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ATCA: A Practical Perspective

George Shenoda, Chief Technical Officer RadiSys Corporation VERSION 2.0 | January 2005

CONTENTS
Introduction.. ......................................................... 2 What is ATCA............................................................ 2 What Products is ATCA Capable of Supporting..... 3 What Benefits Does the ATCA Platform Offer...... 4 Considering Different Architectures.. ................ 4 Technology and Products Status.......................... 5 Conclusion.............................................................. 5 Glossary................................................................. 5 References............................................................. 5

RADISYS Whitepaper | ATCA: A Practical Perspective

INTRODUCTION
Advanced Telecommunications Computing Architecture, known as ATCA, is a new system form factor defined by the PCI Industrial Computers Manufacturers Group (PICMG) to provide an industry standard platform that enables building telecommunication grade products in a multi-vendor compatible environment. This form factor is becoming a popular standard for such products because of the promising economical and functional advantages it is positioned to offer.

Specifications that support strict regulatory requirements such as NEBS with long life components and advanced power distribution and cooling concepts Specifications that support multiple types of Switching Fabrics (the core of the platform), such as Ethernet (GbE), PCI Express and others

The result is a standard that offers definitive advantages over its predecessors such as cPCI (Compact PCI), including: Regulatory requirements (NEBS, etc.) as well as high availability enabling requirements Higher power allowance, more advanced power distribution and larger module area as well as wider spacing between modules enable more functionality and higher performance per shelf Higher capacity and the ability to mix various types of modules and technologies enable the convergence of multiple types of equipment and multiple applications in one platform Allowing rear mounted modules permits additional functionality per slot or rear interface cablin

What is ATCA
ATCA is a set of documents specifying all the electrical and mechanical requirements necessary to create an industry standard platform. This documentation includes specifications for platform elements such as chassis dimensions, backplane properties, module size and backplane interface specifications, power rating, cooling, etc. The specifications are designated the series 3.xx as opposed to 2.xx for the Compact PCI specified earlier by the same body. The main objectives of the ATCA standard is to enable building carrier grade convergent systems, i.e., systems that include computing and communications products for myriad applications. Specifically, it is aimed at converging telecom access and edge equipment functions with data center and storage equipment functions in a modular fashion. This modular approach enables both equipment producers and users to employ the same chassis/backplane for multiple types of products, utilizing different modules, as explained later. As such, the ATCA standard was developed with the following attributes, among others, as the main guiding principals. Scalable Capacity of up to 2.5 Tbps (per chassis) with a centralized switching hub interconnected to all module slots in a star (radial) or a full mesh configuration Redundancy throughout the system configuration to achieve over 99.999% availability (Carrier Grade), while allowing less demanding applications to utilize a non-redundant configuration for lower cost Modularity and configurability to enable multiple modules with various interfaces and different technologies, such as DSPs, NPUs, CPUs, and storage media, to be mixed and matched for diverse applications in the same platform

Additional software (Middleware) specifications to support high availability platform infrastructure are under development by organizations such as the Service Availability Forum. Such high availability infrastructure middleware enables building robust ATCA, as well as other platforms such as cPCI, that provide a standard foundation for high availability, distributed computing and system management capabilities across the industry. A distinctive advantage of such standards is building multivendor embedded systems that simplify building higher layer applications by NEPs (Network Equipment Providers) in a shorter time to market.

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RADISYS Whitepaper | ATCA: A Practical Perspective

