The new Rugged MicroTCA specification for air-cooled high-speed systems, MicroTCA.1, was agreed in early 2009 under the auspices of the international standardisation organisation PICMG. Schroff is responsible for the mechanical aspects of the specification, and has published a clear overview of the relevant information at www.schroff.de/ruggedmicrotca. This website shows the development of the xTCA specifications and the role of Rugged MicroTCA, and explains the particularities of Rugged AdvancedMC modules and AdvancedMC carriers, backplanes and connectors. The content of the site is rounded off with examples of Rugged MicroTCA solutions and application areas.

Rugged MicroTCA evolved from the MicroTCA (Micro Telecommunications Computing Architecture) specification MTCA.0, defined for the telecommunications market and its environment in 2006. From the outset, MicroTCA attracted much interest not only within telecommunications but also from other sectors such as industrial automation, testing and measurement and even defence. These markets frequently involve challenging environmental conditions and thus require enhanced resistance to shock and vibration. To meet this need three MicroTCA sub-specifications were initiated that describe the environments found in these industries:

• PICMG MTCA.1 (Air-cooled rugged MicroTCA) for air-cooled industrial applications,
• PICMG MTCA.2 (Hardened air-cooled MicroTCA) for air-cooled military applications, and
• PICMG MTCA.3 (Hardened conduction-cooled MicroTCA) for conduction-cooled military applications.

The PICMG Rugged MicroTCA specification (MicroTCA.1) was released this year and defines the specifications of a system subjected to greater loading in terms of temperature, shock, vibration and other environmental conditions.

In defining the specification, attention was paid particularly to the use of systems in outdoor situations, in production plant and partly also in transport systems, in aviation and in defence technology. Class DL3 specified by IEC 61587-1 defines peak accelerations of 25 g during shock tests and 3 g in vibrations tests, which are almost 4 and 6 times higher respectively than the requirements set by MicroTCA.0. Systems of this kind are used in situations that involve high levels of vibration, such as occur near rotating machines (e.g. in offset printing) and in railway and maritime applications.

Currently the PICMG working group is developing the MicroTCA.3 specification. Following this it plans to begin work on PICMG MTCA.2 (hardened air-cooled MicroTCA) for air-cooled military applications.