High speed transmission for VPX, CompactPCI and MicroTCA

Demands for ever higher data transfer in systems of various bus technologies continue to rise. This began with AdvancedTCA systems. The chipsets for the next generation of serial protocols, e.g. 10 Gb/s Ethernet (10 G base-KR) or SRIO Gen2 are either already available or will come onto the market shortly.

For PCI Express there are, for example, already drivers for Gen2 with a transmission rate of 5 Gb/s per port, and the next step to Gen3 with 8 Gb/s is expected soon. For serial ATA, which currently has a transmission rate of 3 Gb/s, revision 3 has also been defined with a doubling of the data rate to 6 Gb/s. The development of boards and switches for the new high-speed generation of this software protocol is in full swing.

And this is the case not only for the AdvancedTCA platform but also on all new system high-speed standards such as VPX, CompactPCI Serial and MicroTCA. Here also, users are demanding systems that support ultra-fast new software protocols. This means that the appropriate backplanes must also be designed to carry data at these new high rates.

With innovative design, and secured by extensive testing, Schroff is already manufacturing AdvancedTCA backplanes with data rates of 40 Gb/s today (10 G base-KR on 4 parallel ports). However, all other new Schroff backplanes and systems for VPX, CompactPCI Serial and MicroTCA have been developed and tested on the basis of these new generations of software protocols.

The growing requirements for cooling and power supply have likewise been taken into account. As a result Schroff is already now in a position to offer systems of various bus technologies that support all new software protocols. Customers can find detailed information on this on the Schroff website and in the user manuals available there.