess of 2 GHz, which means that a real-time data storage system may have to cope with data bandwidths in excess of 3 Gbytes/s for a single channel.

Employing multiple disk arrays in parallel is an obvious way to add more recording and playback bandwidth to the system. An FPGA implementation of the storage interface offers the possibility of multiple instantiations of the storage interface in a single chip. This delivers a compact means of providing storage interfaces to multiple disk arrays. This is enabled primarily by the availability of multiple MGT resources on a single FPGA chip, each of which can be populated with multiple instantiations of the firmware to drive it as a Fibre Channel, or other, storage interface. Further scalability via multiple FPGA devices can improve available storage bandwidth even more.

An FPGA-based implementation of the storage interface can been used to scale the recording bandwidth sufficiently to support recording and playback of data from a 2 gigasample/s A/D and D/A card (Figure 2). In this example, two commercially available cards are connected together via a high-speed interconnect such as a VXS backplane. One card hosts the A/D and D/A converters. The second card provides multiple FPGAs, each with a number of fiber optic ports connected to its MGTs, which are used to implement the storage interface functionality.

The Fibre Channel storage interface firmware is instantiated multiple times in each FPGA, to support four Fibre Channel connections to RAID disk arrays for each FPGA. The parallel RAID array arrangement provides sufficient bandwidth to support real-time recording or real-time

playback of wideband signals at 20 Gbits/s from the A/D and D/A card.

By employing the FPGA firmware implementation of the storage interface on commercially available FPGA hardware platforms, it is possible to achieve the storage bandwidth required for a very challenging real-time application.

System-on-Chip Approach Is Scalable, Boosts Reliability

Efficient implementation of storage interfaces is a challenge for real-time embedded processing systems that require real-time data recording and playback capabilities. Data bandwidths are high, and in many embedded applications, size and reliability constraints can be difficult to achieve with conventional interface cards.

A novel approach can be employed that uses FPGAs for implementing storage interfaces, such as Fibre Channel, as part of a complete system-on-chip solution. This approach has a number of advantages.

Hardware and software can both be tailored via programming to suit specific requirements, enabling high performance with low development effort. Storage interfaces become part of a single-chip solution for a complete processing system, saving space and improving reliability.

Finally, FPGAs enable multiple storage interfaces to be supported with a single chip, allowing systems to be highly scaled to meet increased bandwidth requirements.

TEK Microsystemsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; JazzStore SoC technology offers an FPGA implementation of a Fibre Channel-based data recording system (Figure 3). This SoC complements the Tekmicro Jazz and Quixilica FPGA-based hardware product ranges, allowing the provision of real-time data recording/playback functionality in a wide range of demanding real-time applications.

TEK Microsystems Chelmsford, MA. (978) 244-9200. [www.tekmicro.com].

Executive Interview

RTC Interviews

Dan Dodge, CEO QNX Software Systems RTC: Our industry has come a long way since the days when it seemed the main mission was to convince developers that it was to their advantage to use a commercial, proven real-time operating system rather than a “roll-your-own” approach for every project. How much of that mentality do you still encounter among potential customers and if it still seems significant what may be the reasons.

fast-growing, high volume or both?

How would you assess the potential for future growth in general and do you see any areas that appear to be flattening out or posing particular challenges?

Dodge: No question, the embedded

market as a whole is growing rapidly.

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tems, and the demand for such systems to support DVD playback, iPod connectivity, and flash drives containing an array of media formats has virtually exploded.

The car and the home are converging, and consumers want their vehicles to do everything that iPods and other personal lifestyle appliances do today.

Meanwhile, our netcom customers

Get Connected with technology and companies providing solutions now

Dodge: We see fewer and fewer compa- Get Connected is a new resource for further exploration nies taking the roll-your-own approach. into products, technologies and companies. Whether your goal is to research the latest datasheet from a company, speak directly They simply find it too expensive to dewith an Application Engineer, or jump to a company's technical page, the sign, develop and maintain an OS that can goal of Get Connected is to put you in touch with the right resource. tackle the phenomenal complexity of to-level of service you require for whatever type of technology, Whichever day’s embedded designs. Some engineerGet Connected will help you connect with the companies and products you are searching for. ing groups would still prefer to build their www.rtcmagazine.com/getconnected own OS, possibly because they view it as the holy grail of software development.

But from management’s point of view, it makes little sense to have developers reinvent the OS wheel, when those same developers could be creating new, valueGet Connected with technology and companies providing solutions now added applications instead.

Get Connected is a new resource for further exploration into products, technologies and companies. Whether your goal is to research the la There are some holdouts, including datasheet from a company, speak directly with an Application Engineer, or jump to a company's technical page, the goal of Get Connected companies that have large existing teams in touch with the right resource. Whichever level of service you require for whatever type of technology, Get Connected will help you connect with the companies and products you are searching for. of OS developers. Often such companies www.rtcmagazine.com/getconnected would like to switch to a commercial RTOS, but find it difficult to reassign or let go of their staff. In some cases, rollyour-own organizations are transitioning to Linux. They realize it’s become too like Intel taking the embedded space also see an opportunity. If you’re a nethard to build a new OS from scratch, so very seriously, you know that this is the working equipment vendor and you own instead they take Linux and try to spin space to watch. the edge or access point in the home, their own custom version.

One area that holds immense promhow do you avoid becoming a commodise is multimedia, and that’s because it ity overnight? The answer is to add value.

RTC: With the pervasive spread of emcrosses multiple industries, including auSo in addition to providing the Internet bedded systems and software into evtomotive, consumer, networking, medical Get Connected and erything from tape measures to spacewith companies and industrial.

Over the last five years, Get Connected products featured in this section. with companies mentioned in this article. shuttles, can you identify any particuwe’ve become the dominant player in auwww.rtcmagazine.com/getconnected www.rtcmagazine.com/getconnected lar areas that seem to be especially tomotive telematics and infotainment sys-

Products

End of Article

August 2006

49

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ExecutiveInterview access point, you could also become the home media server.

To capitalize on these trends, QNX is building a comprehensive, out-of-the-box multimedia solution—a solution that will create opportunities not just in our traditional markets, but in the consumer space as well. Manufacturers of home-theater receivers, for instance, see multimedia support as a way of adding significant value and differentiation to their products.

RTC: QNX is probably best known for its foundation technology, the QNX Neutrino microkernel RTOS. Could you share the philosophy behind the microkerneloriented architecture in general? Has it helped you expand and differentiate your product offerings while maintaining backward compatibility?

Dodge: In a monolithic OS like Linux or Windows, the kernel is overloaded with file systems, network drivers, TCP/ IP stacks, and numerous other complex components. In a microkernel OS, on the other hand, the kernel is much simpler: it provides essential coordination and communication services, and little else. Everything else is pushed out of the kernel and into user space.

This approach offers several advantages. For instance, by moving drivers, file systems and graphical user interfaces into user space, you give those components the same restart ability, reliability, and memory protection as regular applications.

The system becomes much more tolerant of faults, much easier to debug, and much easier to upgrade. In fact, you can replace something like a driver or a protocol stack without rebooting or removing the system from service—a phenomenal benefit for anyone building or operating a high-availability system.

In a conventional kernel, it’s difficult to implement changes or enhancements without disturbing the entire monolithic mass. But with a microkernel, you can build new OS services and extensions without modifying the kernel and without worrying about whether the new functionality will stomp on another piece of code.

As a result, both our developers and our customers’ developers are highly productive. In fact, I personally believe that our staff is about four times more productive

on QNX Neutrino than they would be on a monolithic OS. If the microkernel approach is so superior, why isn’t everyone else doing it?

Because writing a microkernel OS—and doing it well—is hard work. It’s taken us twenty years to really perfect our microkernel technology, and there are few companies stable enough and dedicated enough to make such an investment.

RTC: QNX has also been recognized as being in the forefront of addressing the needs of the emerging generation of multicore processors. We are seeing dual-core, quad-core and even arrays of processing cores on a single die. What are some of the most important issues facing developers who want to take advantage of these new technologies yet also preserve legacy code and port it to the new architectures? Are the approaches that QNX is taking to these issues different from what some others may be following? How and why? Will there be different methodologies for those who will be developing new code for these devices; new sets of tools?

