CommAgility’s AdvancedMC module provides multicore DSP and FPGA performance for WiMAX and LTE applications

AMC-3C87F includes optical CPRI/OBSAI antenna interfaces and SRIO, and provides extensive software support

21st October 2008

CommAgility announced today the AMC-3C87F, a single width Advanced Mezzanine Card which provides a mix of multicore DSP and FPGA processing power together with flexible, high bandwidth I/O connectivity. This makes it ideal for wireless baseband, test and other processing-intensive applications such as WiMAX and Long Term Evolution of 3GPP (LTE).

For use in MicroTCA or AdvancedTCA systems, the module includes three Texas Instruments TCI6487 multi-core DSPs running at 1GHz to provide a high-performance DSP resource. It also provides a Xilinx Virtex-5 SX95T FPGA for interfacing and DSP co-processing.

Dual front-panel optical SFP sockets are provided for industry-standard CPRI and OBSAI links to wireless radio heads, units under test or other optical data links such as Ethernet backhaul. Flexible sync options include a GPS or other reference clock, or the optical links themselves.

By working with CommAgility and its software partners, customers can obtain a complete basestation WiMAX PHY layer solution based on the new AMC-3C87F module. Alternatively, extensive software and firmware library support, along with available DSP software and FPGA IP cores, provides a fast route for customers to application code porting for both WiMAX and LTE.

Edward Young, managing director at CommAgility, said, "With the new AMC-3C87F module, we have listened to our wireless customers and incorporated the interfacing and processing to meet their needs, as well as working to broaden the software support available for system designers. No other supplier can offer this level of capability in the AMC form factor."

As well as Gigabit Ethernet, the module incorporates a full 10Gbps RapidIO infrastructure with an onboard switch from Tundra Semiconductor, providing dependable on and off card interconnects at up to 10Gbps per link. Tracy Richardson,  Tundra’s Vice President of Marketing, said, "Commagility selected Tundra’s Tsi578 RapidIO Switch because of its field proven performance, low power and extremely low latency that System OEMs need to design Wireless Baseband Applications.  Moreover, Tundra’s interoperability with Xilinx Virtex 5 FPGAs for RapidIO was critical to the successful development of this product."

A range of build options are available and further customisation is possible in volume. This ensures the best technical and commercial fit to any customer application, and helps reduce risk and time-to-market. As a customer option, the AMC-3C87F can also be built using Texas Instruments’ recently-announced TI TMS320C6474 processor.

The AMC-3C87F module is sampling to lead customers now.

CommAgility will be showing its full range of high-performance signal processing modules on booth 521 at the AdvancedTCA/MicroTCA Summit in Santa Clara, CA, which runs from October 21-23, 2008. They will also be taking part in the MicroTCA Interoperability Demonstration. See www.AdvancedTCAsummit.com for more information.



About CommAgility:
CommAgility is a leading manufacturer of signal processing AMC modules for wireless baseband applications, combining flexible CPRI/OBSAI antenna interfaces, the latest TI DSPs and Xilinx FPGAs, and high bandwidth on and off-card communications using Serial RapidIO and Ethernet. Customers around the world use CommAgility products to develop high performance applications in both wireless and non-wireless spaces, and recent designs include test equipment, trial systems and base stations for a wide range of wireless standards especially WiMax and LTE.

Website: www.commagility.com
Contact:
Tel: +44 1509 228866

Press contact:
Nick Daines
Email: nick@lumenpr.com
Tel: +44 (0)115 8412109
Mobile: +44 (0)7958 534731

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