What was once firmly in the realm of the highly technical professional or the mind of the science fiction writer has now become ubiquitous. And while computers are still multifaceted machines, their inner workings have thankfully become increasingly standardized. AdvancedTCA is one of the key components for enabling more computing breakthroughs because of the way in which it produces a standard architecture.

Advanced TCA stands for Advanced Telecom Computing Architecture. This is really a series of industry standard specifications for the anticipated generation of carrier grade communications equipment. Effectively, Advanced TCA standardizes the architecture for carrier-grade telecommunication environments. This was brought about by PICMG, a consortium of over one hundred companies. Advanced TCA is the group's biggest specification effort. The value of having a standard architecture on which to build future products is very high, and will benefit telecommunications companies and their customers, with particular benefits for wireless access and wireless core networks.

By standardizing hardware architecture, companies will be able to increase their output, costs for developing new products will decrease because everyone is working within the same standards, and companies can distribute their products more quickly. AdvancedTCA (ATCA) cards-or 'blades'-are 14" high and mount in single slot cabinets or cabinets up to 23" wide that hold 16 cards. The cabinets are also called 'shelves'. The blades and the shelves are designed to enable large amounts of airflow. ATCA blades also offer an easy way to upgrade your system, replacing older cards with newer, denser, faster ones.

Advanced TCA allows users to mix and match cards from different companies and to develop as needed. The days of needing to pull apart the guts of your machine or system are past.