Dodge: Developers face at least two major challenges. First, they must learn to leverage the hardware parallelism offered by multicore chipsets. The problem is, how do you take code that wasn’t designed to be parallelized and make it parallel?

Second, what do you do with code—and there’s a lot of it out there—that assumes the processor can run only one task at a time? This assumption falls apart in a multicore system, where multiple tasks can run concurrently and thereby create resource contention problems that would never occur in a uniprocessor system.

To help developers address these issues, we offer the widest range of multiprocessing options on the market today.

For instance, we offer symmetric multiprocessing, or SMP, which can dynamically load balance threads of execution across multiple cores for maximum throughput. We’ve also introduced a totally new technology called bound multiprocessing, or BMP, which lets you restrict certain threads of execution to a specific processor core. As a result, you can take legacy code that wasn’t designed for parallel execution and run it immediately on a multi-

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ExecutiveInterview

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core chip. You can then migrate that code to full multicore operation at your own pace. We also provide visualization tools that analyze complex multicore behavior and help your code achieve the highest utilization of every core.

As an added capability, we offer distributed multiprocessing, which provides seamless communications between processors connected by a bus, LAN, or other form of interconnect. Essentially, this technology allows any application on any processor to transparently access the resources—ports, protocol stacks, file systems—of any other processor. As a result, you can easily merge any number of multicore systems into a fault-tolerant cluster that delivers both massive compute power and ultra reliability. To my knowledge, we’re the only OS vendor to provide this potent mix of distributed and tightly coupled multiprocessing.

RTC: The spread of networked systems and devices is affecting everything. Even small devices are increasingly connected, which is bringing up the subject of embedded middleware.

So far we have seen it showing up increasingly in network servers, but it appears that there is a growing need for middleware-like software for use among more dedicated devices and sometimes among different processors and subsystems within a device. Is QNX planning on addressing the area of embedded middleware?

Dodge: Definitely! In fact, we have already transitioned from being an OS and tools vendor to a company that also provides a rich suite of middleware packages.

We started the process about two years ago, when we introduced technology development kits, or TDKs, to help customers tackle specific design problems. For instance, we offer TDKs for multicore systems, high-availability, advanced networking, 3D graphics and fault-tolerant flash file systems. We are continuing that trend aggressively and will soon release a suite of multimedia middleware.

Consumer appliance manufacturers, and to a lesser degree automotive suppliers, need to deliver incredibly rich functionality in progressively shorter time spans. They want more and they want it

faster. To satisfy that demand, a vendor like QNX must provide at least partly assembled software solutions that those companies can customize for specific products. Increasingly, as in the case of our multimedia middleware, we will offer solutions so comprehensive that in many cases the customer will simply tweak the user interface and a few other parameters—95% of what we deliver will remain unmodified in the end product.

RTC: Another big issue, of course, is security and QNX recently announced its Neutrino Adaptive Partitioning technology. From what I’ve read, this enables load balancing for improved efficiency as well as security. In terms of security, we’ve heard of things like “partition kernels,” “padded cells,” “rubber rooms,” etc. Will your approach also enable multiple independent levels of security (MILS) in terms of the NSA’s Common Criteria?

Dodge: From the beginning, we have delivered technology and services to customers in the high-availability market.

Companies come to us for a solution when failure is unacceptable—when even a few seconds of downtime can result in loss of safety, income or reputation.

To succeed in this market, we work from the fundamental premise that there is no such thing as a bug-free system.

As systems become more complex, you have to assume that the code will contain bugs and that, under some circumstances, the code will fail. So we provide an environment that lets your system sustain failure, heal itself, and continue running.

About a year and a half ago, we introduced a concept called the reliability triangle. The first point in the triangle represents memory protection, or dynamic object protection. In other words, our OS not only prevents processes from corrupting one another’s memory, but also imposes limits on the number of kernel objects that a process can allocate. As a result, a runaway process can’t exhaust resources and drag down the entire system.

The second point, called persistent store, refers to file systems. We put a tremendous amount of effort into building ultra-reliable file systems that can provide

ExecutiveInterview data integrity even when the system encounters an unexpected power failure.

The third point is time protection, which is addressed by QNX Neutrino Adaptive Partitioning. Using this technology, the system designer can place secure compartments, or partitions, around software subsystems and allocate a guaranteed share of CPU time to each partition. That way, critical applications can continue to run, even if a rogue process or denial of service attack attempts to monopolize all of the CPU. Unlike conventional partitioning schedulers, Adaptive Partitioning works with existing POSIX and QNX-based applications. There’s no need to rewrite code or employ special APIs. So you can levermcs_rtc_ad_8-06.qxp 8/11/2006 1:30

age the benefits of time partitioning right out of the box. Also, Adaptive Partitioning can achieve substantially higher CPU utilization than conventional fixed partition schedulers. That translates into better performance and lower system costs.

Together, these three points give your system a serious ability to limit damage.

Combine them with the QNX Neutrino microkernel, with its ability to tolerate faults and restart services, and your system gains an unparalleled capacity to detect, contain and recover from software errors.

RTC: What are QNX’s activities and/or position in regard to the open source community?

PM Page 1

Dodge: It depends on how you define open source. For instance, if you look at the Eclipse C/C++ development tools project, we have contributed more source than all other companies combined. So from that perspective, there’s no question: we are strong supporters of open source.

That said, we don’t support what we call contaminated source. By that I mean source that looks open but is governed by a license that makes it difficult, if not impossible, for companies to deploy the source in their products—the GPL is a classic example. In comparison, a source license such as the EPL, which governs Eclipse, makes it easier to combine the advantages of open source with the need for companies to protect, and profit from, their hard-won intellectual property.

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August 2006

53

ExecutiveInterview RTC: When we try to estimate markets in the hardware world, such as the VME market, the PC/104 market and the like, we do things like count the numbers of units (connectors, processors, boards, etc.) shipped and come up with some numbers. Obviously, there are companies doing quite well in embedded software. However, they have different business models and different revenue streams related to software, such as support, sale of tools, etc. Is there any way to reliably estimate the size or growth rate in the “embedded software market” or the companies playing in that market in terms that would be comparable?

Dodge: This is probably going to be my shortest answer! Seriously, everyone has a slightly different way of assessing the market—for one thing, not everyone agrees as to what is, or isn’t, an embedded system.

So coming up with hard, universally acceptable numbers is inherently difficult.

That said, QNX has been experiencing solid, double-digit growth, and we see no end to that trend.

RTC: About two years ago, QNX was acquired by Harman International.

Has this relationship resulted in opening opportunities in particular areas?

How has the synergy of the acquisition influenced the growth of QNX? And finally, can you give us some feel for where the company will be going in the future as well as a sense of the future direction of the industry?

Dodge: Our relationship with Harman has generated major opportunities in a number of areas. For one thing, it has created a more stable revenue stream, which has allowed us to increase R&D and ramp up our sales and marketing outreach.

Some people believed, erroneously, that Harman’s competitors would drop QNX. But we haven’t lost a single customer. And the reason is simple: We continue to provide those customers the same technology and high-quality support that we provide to Harman. In fact, many customers have come to us and said that their relationship with QNX has actually improved since the acquisition.

From the beginning, Harman wanted us to continue selling our technology to the open market, as an independent operating system vendor—and we have done exactly that. As such, QNX will continue to serve its existing markets, including networking, automotive, industrial automation, COTS and medical.

We will also continue our focus on innovation. For instance, we’ve added a new dimension to the reliability triangle I described earlier—it’s now a reliability tetrahedron (laughs). Basically, embedded devices are no longer static, fixed-function devices, but systems that must evolve and improve over time.

Therefore, we’ve added a new point called updatability. We’re now spending a lot of energy to develop reliable mechanisms that will enable in-service upgrades of virtually everything—probably even the OS kernel itself. That may sound incredible to some, but innovation is embedded in the core DNA of this company. We’ve always believed that, if you want to lead the industry, you have to create unique value no one else can offer.

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Software&Development Tools High Availability

Embedded Databases are Becoming More Essential for High Availability Almost all embedded applications have to store data, even if only fairly Ad Index static configuration data, but many have to handle dynamic data and make it available to many components of the overall application.

