ATCA: From the Source

We asked a few ATCA manufacturers to share their perspective of what’s happening in their world. David Givens, development manager, Samtec; Nathan Tracy, business development manager, Tyco Electronics, Communications, Computer and Consumer Electronics Business Unit; David Sideck, regional market manager, Americas, FCI, Electronics Division; and Ed Garstkiewicz, market development manager, HARTING Inc., gave us some insight into where their companies are headed. What are the greatest challenges in bringing quality ATCA products to market? What are they doing to satisfy their customer’s needs? How are they adjusting business in relation to the economic, and therefore, market and sales concerns affecting the U.S. economy? What about the Chinese telecom boom? Here’s what they had to say.

What are the greatest challenges in bringing quality ATCA products to market?

David Givens, Development Manager, Samtec: Our greatest challenge is product compatibility in a competitive field, which includes several interconnection strategies. Samtec has met the challenge through the formation of a strategic alliance with Molex. Our parts will be entirely intermatable and interchangable, providing a second source for large customers.

Nathan Tracy, Business Development Manager, Tyco Electronics, Communications, Computer and Consumer Electronics Business Unit: The biggest challenge from our perspective is that the demand for production volumes has not yet materialized. ATCA has been developed as a low-cost solution for the equipment manufacturers/service providers, however, without initial volume, it was difficult to deliver the cost savings. Tyco Electronics has made development engineering and tooling investments, and all the required products for the standard are being offered. Development/production programs are underway with the equipment designers, as well as manufacturers, and the ramp-up to production is well underway. Now we are in the phase of continuing to build out the product solutions that meet unique packaging and performance needs of ATCA and MicroTCA-based systems, which can be justified on an incremental basis.

David Sideck, Regional Market Manager, Americas, FCI, Electronics Division: Two challenges faced by connector manufacturers are: 

·          Providing communications equipment and backplane manufacturers with connector solutions that deliver low total applied cost to enable them to fulfill the promised cost savings to network providers resulting from adoption of the industry-standard MicroTCA form factor.

·          Providing the manufacturers of AdvancedMC modules, intended for use in MicroTCA chassis, with associated connectors that meet the dimensional requirements needed to fit the building practice.

What new products are you introducing that have met some of these challenges?

Nathan Tracy, Tyco Electronics: To support the system packaging requirements of our customers, Tyco Electronics is developing and delivering input/output (I/O) connectors that preserve the industry standard interfaces, but provide the low profile and/or offset interface to the PCB necessary for ATCA and AMC form factors. These interfaces include, among others, RJ45, SFP and SFP+ in single, ganged, and stacked versions.

VLP (Very Low Profile) DDR 2 and SO DIMM memory sockets have been modified specifically to fit in ATCA (height) and AMC (width) form factors. 

For the MicroTCA standard, which utilizes a card edge style interface at the backplane, Tyco Electronics has worked closely with many customers to fully understand the realities of the "tight tolerance intensive" system, and has innovated a new version of the vertical MicroTCA backplane connector that incorporates wear plates at the connector's internal opening end walls. Through research and collaboration with customers, we understand that in an actual operating environment, it is possible for the AMC PCB edges to wear (or abrade) the end walls of the connector, potentially opening the tolerances enough to affect contact-to-contact alignment and mating reliability.

Tyco Electronics is actively involved with PICMG's new task group to support incorporation of 10GBASE KR channels (10 Gbps Ethernet capability per differential pair) across the ATCA backplane. An enhanced performance version of the Z-PACK HM Zd daughtercard connector has been engineered and is proposed for this requirement. This solution will provide backward and forward compatibility with the existing Z-PACK HM Zd backplane header, while providing higher bandwidth margin. 

