AdvancedTCA opens vast opportunities to consolidate many diverse network functions and services into a cost effective and environmentally friendly single carrier grade platform.  However, evolving from numerous purpose-built proprietary platforms (e.g. pizza boxes) to a single chassis where multiple network functions and services all share a common backplane, power/cooling subsystem, and management infrastructure creates significant management challenges.  The good news is that AdvancedTCA provides a robust management environment that enables the high degree of manageability required in today’s communications networks. 

AdvancedTCA provides the ability to discover, monitor, control, upgrade, and repair all field replaceable units (components) in the chassis.   Access to this functionality is centralized in an AdvancedTCA defined shelf manager that interfaces to external system management middleware.   Further enhancing the manageability landscape for AdvancedTCA is a comprehensive set of standards from the Service Availability Forum® (SA Forum) that defines the functions and interfaces required for managing the complex hardware and application software environments.  With AdvancedTCA, system management middleware, and network applications delivered as an integrated carrier grade platform, very high levels of service availability can be achieved.   As a proof point, imagine the following scenario:

1. An AdvancedTCA platform complete with system management middleware is running mission critical video content delivery applications in a wireless network.
2. When the system was booted the system management middleware used the shelf manager to discover all the managed resources.  A predefined configuration defines which application processor is running which application and where standby processors and applications are located.
3. A fan cooling several slots begins to fail.
4. Temperatures begin to rise on several application processor boards.The intelligent fan in the system indicates that RPMs have dropped below a predefined threshold.
5. Sensors on affected processor boards indicate that temperatures have risen beyond predefined limits.

At this point the risk is high that the processors executing the mission critical video applications are going to fail.  Failure will result in costly downtime and customer dissatisfaction.   However, with AdvancedTCA and system management middleware the continuing scenario can prevent such a failure:

1. The shelf manager generates alarms to the external system management middleware.
2. The middleware initiates a failover of the affected applications to their standbys before they fail.
3. The slots affected by the failing fan are then powered down prior to reaching damaging temperature levels.  A repair order is generated with detailed information on the location of the failed components.
4. Using AdvancedTCA’s hot swap capabilities the repair technician can replace the components without powering down the chassis.

What could have been a costly failure was averted due to the manageability of an AdvancedTCA based carrier grade platform.   The effort required to achieve such high levels of service availability starts early in the project with key decisions around which platform and system management middleware to choose from the rich AdvancedTCA ecosystem.  Another key factor to ensuring that all the pieces come together is validating interoperability.  The CP-TA plays a critical role here in developing the interoperability compliance requirements and tests.

The robust system and AdvancedTCA management environment coupled with CP-TA’s manageability and interoperability testing capability makes AdvancedTCA the platform of choice when developing a carrier grade platform.