Get Connected with technology and companies providing solutions now

by N igel DayGet Connected is a new resource for further exploration into products, technologies and companies. Whether your goal Enea Embedded Technology

A

is to research the latest datasheet from a company, speak directly with an Application Engineer, or jump to a company's technical page, the goal of Get Connected is to put you in touch with the right resource.

Whichever level of service you require for whatever type of technology, fairly Get loose definition refers a Connected will of help “embedded you connect withsystem” the companies and to products hardware-based product with a substantial software eleyou are searching for.

ACID Compliance

ment dedicated to a specific application and where a large www.rtcmagazine.com/getconnected Atomicity - the system requires operations to be batched into number of units are to be deployed or sold. In such systems, it is “transactions” - if any part of a transaction fails for any reaimportant to keep down deployment costs, minimize the amount son, the database system aborts the whole transaction, and of initial and ongoing manual administration required, and keep the database reverts to its previous state. reliability high. We will concentrate on those with particular Consistency - each transaction must take the database from needs for high availability, where the overall service must conGet Connected with technology and companies providingone solutions now state to another consistent state, where “conconsistent tinue despite the failure of an individual component.

Get Connected is a new resource for further exploration into products, technologies and companies. goal is to research thebylatest sistency” means obeyingWhether a setyour of rules (enforced the daThe main purpose of an embedded database is to store the datasheet from a company, speak directly with an Application Engineer, or jump to system). a company's technical page, the goal of Get Connected is to put you tabase permanent data inthat a complete system failure, touchhas withto the survive right resource.

Whichever level of service you require for whatever type of technology, such as configuration information. a database has beenand ad-products you Get Connected will helpOnce you connect with the companies are searching for.

Isolation - Separate transactions should not interact; the efopted, it www.rtcmagazine.com/getconnected can be used for a variety of other state information: fect should be as if everything were “serialized.” clients can retrieve information as they need it, or it can be the Durability - if the database system has accepted and acmain way of passing information from one client to the other knowledged a transaction, the effects will not get lost - even ones that need it. Having state information in the database may through a degree of system failure. also simplify remote inspection of the state of the system. Even if you choose not to allow this in production systems, it can be a Figure 1 Compliance with ACID requirements is essential useful debugging mechanism. for the functioning of an embedded database.

The main reason for adopting COTS database technology is the same as that for adopting any COTS technology: cost. This shows up in many aspects, including reduced development time, the database software will be part of an HA solution in a system reduced maintenance costs and the need for fewer specialist that must offer “five nines” availability (99.999%) or higher. skills in Connected the development team. and While volume of data may be relatively small and indiGet with companies Getthe Connected products featured in this section.

As with all COTS technology, the emphasis must be that vidual alterations affect only ainfew records, the rate of change may with companies mentioned this article. www.rtcmagazine.com/getconnected the chosen product is appropriate to one’s needs, otherwise costs be high,www.rtcmagazine.com/getconnected and data needs to be quickly accessible. The data must be will actually increase rather than decrease. Some fairly obvious preserved with no loss in the face of a component failure, and the criteria are that the database system is fast enough for the needs more critical data must survive a more severe system failure. of the application, and it must be available under an affordable Get Connected with companies mentioned in this article. license allowing distribution as part of an embedded system. In www.rtcmagazine.com/getconnected Get Connected with companies and products featured in this section. addition, there are a number of technical factors involved when

Products

End of Article

www.rtcmagazine.com/getconnected

August 2006

57

Software&DevelopmentTools The data structures, queries and types of alteration are relatively static in a deployed system. However, they will change frequently during application development, and when deploying new versions of the application.

The redundancy model for the database management system (DBMS) should match the model used for other aspects of the embedded system, so that the mechanisms can be coordinated or integrated. Additionally, field upgrades to the DBMS should not require scheduled downtime of the overall service. The system should minimize the amount of database coding needed specifically to handle the HA configuration and the application should be scalable, avoiding performance killers such as polling. board 1

board 2 DBMS

Persistent Data

Arbiter task Function call: What mode?

System software, hardware-supported

Figure 2

DBMS

“Arbitration Service” for DBMS

Persistent Data

Arbiter task Function call: What mode?

System software, hardware-supported

Example of an arbitration mechanism building on board-supplied data to determine master/standby status.

Redundancy

To provide high availability, there must be a degree of redundancy. The idea behind redundancy is to use extra components to allow the overall system to operate in the face of various failures.

The type of failures one wishes to survive vary from system to system, but a common choice is to be able to survive the failure of any single component, and to be able to resume a resilient mode when that component is replaced or restarted. Redundancy introduces certain problems of its own, including mode determination, initial synchronization after a cold boot, failure detection and fast switchover, and resynchronization on failure recovery—and all the time ensuring minimal performance degradation when operating normally.

When talking about HA database systems in general, the usual solution is to adopt a cluster approach. Here, the overall database service is spread over a number of machines. Such systems allow the processing load to be distributed, with no need for a “master.” All the database servers can handle transactions, though they will have to synchronize with each other to maintain the ACID principles (Figure 1). In some cases the data will be shared with no server having a complete copy, which can make for highly scalable systems.

There are some drawbacks to the clustering approach, the main one being hardware cost. It is normal to have at least three independent machines so that software algorithms can detect component failure. There are also performance penalties. Not only does each transaction require interactions between all machines before the transaction can be confirmed as acceptable, but 58

August 2006

in the absence of special hardware support, the timeouts involved usually have to be quite long, leading to significant delays when a failure does occur.

By contrast, the usual redundancy model used in embedded systems is that of the hot standby: a system has two boards acting in partnership, with one ready to take over at a moment’s notice if the other fails. In such a system, each board has to be able to carry the whole load by itself in case of failure, and so load sharing techniques are not necessary.

In any two-machine (or two-board) fault-tolerant configuration, whether or not database software is being used, both machines need to know which should be master and which should be standby (Figure 2). This requires some special hardware that can be 100% trusted. This hardware could be a fully reliable network, including cards and stacks, but more commonly the system designer will provide a solution such as electronic hardware latches controlled by watchdog software running in each board.

Each board designer will take responsibility for implementing an appropriate solution and providing status functions that can be used by other software components to determine the master/standby status of the board. Additionally, all COTS software needing to know the FT status should make use of or integrate with such status routines.

Thus, when a database starts up on a machine, it needs to determine whether it is master or standby. In the latter case, rather than using the state of the local database file(s), it needs to find and synchronize with the master server, and then track changes in the other database so that it remains in step and thus ready to take over within a moments notice.

The fact that fault tolerance is important in a particular application does not make speed any less important. Also, as the overall system continues through a failover (that’s the whole point!) all information in the database has to be made available in the standby, regardless of whether it is the kind of data that only has to survive a full system restart. If a DBMS allows both disk-based and (for speed) memory-based tables in fault-tolerant configurations, both memory-based and disk-based data needs to be replicated for safety.

Upgradeability

Field upgrades to deployed systems will normally involve changes to the application code, which in turn may require changes to the structure of the database. In some cases it may be enough to add new tables to support new features, and every relational database system should allow this to be done on the fly. Normally, though, more complex changes are needed. In a telecom infrastructure application, for example, a new type of line card for a network switch might need (or allow) extra configuration information, which is best handled by adding extra columns to existing tables in the database.

When the line card is plugged in, if the DBMS allows “schema migration,” the software on the line card can ensure the extra columns are present in the configuration database for the rack with no need to stop the system. Other parts of the system should be able to continue running without modification, so there is little or no disruption to the overall system. Then, once the management software running on the monitoring terminal(s) has

Software&DevelopmentTools been upgraded to allow operators to specify values for the new fields, one can immediately take advantage of the new features.

Field upgrades may also need new versions of the COTS software—perhaps because the new application takes advantage of new features of the COTS product(s). To achieve this on a twoboard system without stopping the whole service, one would take down the standby, install the new software and bring it up again as standby, before promoting it to master and upgrading the other board. For this to work, upgraded COTS database software on the upgraded standby has to be able to work with the older software running on the to-be-upgraded master.

