The push for open-standard building blocks within network gear has spawned some big and little results.

On the big side, the Advanced Telecommunications Computing Architecture (ATCA) has already matured into a standardized, carrier-grade platform for service providers.

Similarly, Micro Telecommunications Computing Architecture (MicroTCA), ATCA’s little brother, serves as a complementary, smaller scale platform known for its cost-effectiveness and flexibility.

Both platforms address different economies of scale and different parts of the Internet. Both are also no longer strictly telecom plays, making inroads into other markets such as enterprise, medical, military, and aerospace.

MicroTCA has many attractive features. Introduced in 2006, MicroTCA got a jump-start on development by using the same base standards as ATCA, only on a tighter scale. MicroTCA sports a small form factor and therefore offers both compact rack space and footprint–only 300mm deep including cabling. This comprises half the size of ATCA. On the chassis or shelf front, the gear is trending toward a scaleddown 1U height, or a “pizza box” with a densely packaged envelope.

As a platform, MicroTCA is hot swappable, NEBS compliant, and an open-standard architecture. MicroTCA does not demand the often-involved rebuild of other embedded systems, such as a PC/104 stack, a system best left untouched. PC104 stack reconfiguration usually requires cracking open a rugged cube to get at its buried innards. In comparison, MicroTCA uses a relatively small amount of energy, up to 60 watts, while still providing the five nines of reliability required by many telecom companies.

Even so, MicroTCA is a little brother going through puberty–not quite developed into the full maturity of universal adoption as a platform. MicroTCA and product selection remain relatively limited because the industry is quietly fleshing out version 1.0 of the standard.

“We’re pretty early in the cycle,” says Venkataraman Prasannan, Vice President for Advanced TCA and MicroTCA Platforms for Hillsboro, Ore.-based RadiSys Corp. (www.radisys.com). “It takes one to two years to flush out all the kinks in a new standard.”

The original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and system integrators are busily testing early version, proof-ofconcept MicroTCA gear in the form of backplanes, shelves, MicroTCA Carrier Hubs (MCHs) systems, connectors, power modules (PMs), and Advanced Mezzanine Cards (AMCs).

Justin Moll of Fremont, Calif.-based Elma Bustronic (www.bustronic.com) says there have been key advancements in interoperability and testing for MicroTCA.

“There have been several MicroTCA interoperability workshops to ensure products from various vendors work together,” says Moll. “On the chassis front, products have evolved to modular configurations, allowing a wide range of options with little to no customization.”

When ATCA Doesn’t Fit
According to Eric Heikkila, director of Natick, Mass.-based Venture Development Corp. (www.vdc-corp. com), there are plenty of places where ATCA, on the “big-iron” end of the spectrum, is the wrong hardware for the job, “overly robust, over priced, and simply overkill.”

The common denominator between ATCA and MicroTCA remains AMCs. AMCs act as building-block components that bridge the gap between ATCA’s network core applications and MicroTCA’s Internet access and telecom box functionality. This building-block component comprises a work-around to ATCA in the form of carrier blades with AMC modules. This setup has the potential to replace ATCA carrier blades for storage and networking applications.

AMCs are also being used as stopgaps.

“People are using AMCs with their existing baseboards and proprietary systems as an interim step until they fully migrate to MicroTCA,” says Nigel Forrester, Marketing Manager for MicroTCA at St. Louis, Mo.-based Emerson (www.gotoemerson.com).

Not a Beige Box
On the downside, MicroTCA has not hit its stride as a ubiquitous product, meaning it has not yet become a “beige box” commodity, driving down costs. Things are still in the early adopter phase. There is still the inevitable resistance to a new standard.

“It’s a chicken and egg scenario,” says Prasannan. “People need the cost target before they say, ‘OK, I am ready to invest.’”

Even with the higher price tag, the potential for this platform is huge. Howard Glassman, Director of Business Development and Communications for Charlottesville, Va.-based GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms (www.gefanucem bedded.com), estimates that by 2010, the total market for ATCA and MicroTCA will comprise a roughly $3 billion industry.

In a market survey, the VDC estimates that the total number of businesses evaluating whether or not to deploy MicroTCA will grow from 13 to 60 percent by 2009.