What Products is ATCA Capable of Supporting


The capabilities built into the ATCA specifications enable a compliant platform to support a number of products for multiple applications following the building blocks concept discussed below. To create multiple products utilizing the same platform, it is necessary to understand which basic common building blocks are shared among the products, create modules that meet the requirements for such building blocks and use the proper mix of the building blocks to create each specific product. To start with let us take three telecom products as an example. Clearly there are more than three products and more than telecom only equipment that an ATCA platform can support, but for the sake of space we limit them to the three examples: A Blade Server, an SGSN and a Media Gateway. Blade Server: This is a modular computing platform composed of multiple blades/modules that can span one or more chassis depending on the capacity required and the type of performance needed. A blade server can also use embedded storage media as part of its own infrastructure or external network based storage, either of which are supported by the ATCA platform. Note that a blade server has many applications such as softswitches, HLRs, SCPs and network management/ OSSs, not to mention data center processing equipment including data bases and web servers. A basic blade server can be achieved by building a switching fabric (as the heart of the platform inter-module and inter-chassis communication), different types of computing modules (which can be modular themselves) and I/O modules such as GbE interfaces. Add storage module(s) and a versatile blade server platform is born. Of course there are a number of firmware and middleware functions, including an Operating System, high availability framework, distributed computing/load sharing framework, element and system management that need to be integrated with the hardware at the module and the system level in order to enable an operational application ready platform. Using the appropriate combinations of modules for function and capacity provides the platform over which all the aforementioned higher layer applications may be supported. SGSN: The Serving GPRS Support Node is the network element in a mobile wireless network that supports user data communication functions within the network. Depending on the generation of the network (2.5 or 3 G), the data is separated from the voice by the Base Station Controller (BSC) or the Radio Network Controller (RNC) and forwarded to the SGSN to perform data packet processing such as authentication, forwarding, SS7 signaling and user plane protocols such as tunneling over ATM. An SGSN platform requires computing capability and network interface modules to handle the protocol processing and interface to the other network elements. Clearly the computing and switching fabric elements are common with the blade server. However,  | www.radisys.com

Figure 1 depicts an outline of the physical attributes of the platform. different interface modules are be required, e.g., a blade server may only require Ethernet interfaces, while an SGSN requires Ethernet in addition to standard network interfaces such as E1/DS1 and SONET/SDH interfaces (OC-3c/STM-1). This brief description illustrates how the SGSN utilizes certain modules/building blocks common with the blade server while requiring another set of different modules/building blocks. Media Gateway: Media Gateways are widely used in service provider and enterprise networking applications. An MG is a good example of how an ATCA platform may be utilized in more than one market segment and a variety of applications with satisfactory economical and technical results. An MG is also a good example of employing the building block concept to achieve re-use of modules/building blocks common with other equipment. Of the many applications of a media gateway, multiple protocol conversions for voice services can be used as an example. Because of the variety of service interfaces between TDM and Packet Voice services, it is necessary to provide interworking functionality between the different interfaces to create seamless services among the different subscribers. Of course the media gateway is simultaneously required to support signaling, which could also be multiple types of signaling at the same time. To achieve that, the media gateway requires the use of CPUs (for signaling and/or packet processing) as well as specialized processors to deal with the interworking functionality, which is typically between voice over TDM and packet voice over ATM or IP, but could also be between ATM and IP. This indicates that an MG can use the switching fabric and CPUs utilized by the blade server (for inter-module and interchassis communications, management and signaling/ control functions) while requiring specialized modules for interworking and voice packet processing. The latter could be DSPs or NPUs depending on the system architecture and design as well as the requirements. For example, if compression/decompression/silence suppression are required, it would be best if DSPs are employed. Otherwise, NPUs will do the job for interworking.

RADISYS Whitepaper | ATCA: A Practical Perspective From this description, it should be clear that there are common elements between all three types of products and some unique elements in each. Of course the higher layer applications may be quite different, but those are achieved via software that is integrated with the embedded system platform based on ATCA.

Multiple Applications/Products in the Same ATCA Platform

BLADE SERVER
Figure 2 illustrates, in color code, the similarities and differences in building blocks among the three product examples just discussed.

SSL Acceleration IPSec Acceleration

Compute Module

SS7 Processor

Disk Node

GE Switch GE Switch

GbE I/F

What Benefits Does the ATCA Platform Offer


The technical benefits ATCA provides, from scalability to high availability to versatility and flexibility, translate into the ability to build more products and consequently provide improved services faster and at a lower cost. Beside this basic revenue enabling benefit, the following benefits are examples of what an ATCA platform offers Economy of scale in the form of re-using different hardware and software modules in multiple products Being an open standard, it encourages competition, leading to innovation and low cost There is a significant inherent Operating Expenditure (OpEx) savings as a result of module re-use that manifests itself in two ways: lower levels of overall inventory; and reducing the amount of training and cross-training required among the users It is envisioned that ATCA will be used in a number of industries and market segments besides telecom and that each supplier will specialize in producing a set of modules. This inter-market segment play significantly increases the system and module volumes, especially the latter, over time and brings even larger economy of scale into being