HA Databases and Other Middleware

Database software is only one example of the middleware code that is becoming available to systems designers to help them produce their HA system. A recent trend is the appearance of “high-availability frameworks,” such as the Element product from Enea, which handle much of the routine administrative tasks needed in an HA system. These tasks include location services and location-independent messaging and notification services, as well as event logging and chassis/platform management.

Such software needs to interact with database systems in two ways. First, at a core level, the framework needs to be able to control the database service—starting up and monitoring the various processes involved, telling these processes whether they should be in master or standby mode, telling them about partner processes on other machines, and controlling switchover. The database software should be able to make use of the messaging system provided by

Ottawa October 3

the framework so that client applications need not be concerned about the location of database access points (which may or may not be remote), and also so that they automatically adapt to any transport mechanism underlying the messaging system.

The second level of interaction is the other way around. The more complex facilities in the HA framework can make use of the database to store configuration, status and other information, both for their own use and for the data the framework manages on behalf of the application software. While it is possible to buy HA databases and HA management frameworks independently, there are obvious advantages in choosing those for which integration can be demonstrated.

As embedded projects increase in complexity, the use of COTS becomes more important. Embedded databases are now a mature technology. By centralizing data they simplify information storage and information flows, making it easier to extend and adapt projects. Techniques such as active queries improve scalability by avoiding the need for polling. For high-availability systems, fault-tolerant database systems provide continuity when a failover occurs, and can even allow field updates of the DBMS software or the applications using it without the need for scheduled downtime. As always, it is important to choose the products you use to meet your needs, but embedded COTS databases are a technology whose time has come.

Enea Embedded Technology San Jose, CA. (408) 383-9480. [www.enea.com].

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August8/18/06 2006 2:17:54 PM 59

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Software&Development Tools High Availability

Replicated Databases Achieve High Availability in Real-Time Systems Combining a DDS publish-subscribe data communication model with an in-memory database makes data available to applications in real time, enabling high availability yet maintaining a clean Get Connected with technology and boundarycompanies between and system data. providingapplication solutions now

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Get Connected is a new resource for further exploration into products, technologies and companies. Whether your goal to research the latest datasheet from a company, speak directly D avid isBarnett with an Application Engineer, or jump to a company's technical page, the Real-Time Innovations goal of Get Connected is to put you in touch with the right resource.

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pplications that depend on the real-time use of databases www.rtcmagazine.com/getconnected Distributed Distributed SQL pose particular challenges when it comes to achieving high Node Node SQL DDS availability. Traditional databases are not able to provide Global Data Space the quick failover or high performance required by most realDistributed Distributed time applications. Integrating the real-time Data Distribution DDS DDS Node Node Service (DDS) with an in-memory database, however, can proDBMS 1 DBMS n Get Connected with technology and companies providing solutions now vide an efficient means of keeping data coherent across multiple Get Connected is a new resource for further exploration into products, technologies and companies. Whether your goal is to research the latest nodes while providing high-performance access through standatasheet from a company, speak directly with an Application Engineer, or jump to a company's technical page, the goal of Get Connected is to put you 1 The use of the data distribution service (DDS) dard interfaces. in touch with the right resource. Whichever level of service you requireFigure for whatever type of technology, turns for. a network of data sources and users into IntegratingGet a database with real-time many Connected will ahelp you connectsystem with the opens companies and products you are searching a global data space with a structure that is potential applications in information management. A real-time www.rtcmagazine.com/getconnected transparent to applications software, including factory control system, for example, could load productivity and database management systems (DBMS), and materials-usage data into a database that an enterprise system that allows the redundancy essential for highcould query in order to estimate production volumes and supply availability systems. needs. A telecommunications system might use the database to gather usage information for real-time accounting in pay-as-yougo data services. In both cases, however, the integrated systems the use of a central server creates a single point of failure. For must operate in a highly reliable fashion. Shutting down the realreal-time systems, the bandwidth overhead of both serving clitime system means lost revenue at the very least, and losing the ent requests and accepting new data on a single bus can quickly database can have many ramifications. become unsupportable. That bus is also a potential single point In order to provide a database in a real-time application that of failure. requires reliability, a systemand needs a means of quickly disGet high Connected with companies Get Connected products featured in thisredundant section. tributing data among processors and possibly across BuildingwithRedundant Databases companies mentioned in this article. www.rtcmagazine.com/getconnected www.rtcmagazine.com/getconnected redundant networks. Unfortunately, conventional database strucMaking a client-server database structure fully redundant tures follow a client-server model, with a central storehouse with failover capability can be a formidable design challenge that maintaining the database and providing clients with information in response to queries.

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This structure is a poor candidate for both high-availabilwww.rtcmagazine.com/getconnected Get Connected with companies and products featured in this section. ity and real-time designs. From the high-availability standpoint,

Products

End of Article

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August 2006

61

Software&DevelopmentTools would require extensive programming effort. In addition, the result would have a proprietary interface, making it costly to develop and maintain applications. The design challenges become even more acute when the database must operate under real-time constraints.

Fortunately, there now exists middleware that greatly simplifies the inclusion of databases in high-availability real-time systems: the Object Management Group’s Data Distribution Service (DDS). This middleware manages communications among redundant processors under a publish-subscribe model.

It allows for dynamic discovery of data resources and supports a variety of transport mechanisms for design flexibility. It also allows the use of shared memory and supports multicast data.

Collectively, these features and the publish-subscribe model create a “global data space” in which the flow of information occurs without applications needing an awareness of the underlying physical structure.

The DDS standard has many built-in features that support high-availability system design. One of the most powerful is that it supports redundant data sources (publishers), redundant data users (subscribers) and multiple concurrent networks.

Publishers and subscribers are anonymous, so that the behavior of a given unit in the system does not depend on being connected to a specific board or through a specific network.

The unit only needs to subscribe to data sources and register its own subscribers to be linked in the system through every applicable channel.

DDS Application DDS

API Global Data Space

DDS

DDS DBMS Bridge Stores outgoing and incoming DDS data from the global data space into a DBMS

DBMS DDS Bridge Sends and receives DBMS changes via DDS DBMS SQL

API

DBMS Application

Figure 2

62

Connecting a database management system (DBMS) through the data distribution service (DDS) involves the use of bridge software that handles the receipt of published data and the publishing of changes to the database.

August 2006

Adding Fault Tolerance

DDS also offers a real-time quality of service (QoS) control feature that greatly simplifies the creation of a faulttolerant system. If the system contains both a primary and a backup data source, for example, implementing failover from one to the other becomes a straightforward matter of assigning a higher QoS “Strength” to the primary unit’s data. Both primary and backup units could then operate concurrently, each publishing its own data. The data users will ignore the lower-priority data from the backup unit unless the primary unit fails to publish its data in a timely fashion. When the primary unit is late—presumably because of its failure—the data user automatically starts accepting the backup unit’s data. The backup unit does not change its behavior although it has now moved into the primary role. Failover is thus immediate and automatic.

By itself, DDS is sufficient for applications that only require sequential or content-filtered access to historic data. Applications that need structured yet flexible data access, however, need to have the support of a relational database. Integrating such a database into a DDS system is feasible through direct DDS to SQL mapping. Moreover, the approach described here also directly supports databases in high-availability systems.

One key to creating a real-time, high-availability database is to use an in-memory approach to data storage. The low cost per bit of today’s memory devices makes an in-memory database management system (DBMS) affordable for databases of considerable size. Keeping the database in active memory rather than on a mass-storage device greatly speeds both the update and query processes, making the approach more suitable to real-time applications.

There are two reasons for the speed-up that in-memory databases offer. One is that in-memory databases do not have to access a mechanical storage medium. The other is that they do not need to maintain a cache (since, effectively, they are a cache). Copying data to and from the cache and then back to the storage medium whenever there is an update eats up a lot of transfer bandwidth. Traditional databases must do this each time they process data, even if the processing is entirely in memory.

In-memory databases do not need to move any data around. They simply provide the application with a pointer to use.

With DDS and in-memory databases, the stage is set for a system that offers a global data space rather than centralized data. As shown in Figure 1, the system can include many nodes, some of which contain databases. DDS allows nodes that need to use the database to publish requests, while the nodes that contain the databases publish responses. Just where the databases are located makes no difference in the transaction.

