Mercury Computer Systems announced enhanced xTCA subsystems for demanding applications. These new subsystems provide high density, multi-core processing power and next generation serial RapidIO, supporting twice the bandwidth of current solutions and delivering new Quality of Service capabilities.

The hardware base for these new subsystems includes the HCD2100, the first of a family of AMC supporting Freescale Semiconductor's family of QorIQ processors. There is also a new ATCA carrier module, the BCC-301, delivering 20 GBS of bandwidth with next generation Serial RapidIO switching, as well as supporting four AMCs. These new components are the first examples of Mercury's extensions to market-leading xTCA application capabilities.

Computer systems embedded in sophisticated communications equipment are called upon to perform complex calculations and deliver deterministic, low-latency responses. Examples include: Satellite Communications, where beamforming techniques are used to efficiently maintain high bandwidth data links; Telecommunications Test Equipment, which must be powerful and flexible to simulate new generations of handsets with a wide range of behaviors; and SATCOM Gateways, supporting extremely high data bandwidths for voice and data traffic.

"Mercury has unique expertise and experience in data plane integration, using combinations of general purpose processors, DSPs and FPGAs to deliver powerful, high bandwidth, low latency xTCA solutions," said Mike Katz, Director, Product Management at Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. "Today's enhancements maintain that tradition, increasing both processing power and system bandwidth for a balanced improvement in overall subsystem performance. We combine these enhancements with customization, integration and test services to support layering an application onto subsystems for faster development and deployment of new capabilities," Katz added.

The HCD2100 is the first Mercury AMC module to support the Freescale QorIQ Communications P4 Series Architecture processor running at up to 1.5 GHz. It is well suited to providing high-performance computing for applications as diverse as wireless base stations, test and measurement in telecom, wafer lithography, and silicon inspection. "Freescale and Mercury have a long track record of collaborating to drive innovation within a wide range of markets," said Glenn Beck, Industrial Segment Market Manager of Freescale Semiconductor. "With Mercury's support for our QorIQ architecture, Freescale customers can now maximize the performance of highly compute and I/O intensive applications, general-purpose embedded computing systems in the networking, telecom/datacom, military and aerospace markets," he continued.

The BCC-301 is a next generation Carrier Blade for 4 AMCs, supporting both GigE switching and 20 Gbps serial RapidIO with multicast support for high-bandwidth low latency applications. It enables modular AMC configurations and is scalable with 2-, 5-, 6- and 14-slot ATCA chassis options. The BCC-301 uses the new CPS-1848 switch with enhanced diagnostics. "The BCC-301 doubles the bandwidth previously available for serial RapidIO, improving efficiency and significantly amplifying performance," said Stephane Gagnon, Director of Product Management of IDT. "This new carrier blade is further evidence of Mercury's commitment to driving technology and supporting a wide variety of network, telecom, industrial control, test and measurement, and defense applications," Gagnon added.