David Sideck, FCI:  To address the first concern, FCI has developed MicroTCA backplane connectors that provide potential users with options for either press-fit or surface-mount (SMT) termination. Capability for connector installation using conventional press-fit or SMT assembly processes, combined with connector designs that do not require costly hardware, secondary mechanical retention or compensating board stiffeners, results in low total applied cost compared to some of the early MicroTCA backplane connectors, which relied on compression technology. Press-fit termination technology will appeal to users who require thick backplanes or who have long experience with and prefer that proven connector termination technique. Meanwhile the surface-mount (SMT) connectors are intended for use on thinner backplanes and where the use of SMT footprints can further enhance high-speed electrical performance.

An example of FCI products that address the second concern are the DensiShield™ I/O connector system and cable assemblies. The low vertical profile of this high-speed I/O system is suitable for use on 15mm card slot pitch, making it ideal for compact-size AdvancedMC modules. In addition to the low product height, DensiShield™ I/O modules, supporting eight differential pairs, can be stacked side-by-side on 12.5mm pitch, enabling up to 32 differential pairs on a single-width module. The eight-pair connectors and cable assemblies are well-suited for four bi-directional channels working at data rates >2.5 Gb/s, similar to Infiniband or XAUI links.



Ed Garstkiewicz, Market Development Manager, HARTING Inc.: One of the challenges facing connector manufacturers is the fact that they can only control one side of the connection. The quality of the mating part, namely the AdvancedMC PCB edge, is only specified in general terms. HARTING’s con:card+ connector can solve most of the problems and greatly reduce the risks involved. However, a basic modification in the form of a second connector is needed to eliminate certain drawbacks of the PCB edge connection.

In order to address this issue, HARTING has developed the AdvancedMC Plug, which replaces the gold pads on the PCB. The AdvancedMC Plug can be used on all standard AdvancedMC modules. The major advantage is that it creates a two-piece connector system replacing the AdvancedMC card edge. PICMG specifies hard gold, but no definitive definition of hard gold exists. As a result, there are significant differences in the resilience of the gold and the surface structure on the modules which are currently available. Gold pads, which are produced using a selective-plating process, have exposed copper underneath the gold/nickel finish. Frequent insertion cycles and corrosive industrial environments can easily lead to corrosion. Undercutting may also occur, which in extreme cases can result in gold fragments breaking off during insertion.

The Plug connector, in combination with the HARTING con:card+ connector, is rugged enough to withstand 200 insertion cycles, something which is difficult to guarantee with AdvancedMC modules that do not use the plug. There is also less stress on the backplane connector, because the contact glides over a smooth injection molded insulated housing rather than rubbing across rough FR4 on a machined bevel edge.

How concerned are you with both the U.S. economic downturn and the China boom, and the relationship to telecom?

David Sideck, FCI: For suppliers of connectors intended for use in MicroTCA systems, the concern has not been at the macroeconomic level. The slower-than-anticipated market acceptance of the MicroTCA form factor, current low production levels for MicroTCA-based equipment, and the uncertain outlook concerning future demand make it challenging for connector suppliers to realize an acceptable return on investment and achieve manufacturing economies of scale. Because cost savings were promoted as one of the principal benefits from communications industry adoption of the standardized MicroTCA form factor, the higher manufacturing costs resulting from spreading fixed costs over low unit production volumes of connectors and equipment will only make it more difficult for cost savings to be realized by the network providers who purchase the equipment, which will provide less financial incentive for them to adopt the form factor or demand it from their equipment suppliers.

The U.S. economic downturn will be of concern if it spreads beyond the housing and financial markets. The booming economies in China and other emerging markets, however, may serve to temper the global effects of a U.S. downturn, if those countries’ economic growth is not dragged down by the U.S. While significant communications infrastructure is already installed in the U.S. and the markets for certain devices (e.g., cell phones) are becoming saturated, the need to build out the infrastructure in developing countries and serve still-untapped consumer bases in those local markets, should still present high-growth opportunities.

For more information on ATCA and other products, visit:

www.fci.com

www.harting.com

www.samtec.com

www.tycoelectronics.com