Database Hot Standby

The global data space approach greatly simplifies the creation of a hot-standby option for databases. Because all of the data going into the databases is being published, multiple copies of a database receive the same information at the same time, automatically keeping the copies coherent. If one database fails, others automatically take over as described above. When a new database node comes on line, or a failed node gets restarted, the

Web Services

DDSQL

Software&DevelopmentTools

Soap/XML .NET .JSP

SkyBoard

DDS

Sub

DDSQL

Pub

Global Data Space

Figure 3

JMS Enterprise

SkyBoard

Pub

JMS

Support for standard database interfaces allows an enterprise system and its applications to work with data generated in a real-time system without compromising the real-time system performance.

system can simply copy over the current database from another node. This eliminates the need to maintain separate transaction logs, although logging can be used to capture transactions for later failure analysis if desired.

A bridge can be used to link a database to the DDS network.

This bridge, shown in Figure 2, has two parts. The DDS-DBMS bridge monitors the application’s published data and incoming subscribed data. It automatically stores data in the database.

The DBMS-DDS bridge manages the automatic publication of changes that a node makes to its tables, whether those changes come from external sources or, when the node is both a data source and a data user, from internal sources. A change filter mechanism ensures that any incoming changes that a node has already applied are filtered out. This prevents the changes that a second database publishes in response to receiving the first database’s changes from triggering the first database again. In effect, the change filter serves as feedback cancellation.

With the bridges in place, the high-availability and realtime features are completely transparent to application software. This transparency allows developers to use a pure structured query language (SQL) programming model for accessing the databases. No knowledge of DDS or the database replication infrastructure is required of the application programmer.

Similarly, the bridges isolate the data sources in the system from the database interface. Data source applications simply publish their data and the bridge ensures that the data enters the database properly.

Bridging Enterprise to Real-Time

A representative system design blending DDS with inmemory databases, shown in Figure 3, illustrates how the approach can bridge real-time embedded applications and enter-

prise applications. The embedded systems gather and publish data to the database. The replicated copy of the database then links to the enterprise through standard DBMS interfaces and applications, ensuring that the enterprise systems have automatically updated copies of the real-time data available for their use. The decoupling of real-time and enterprise applications allows the real-time system to maintain deterministic timing while moving large quantities of data over non-deterministic network transports.

Converting this design to a high-availability system requires little more than adding redundant nodes and channels.

The only programming required is to specify the priority of data for each node and a “heartbeat” time for detecting when a node has failed. The DDS publish-subscribe model automatically handles the connections among nodes, and the priority definitions ensure failover from primary to backup node operation.

The combination of DDS and an in-memory database thus represents a relatively simple way of creating a powerful datagathering system that operates in real time with high reliability.

The separation that DDS allows between the real-time and the database applications keeps software development costs low and simplifies software maintenance. The structure also provides the flexibility needed to add system resources and new data transport channels without impacting the elements already in place.

Real-Time Innovations Santa Clara, CA. (408) 200-4700. [www.rti.com].

August 2006

63

Products&Technology Software Radio XCVR Module Boosts FPGA, Memory, A/D

Engineers designing IF and RF communication systems are dealing with more complex waveforms, more channels in radar and beam forming applications and communication systems with wider bandwidths. These drive the need for better DSP processing performance, high-speed interconnects and increased data sampling rates. The Model 7142 PMC software radio transceiver module from Pentek fills the bill with four 14-bit 125 MHz A/D converters coupled to two Virtex-4 FPGAs. The Virtex-4 SX55 handles signal processing or routing to other resources, which include a Virtex-4 FX that handles I/O, a DC-to-160 MHz digital upconverter, a 16-bit 500 MHz D/A converter and 768 Mbytes of DDR2 SDRAM. The FX device includes a PCI bus interface with 9-channel DMA controller and a VITA 42-compliant XMC dual 4x gigabit serial interface.

IP can be added to the SX55 FPGA via the SX55 design kit. The FX design kit allows installation of IP cores for various gigabit switched serial fabrics. An optional version of the Model 7142 replaces the SX55 with the LX100 FPGA for applications requiring a maximum number of logic slices. Five ruggedization levels are available. Price starts at $13,500.

Pentek, Upper Saddle River, NJ. (201) 818-5900. [www.pentek.com].

Development Tool Now Incorporates New SysML Support

Data Acquisition Processor Board Boasts Fast Sampling

Engineers developing data acquisition applications under Windows that need fast 16-bit sampling and significant processing will welcome a new data acquisition processor board. The DAP 5216a/627 from Microstar Laboratories runs a real-time OS and can be controlled from PC software.

The board includes a 400 MHz CPU and acquires 16-bit data at 500k samples/s. DAPstudio can be used to configure the DAP board to perform the application’s low-level, real-time tasks, and to run the complete application. The board can also be configured and controlled from LabVIEW, MATLAB and other third-party software, as well as from C++, VB and other applications that allow DLL calls.

The DAP 5216a/627 includes 16 analog inputs, 2 analog outputs, 16 digital inputs and 16 digital outputs. External rackmounted hardware can extend these channel counts to 512, 66, 128 and 1024, respectively. The board can convert one million values per second with 16-bit resolution on each of the two onboard analog outputs. Maximum digital input and output rates are 2 Msamples/s on all 16 channels each way, even when running concurrently. The onboard AMD K6-III+ processor allows fast real-time processing. Low latency, 0.1 ms task time quantum, delivers fast response. The board costs $3,995.

Microstar Laboratories, Bellevue, WA. (425) 453-2345. [www. mstarlabs.com].

The SysML software standard represents a subset of UML 2.0 with extensions to satisfy the needs of systems engineers. A new tool from Artisan Software Tools, Artisan Studio 6.1, provides support for requirements modeling, one of the principal extensions introduced by SysML, which The Object Management Group (OMG) announced as formally adopted on July 6th, 2006.

The new out-of-the-box solution supports a range of safety-related process standards such as DO178B for avionics software, IEC/DIN/EN 61508 for automotive and other safety-critical applications, CENELEC DIN/EN 50126, 50128, 50129 for railway transportation and DO254 for hardware. The new SysML Requirements Profile (RP) brings textual requirements to the UML world by making use of Artisan Studio’s Ergonomic Profiling capabilities to provide new menus, diagrams and a browser for exploring systems requirements and traceability relationships. It also supports a wide external tool chain allowing textual requirements to be displayed and traced inside the UML/SysML model and synchronization with requirements held in external tools such as DOORS, RequisitePro, Word, Excel and Access.

Artisan Studio 6.1 also supports the OMG’s concept of Model Driven Architecture (MDA) with a practical and usable solution that provides a fast, single-step process for transforming state machines into code. Artisan’s Template Development Kit (TDK) provides groundbreaking technology for configuring the model-to-code transformations to support in-house standards, key hardware/software constraints, target-ready code and reusable design patterns.

EPIC Embedded Computer Board with AMD Geode LX800

Artisan Software Tools, Cheltenham, UK. +44 (0) 1242 229300. [www.artisansw.com].

Digital-Logic, San Diego, CA. (858) 490-0597. [www.adlogic-pc104.com].

64

August 2006

A compact SBC uses a fan-less Geode LX800 processor running at 500 MHz using only 0.9W and is based on the open EPIC standard of the PC/104 consortium. The Microspace EPIC 800 from Digital-Logic supports DDR SDRAM main memory from 256 Mbytes up to 1 Gbyte. A panel of converters provides all standard PC interfaces such as four USB 2.0 ports, two serial interfaces as RS-232C/422/485, dual LAN with 100/10Base-T-Ethernet and 1 Gbit Ethernet and VGA. Inside of the board, there are connections for one floppy disk, one P-ATA hard disk, two other serial interfaces as RS232C, LPT1, two PS2, 24 digital I/O channels and eight channels of 10-bit analog input.

