Module Management Controller for MicroTCA-based Controller Board

As a result of a growing interest in the xTCA systems by research centers conducting High Energy Physics (HEP) experiments, the PICMG xTCA for Physics Coordinating Committee is developing a new, attractive standards. They are specifically dedicated to control and data acquisition systems of HEP applications. These new specifications define a number of extensions to the Advanced Telecommunications Computing Architecture (ATCA) and Micro Telecommunications Computing Architecture ( μ TCA) standards. The MicroTCA for Physics specification, named MTCA.4, defines some new solutions in order to simplify an application of μ TCA specification in HEP facilities. The most important of them is μ RTM module which can be connected to the Advanced Mezzanine Card (AMC) and provides more usable area and additional I/O connectors at the rear of the shelf. The MTCA.4 also introduces additional channels dedicated for timing and synchronization signals that are available on backplane. Due to the fact that xTCA for Physics is a new specification which has not been officially published, both the AMC and μ RTM modules and the software for the MMC with possibility of μ RTM handling are not yet available. For this reason the preparation of firmware for the Module Management Controller (MMC) for AMC modules compatible with MicroTCA for Physics specification is required. This paper presents a structure of the MMC for the μ TC (MicroTCA-based Controller) board. It also describes the microcontroller software which fulfills the role of the MMC.