Core Elements From Blade Server

SGSN
Compute Module Quad OC-3c I/F SS7 Processor 16 E1/DS1 I/F

GE Switch

GE Switch

MEDIA GATEWAY

GbE I/F

Considering Different Architectures


There are three fundamental areas in which the system architecture based on an ATCA platform could be different. While it is not this papers subject to discuss the impact of those differences on system cost and performance, we will mention them here to provide awareness. Difference in Switching Fabrics Configuration. The switching fabric is the heart of the system in that it transports all the traffic between the different modules of the system, both within a chassis and between chassis. One architecture could use a single switching fabric to handle all traffic, i.e., user information as well as control and management information, in some cases even storage modules may be interconnected through the same fabric. Another architecture may use separate switching fabrics for each different class of data, e.g., control data, user data, storage data. A hybrid approach could separate storage from user and control flows via two separate fabrics. The latter middle ground architecture offers efficiency and economy with good flexibility and a scalable bandwidth so long as two precautions are taken: 1. Good High Availability scheme, which all systems should have anyway, and 2. Good traffic management with a solid priority scheme.  | www.radisys.com

Difference in Switching Fabrics Technologies. There are many switching fabric technologies that can be used as an ATCA switching fabric, e.g., 10/100 bT Ethernet, GbE, Fiber Channel, PCI-Express, Infiniband, Cell Based fabrics to name a few. Furthermore, they can be mixed as base and extended fabrics, where the base is used for one purpose and the extended for another in the mixed fabric architectural model discussed in last paragraph. This leaves multiple choices to select the appropriate fabric for the appropriate application as well as a path of evolution as fabrics evolve. While changing a fabric will require new modules to support the interface to such fabric, the main chassis and backplane remain intact and capable of simultaneously supporting two fabrics at a time in any given chassis. This provides an added advantage of utilizing an ATCA platform without a forklift approach to evolution. Difference in Processing System and Shelf Management. There are architectures which combine the processors that handle the system and shelf management with the switching fabric in one hardware module. Others use a separate CPU module for management. In this case, the former architecture offers definite economic and simplified implementation advantages over the latter. Otherwise, there are multiple choices in software architecture, which would be the subject of another discussion.

RADISYS Whitepaper | ATCA: A Practical Perspective

Technology and Products Status Protocols


Currently there are a few platforms available from different sources, including RadiSys. Some suppliers offer one element only, such as a chassis or a processing module. Others offer a more complete solution including the chassis and processors. Mass Storage media (other than a few GB on the processors) will be available early 2004. The products available today are not at a production released, GA, level but are expected to reach that state in the first quarter of 2004. Additionally those are products that are more suitable for blade servers. Products appropriate for other network elements (mentioned above and shown in Figure 2) are expected to be available for lab trials in the first half of 2004 and GA one to two quarters later depending on performance and trial results.

Glossary: The following Glossary is in the order of the acronyms appearing in the paper ATCA: Advanced Telecom Computing Architecture

PICMG: PCI Industrial Computers Manufacturers Group DSPs: NPUs: NEBS: HLR: SCP: OSS: SGSN: Digital Signal Processors Network Processors (Network Processor Units) Network Equipment Building System Home Location Register Service Control Point Operations Support System Serving GPRS Support Node General Packet Radio Service Radio Network Controller 3rd Generation Partnership Project

Conclusion
ATCA is a clear winner as it will provide economies of scale coupled with scalability and high performance for multiple critical network elements in both wireless and wire based networks. Early availability products are currently undergoing lab trials by early adopters and multiple interoperability workshops are held every year by the PICMG members to ensure multivendor compatibility, another winning proposition for the industry.

GPRS: RNC: 3GPP:

References: PICMG: PICMG 3.0 R1.0 Advanced Telecommunications Computing Architecture (ATCA) PICMG 3.1 R1.0 Ethernet/Fibre Channel Over PICMG 3.0 3GPP TS 23.002: Technical Specification Group Services and Systems Aspects; Network architecture (release 5)

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2006 RadiSys Corporation. RadiSys is a registered trademark of RadiSys Corporation. Convedia, Microware and OS-9 are registered trademarks of RadiSys Corporation. Promentum, and Procelerant are trademarks of RadiSys Corporation. *All other trademarks are the properties of their respective owners. 07-1262-01 1006

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