For display, this EPIC board uses the UMA graphic controller of the Geode LX with up to 16 Mbytes VRAM for VGA and 18/24-bit LCD. This controller can display the same image on two monitors. With the optional multimedia module MSEP800CONM, an AC97-compatible stereo sound and DVI-D are available. With another option this board provides three channels CVBS video input. The MSEP800 is compatible with every standard Pentium PC and runs all common operating systems, such as Windows XP, QNX, Linux, etc. The MSEP800 is available in a cost-effective basic model and with extension modules especially for multimedia and industrial applications. It is targeted for military, telecommunications, medical, security technology and image processing applications.

Versatile VME SBC Suits Variety of Applications and Environments

A family of VME single board computers offers a choice of processors, from the low-power 1.0 GHz Intel Celeron M ULV 373 processor up to the high-performance 1.8 GHz Intel Pentium M processor 745. The VP33x/02x family from Concurrent Technologies also offers a wide variety of I/O features. The RoHS-compliant boards are targeted for a broad range of commercial applications. For harsher applications, extended temperature options enable operation over -40° to +85°C or over -25° to +70°C. Typical applications for these RoHS-compliant products are expected to be within the defense, security, telemetry, industrial control, scientific, and aerospace markets.

All variants of the product family provide an EIDE interface (up to UDMA100) that is accessible via the P2 connector.

A wealth of I/O is available on the boards: the front panel supports dual PMC I/O, analog graphics, keyboard and mouse interfaces and an RS-232 interface. The rear connector supports 64 data bits I/O for each PMC site, an EIDE interface, a USB 2.0 interface and a floppy disk interface. The I/O can be further extended by the addition of PMC modules using either of the two onboard 64-bit 66 MHz PMC sites.

Each PMC site supports 3.3V or 5V PCI signaling. Two further PMC sites can be added using a second slot PMC carrier board. The VP 33x/02x family of boards supports many of today’s leading operating systems, including VxWorks, Linux, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP Embedded, Windows XP, RTX, QNX, Solaris and LynxOS. Pricing for the Celeron M version starts at $3,349.

Concurrent Technologies, Ann Arbor, MI. (734) 971-6309. [www.gocct.com].

1/10 GbE VME Switch/Router Is Industry’s Densest

To transform legacy bus-based VME systems into high-performance, network-ready switched systems usually takes a lot of hardware and a lot of work. A high-density 6U VME64x Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) multilayer switch from Curtiss-Wright can perform this task cost-effectively.

The SVME/DMV-682 FireBlade GbE multilayer switch delivers 24 x 1 GbE ports and 2 x 10 GbE ports in a single VME slot. Each of the 24 1 GbE interfaces can individually auto-negotiate 10/100/1000 Mbit/s operation in a non-blocking manner. The FireBlade is available with GbE port counts of 12, 20 and 24. Four of these ports can be configured as Fast Ethernet (10BaseT/100BaseTX) to the rear panel, GbE Ethernet (10BaseT/100BaseTX/1000BaseT) to the front panel, or optical fiber (1000BaseSX) to the front. Each version of the FireBlade is available in either fully managed or unmanaged versions.

Network management interfaces include CLI, Telnet, SNMP and Web. Complete layer 2 switching, layer 3 routing, QoS, IP multicasting and security software over either IPv4 or IPv6, extensive BIT capability and secure memory erase are supported. Air-cooled and conduction-cooled configurations are available. Pricing starts at $7,999.

Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing, Dayton, OH. (937) 252-5601. [www.cwcembedded.com].

Windows CE 5.0 Development Kit on EBX Platform

A CPU Development Kit for Windows CE 5.0 includes a pre-built Windows CE image, allowing new users to begin application work immediately. The operating system image includes a component set allowing for a wide range of possible applications. The SBC-GX533 kit from Arcom features the single board computer on which configuration has already been completed with Microsoft Platform Builder for specific onboard devices, saving weeks or even months of low level development effort.

The SBC-GX533 is a low-profile, fan-less, RoHS-compliant, EBX form-factor board based on the 400 MHz AMD Geode GX533 1.1W processor. It includes all standard PC interfaces and a full range of multimedia features with fast, high resolution support for analog displays or digital TFT panels. The on-chip floating-point processor supports numerically intensive applications such as audio processing. The board Get Connected with technology and also has a PC/104-Plus site forcompanies I/O expansion.

Thesolutions board hasnow 512 Mbyte providing DDR DRAM as well as the 32 Mbyte flash memory. A 6.5” color TFT Get Connected is a new resource for further exploration and analog touch screen are optionally available. There is also a full into products, technologies and companies. Whether your goal cable set, an AC power issupply and the a comprehensive Development Kit directly to research latest datasheet from a company, speak CD containing development tools Engineer, including Embedded Visualtechnical C++ 4.0, with an Application or jump to a company's page, the product documentation, code samples and demonstrations. kit resource. is goal of Get Connected is to put you in touch with The the right priced at $997. Whichever level of service you require for whatever type of technology,

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Arcom, Overlandyou Park, KS. (913) 549-1000. [www.arcom.com]. are searching for.

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Versatile Network Appliance Is RoHS-Compliant

Developers of network security and other network-based applications for small and medium-sized businesses need a flexible development platform for a variety of solutions that can be scaled up in the future.

Get Connected with technology and companies providing A scalable network appliance from Connected is a new resource for further exploration into products WIN Enterprises doesGetexactly datasheet from a company, speak directly with an Application Engineer, or that. in touch with the right resource. Whichever level of service you require for The PL-01027 Get is a Connected compact, will help you connect with the companies and products yo 1U desktop appliance that can be www.rtcmagazine.com/getconnected used in several roles, including policy gateway, wireless security gateways, content filtering devices, network attached storage (NAS) and firewalls. It is architected using the VIA C7/Eden processor with VIA CN700 and the VIA VT8237R chipset. A variety of VIA processors are available to meet a range of application requirements, including 400 MHz, 1 GHz and 1.5 GHz. Interfaces include four 10/100 Mbit/s PCI bus Ethernet ports with two ports bypass function, one USB 2.0 port, one console port, one mini PCI expansion socket and one 50-pin CompactFlash type II socket. The PL-01027 supports an E-ATA/SATA HDD and is RoHS-compliant. Options include Compact Flash.

Dimensions are 9.1 in. x 6 in. x 1.7 in.

Get Connected with companies and Pricing inproducts singlefeatured units starts at $389 for the 400 MHz VIA processor in this section. version. Price does not include memory and hard drive. Quantity diswww.rtcmagazine.com/getconnected counts are available.

E

Products

WIN Enterprises, N. Andover, MA. (978) 688-2000. [www.win-ent.com].

Get Connected with companies and products featured in this section. www.rtcmagazine.com/getconnected

August 2006

65

Products&Technology

True Dual-Processor VXS 4.3 SBC Runs 2.0 GHz Pentium Ms

A new dual processor single board computer (SBC) for aerospace and military applications incorporates a true dual independent processor architecture. The V469 Patriot from General Micro Systems utilizes two independent M-760 Pentium M processors that are completely decoupled and offer 100 percent redundancy, including power, cooling and I/O. Each half, operating at 2.0 GHz with 2 Mbytes of L2 cache and 533 MHz front-side bus, has its own Fibre Channel connection with boot capability. The two halves communicate via a direct Gigabit Ethernet link. Independent high-speed communication by either half to the rest of the system or multiple Patriots is also accomplished via independent Gigabit Ethernet facilities through the VITA 41.3 VXS connector.

Other features on each side include up to 8 Gbytes of 266 MHz RDDR memory with ECC configured in 128-bit wide, compared to the standard 64-bit wide DDR 200 MHz of other Pentium M designs. This unique memory design supports fast DMA operations between the system memory and the board’s high-speed I/O devices.

Standard I/O functions on each side of the Patriot are dual Gigabit Ethernet ports with copper or Fibre interface; 2 Gigabit, full duplex Fibre Channel with 2 Mbytes of SRAM buffer and Flash BIOS to support boot capabilities; quad USB 2.0 dual serial ports; and XVGA video, UDMA IDE interface. Support for the Patriot is available under Windows XP/2000, VxWorks and Linux. Power consumption is typically 70W. Quantity 100 pricing starts at $4,700.

PMC Has GbE, FireWire Support

In the defense market, engineers want the flexibility to accommodate the widest possible range of peripherals. The PMCD3 rugged multifunction PMC from Radstone Embedded Computing lets them do exactly that.

