Mercury Computer Systems enables scalable, cost-effective solutions with MicroTCA platform

CHELMSFORD, USA: Mercury Computer Systems Inc., a leading provider of open, embedded, high-performance computing systems, software, and services for image, sensor, and signal processing applications, announced a systems-level enhancement for solutions based on the MicroTCA standard.

The new, innovative six-slot chassis is part of Mercury’s Ensemble 2000 MicroTCA Platform, a standards-based solution built around the power, functionality, and scalability of RapidIO, Ethernet, IPMI, AdvancedMC, and MicroTCA industry standards.

Switches are built into the chassis backplane to support both Gigabit Ethernet (base interface) and a choice of communications fabrics including RapidIO, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, and PCI Express. The backplane also includes built-in system manager functionality. This built-in functionality means that a separate MCH module is not required, reducing costs and allowing all slots to be configured with AMCs.

“Designers of sophisticated industrial equipment, in industries such as Communications and Semiconductor Manufacturing, need high-performance, high-bandwidth embedded computing in cost-effective packages,” said Steve McPherson, Director of Business Development at Mercury. “With its compact size, scalability, and integrated system functionality, our new six-slot MicroTCA chassis provides a flexible platform for building those types of solutions.”

The new Ensemble 2000 chassis is also appropriate for a wide range of system sizes, with multi-chassis scalability built into the design. It supports mechanical stacking in a 19-inch rack; and the base interface, fabric interface, and clock can all be daisy-chained across multiple chassis.

Robust system configurations are also supported by Mercury’s industry-leading family of processor AMCs, including Xilinx FPGAs, TI DSPs, PowerQUICC, Power Architecture MPC 8641D, and Intel Penryn processors.