The PMCD3, which is 64-bit/133 MHz PCI-xcapable, provides up to five Ethernet ports in total (three copper and two optical), three of which can be active at any one time. Two copper ports are dedicated to rear I/O, while a third can optionally route to either the front or rear. The two optical ports are dedicated to front I/O via low-profile optical receivers. Up to two fast sync/async serial ports are implemented via the Marvell Discovery III integrated system controller while up to two standard async serial ports are implemented via the dual UART. A maximum of three FireWire ports are available with two ports dedicated to rear I/O only. A third can be routed to the front.

Software support includes driver support for Wind River’s VxWorks, LynxOS from LynuxWorks and Green Hills Software’s INTEGRITY. The PMCD3 is available in any of five air- and conduction-cooled ruggedization levels. Price starts at $1,980.

Radstone Embedded Computing, Billerica, MA. (800) 368-2738. [www.radstone.com].

“All-Digital” Front-End Solution for Data Recording

Rugged, high-performance VME solid-state storage solutions for dependable uninterrupted operation are offered by the Ultra320 Flash VME Storage from Phoenix International. The storage module is a state-of-the-art solid-state disk based on flash technology. The SSD 3.5” Ultra320 SCSI is fully compatible with the SCSI-2 and SCSI- 3 interfaces and therefore with existing systems. Due to its design, the Ultra320 SCSI eliminates seek time, latency and other electro-mechanical delays inherent in conventional disk drives. The unit offers 320 Mbyte/s burst R/W rate, 50 Mbyte/s sustained read rate and 50 Mbyte/s sustained write rate.

The Ultra320 is “plug and play,” which makes it transparent to any operating system and is backward compatible with single-ended SCSI. Its unformatted capacity is 128 Gbytes with an access time of under 0.02 ms. Powered by a single 5V supply, it typically consumes less than 6.0W of power. It is rated for an unlimited number of read cycles and for greater than 5 million write/ erase cycles. An entire disk security erase can be accomplished in 10 seconds, depending on capacity, and the sanitize operation complies with DoDNISPOM 5330.22-M and other government and military specifications.

An “all-digital” front-end solution to real-time data recording is based on an embedded hardware architecture and solid-state SDRAM memory. Anvil from Micro Memory is a storage subsystem capable of recording real-time sensor signals. Anvil is designed for acquisition of realtime sensor data for recording or signal analysis in intelligence and surveillance applications such as radar, signal intelligence, electro-optical/infrared, software defined radio, energy and fuel exploration, seismic analysis and telemetry, among others.

Anvil includes up to 64 Gbytes of high-throughput, dual access SDRAM, which has been implemented to capture sensor data, rate buffer and seamlessly transfer it to a secondary, external hard disk drive. The platform’s four full-length, full-height PCI slots accommodate a variety of sensor input I/O including A/D, serial FPDP and custom LVDS or fiber links, as well as storage output I/O for Fibre Channel, SCSI or SATA. This allows users to record data to traditional hard disk arrays in the form of highcapacity, cost-effective “Just a Bunch of Disks” (JBODs) or RAIDs. Data can then be accessed by management workstation consoles for playback analysis, or server farms for off-line processing. Alternatively, depending on the application’s bandwidth and storage requirements, workstations and servers can access data directly from Anvil without relying on any intermediary hard disk drive storage resources.

Quantity one pricing is $30,000 with volume discounts available.

Phoenix International Systems, Orange, CA. (714) 283-1169. [www.phenxint.com].

Micro Memory, Chatsworth, CA. (818) 998-0070. [www.micromemory.com].

General Micro Systems, Rancho Cucamonga, CA. (909) 980-4863. [www.gms4sbc.com].

Fast, High-Capacity Solid-State Storage in a VME Form-Factor

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Lower-Cost Voice/Data/Fax Modem Has Slim Profile

Several types of small-footprint devices must communicate data reliably with low power consumption. These include medical devices, remote monitoring and data collection systems and industrial monitoring systems. Radicom Research’s SlimModem2 voice/data/ fax module features ultra-low power consumption, high performance and a footprint that integrates easily into a wide range of existing OEM product configurations.

Measuring only 1.0 in. x 2.5 in. x 0.2 in., the SlimModem2 requires only a serial TTL interface and phone line access to provide data, fax and voice operation. The modem’s fast connection—14.4 Kbits/s to 56 Kbits/s downstream, up to 48 Kbits/s (V.92 SM2) upstream—benefits data collecting, logging, remote diagnostics and communications applications. The SlimModem2 is EN60601-1 medicaland deGet Connected with technology providing solutions now bears vice EMC-compliant. It meets companies all RoHS compliance directives, Connected a new resource for further exploration the CE Marking, and conformsGet to all standardsis required for immediate products, technologies and companies. Whether your goal shipping to Europe and most into countries. is to research the latest datasheet from a company, speak directly The serial TTL interface comes with an optional low-power sleep with an Application Engineer, or jump to a company's technical page, the mode feature. The SlimModem2 includes isa tobuilt-in pump, modem goal of Get Connected put you data in touch with the right resource. controller and onboard International DAA. Standard featurestype include Whichever level of service you require for whatever of technology, voice playback and Get recording, Concurrent DTMF, distinctive ring and Connected will help you connect with the companies and products you at are$29 searching for. caller ID. Prices begin in quantities of 1,000 or more.

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Radicom Research,www.rtcmagazine.com/getconnected San Jose, CA. (408) 383-9006. [www.radi.com].

First VXS Processor Mesh Chassis

The VXS Processor Mesh architecture’s bandwidth can deliver 112.5 Gbytes/s of aggregate throughput within the processing mesh in Get Connected with technology companies providing solutions now a single chassis, an improvement of 6x over currently availableand technology. The industry’s first Get VXSConnected Processoris a new resource for further exploration into products, technologies and companies. Whether your goal is to research the latest datasheet from a company, speak directly with an Application Engineer, or jump to a company's technical page, the goal of Get Connected is to put you Mesh chassis is now available from Elma in touch with the right resource. Whichever level of service you require for whatever type of technology, Bustronic.

Get Connected will help you connect with the companies and products you are searching for.

The chassiswww.rtcmagazine.com/getconnected comes in various configurations with heights from 9U to 12U. It features a 12-slot Processor Mesh backplane, which features a combination of VXS mesh slots, VXS payload slots, central I/O and legacy VME64x slots. The 19in. rackmount chassis features a scratch-resistant, powder-coated alodined aluminum enclosure. Power supply options are from 2 x 350W (N+1) to 750W, up to 3 x 600W (N+1). The front-to-rear cooling configuration features up to 3 x 118 CFM fans above and below the card cage in the 12U version. Various cooling options are available for each chassis height.

Get Connected with companies and Get Connected Options include rear in I/O, products featured thisdrives section.and system monitoring. The Elma with companies mentioned in this article.

VXS Processor Mesh chassis price starts under $5,000, depending on www.rtcmagazine.com/getconnected www.rtcmagazine.com/getconnected volume and options.

Products

End of Article

Elma Bustronic, Fremont, CA. (510) 490-7388. [www.elmabustronic.com].

Get Connected with companies mentioned in this article.

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PCI Express Analysis for the AMC Form-Factor

A PCI Express Protocol and Link Analyzer for the AdvancedMC (AMC) form-factor is designed for debugging, testing and validating the PCI Express protocol. The Vanguard Express AdvancedMC from VMetro allows testing of AMC.1 type 1, 2, 4 and 8 modules. It is a self-contained unit that installs between the device under test and the host system, and allows testing with minimal intrusion to the system under test. The Vanguard Express AdvancedMC is operated via USB or Ethernet while using VMetroâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s BusView 5 Graphical User Interface software. A single workstation can control multiple Vanguard analyzers for monitoring different protocols and form-factors including PCI Express, PCI-X/PCI, PMC, CompactPCI or VME. The Vanguard Express and BusView 5 include protocol decoding as well as display trace data in multiple views. The PCI Express protocol is decoded throughout the user interface including setup screens, trace displays, statistics and all utilities. The user can arrange trace data in chronological order or grouped Get Connected with technology andas link now or split companies providing solutions transactions Get Connected is a new resource for furtherfor exploration improved readability.and Other unique trace your goal into products, technologies companies.

Whether is to research the latest datasheet fromviews a company, speak directly views are available including data, packet details or lane making withinterpret an Application Engineer, jump to a company's technical data easy to read and for all users,orregardless of expertise andpage, the goal of Get Analysis Connected is to included put you in touch withVanguard the right resource. task. Real Time Performance is also and the Whichever level of service you require for whatever type of technology, Express statistics engine offers concurrent real-time measurements. AuGet Connected will help you connect with the companies and products tomatic error detection by the Vanguard Express Advancedyou is areperformed searching for.

MCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s onboard protocol checker.

Pricing starts at $23,950. www.rtcmagazine.com/getconnected

AMC Hard Drive Module SATA Drive - 60G, 80G, 100G SAS Drive - 36G, 73G SATA Extended Duty Drive - 80G RoHS Compliant

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VMetro, Houston, TX. (281) 584-0728. [www.vmetro.com].

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SpaceWire PHY Is QML Q and V-Compliant

The simple SpaceWire protocol that governs serial communication between satellite components provides a high-speed, low-power serial Connected with technology and companies providing solutions now interface and simple userGet interface.

A new SpaceWire physical layer Connected is a new for further exploration into products, technologies and companies. Whether your goal is to research the latest transceiver from Aeroflex Get is available in QML Q resource and V production. datasheet from a company, speak directly with an Application Engineer, or jump to a company's technical page, the goal of Get Connected is to put you The UT200SpWPHY01 PHY is designed to handle the critical timin touch with the right resource. Whichever level of service you require for whatever type of technology, ing issues associated with SpaceWire Encoding scheme. and products you are searching for.

Getthe Connected willData/Strobe help you connect with the companies It supports data rates up to 200 Mbits/s with www.rtcmagazine.com/getconnected data/strobe transmit skew less than 400 pS. It has a 3.3V power supply and the added benefit of cold spare on LVDS pins. ESD performance of LVDS inputs/outputs is greater than 8000V HMB. The PHY is designed to withstand 300 krad(Si), upsetting charge particle strikes to 40 MeV-cm2/mg, and is SEL immune to greater than 100MeV-cm2/mg.

The UT200SpWPHY01 is packaged in a space-saving 28-pin flatpack and is QML Q and V qualified. Pricing is $1,069 in lots of 100.

A dual-link SpaceWire solution, consisting of Get Connected with companies and Get Connected the UT200SpWPHY01 Physical Layer Transproducts featured in this section. with companies mentioned in this article. ceiver and the UT200SpW02 SpaceWire Protowww.rtcmagazine.com/getconnected www.rtcmagazine.com/getconnected col Handler, can be purchased as a set in quantities of 100 for $3,762.

Products

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Aeroflex, Colorado Springs, CO. (719) 594-8035. [www.aeroflex.com].

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August 2006

69

into products, technologies and companies. Whether your goal is to research the latest datasheet from a company, speak directly with an Application Engineer, or jump to a company's technical page, the goal of Get Connected is to put you in touch with the right resource.

Whichever level of service you require for whatever type of technology, Get Connected will help you connect with the companies and products you are searching for.

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Advertiser Index

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Company

Page

Website

ACT/Technico..........................................28......................www.acttechnico.com

Products

ADLINK Technology, Inc...........................13............. www.adlinktechnology.com.

Company

Page

Website

Micro Memory LLC...................................72................... www.micromemory.com

End of Article

National Instruments................................8......................................www.ni.com

Advanet Technologies..............................23.....................www.advanettech.com

Octagon Systems...................................2, 3..............www.octagonsystems.com

Ampro Computers, Inc.............................42..............................www.ampro.com

One Stop Systems................................... 47...............www.onestopsystems.com

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products featured in this section. www.rtcmagazine.com/getconnected

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Application Acceleration Seminar.............59........................www.aaseminar.com

with companies mentioned in this article.

Performance Technologies. ......................35................................... www.pt. com

ARM Developers Conference....................56................................. www.arm.com

Phoenix International................................6........................... www.phenxint.com

BitMicro Networks, Inc..............................6............................ www.bitmicro.com

QNX Software Systems, Ltd.....................19.................................. www.qnx.com

Critical I/O...............................................7............................www.criticalio.com

Real-Time & Embedded

www.rtcmagazine.com/getconnected Diversified Technology.............................10............................... www.dtims.com

Computing Conference.........................41, 54.............................www.rtecc.com

Diversified Technology.......................38 pull-out......................... www.dtims.com

Real-Time & Embedded

ELMA Electronic, Inc................................18................................ www.elma.com

Computing Conference China/Taiwan.......60................................www.rtecc.com

Embedded Planet....................................33.............. www.embeddedplanet.com

Real-Time Innovations, Inc.......................24.................................... www.rti.com

Embedded Systems

Red Rock Technologies, Inc.....................67..................... www.redrocktech.com

Conference/Boston.................................50............www.embedded.com/esc/sv

RTC Digital Delivery.................................68..................... www.rtcmagazine.com

Emerson Network Power ......................... 71............................ www.artesyn.com

SanBlaze Technology ..............................69.......................... www.sanblaze.com

GE Fanuc Embedded Systems................ 4, 17........ www.gefanuc.com/embedded

SBE, Inc..................................................55................................. www.sbei.com

Hunt Engineering Ltd...............................67............................www.hunt-rtg.com

Sealevel Systems....................................51........................... www.sealevel.com

Hybricon Corporation...............................34...........................www.hybricon.com

Teligy......................................................46................................www.teligy.com

Interactive Circuits and Systems..............30.............................. www.ics-ltd.com

Tri-M Systems.........................................45................................ www.tri-m.com

Kontron America.........................20, 48, 37B pull-out............... www.kontron.com

Ultimate Solutions...................................52............................... www.ultsol.com

Lippert Embedded Computers..................29..........................www.lippert-at.com

VadaTech................................................25..........................www.vadatech.com

Logic Supply, Inc.....................................69.......................www.logicsupply.com

Xycom VME.............................................40........................www.xycomvme.com

Mercury Computer Systems.....................53........................... www.mercury.com

ZNYX Networks, Inc..........................37B pull-out..........................www.znyx.com

Get Connected with companies and products featured in this section.

www.rtcmagazine.com/getconnected

Get Connected with companies mentioned in this article. www.rtcmagazine.com/getconnected

RTC (Issn#1092-1524) magazine is published monthly at 905 Calle Amanecer, Ste. 250, San Clemente, CA 92673. Periodical postage paid at San Clemente and at additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to RTC, 905 Calle Amanecer, Ste. 250, San Clemente, CA 92673.

70

August 2006

Emerson. Consider It Solved is a trademark and Business-Critical Continuity, Emerson Network Power and the Emerson Network Power logo are trademarks and service marks of Emerson Electric Co. ©2006 Emerson Electric Co.

Advancing the Power of Embedded Computing Emerson Network Power’s new Embedded Computing business is anchored by recently acquired Artesyn Communication Products. It enhances Emerson’s global capabilities to offer more comprehensive, highly integrated and reliable platform solutions.

Artesyn Communication Products’ rebranding as Emerson Network Power’s Embedded Computing business builds on the company’s innovative work in the open architecture telecom platform industry.

The formation makes it possible for telecom equipment manufacturers (TEMs) and network equipment providers (NEPs) to reduce their development cost and time to market.

The new business will offer telecom components, blades, software and systems to equipment markets in a broad range of telecom infrastructure applications, including network access, soft switches, signaling systems, and media gateways. These products, based on industry standards make it easier for TEMs and NEPs to outsource their platform design and focus precious engineering resources on value-added applications and services.

Just another reason why Emerson Network Power is the global leader in enabling Business-Critical Continuity™.

AC Power Systems

Embedded Power

Precision Cooling

Connectivity

Integrated Cabinet Solutions

Services

DC Power Systems

Outside Plant

Site Monitoring

Embedded Computing

Power Switching & Controls

Surge & Signal Protection

www.artesyncp.com Phone: 800.356.9602

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+1 608.831.5500

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