In computer systems, computer component cards may be connected to a single base or carrier card that plugs into the computer bus or data path. The component cards may be stacked on the base or carrier card and are commonly referred to as mezzanine cards. Existing mezzanine cards may use conventional Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) as the primary data bus interface to the base or carrier card. Examples of existing or legacy mezzanine cards include a Common Mezzanine Card (CMC), a PCI Mezzanine Card (PMC), a Processor PMC (PrPMC), and a Switched Mezzanine Card (XMC).
An Advanced Mezzanine Card (AMC) is a high-speed hot-swappable mezzanine card designed for, but not limited to, Advanced Telecommunications Computing Architecture (ATCA) carriers. The AMC standard is designed to enhance modularity and high-speed serial connectivity for ATCA and other platforms. AMC cards may use high speed interconnect standards such as PCI Express, which provides a high speed serial connection.
Although the industry may be moving toward the AMC standard, there remains widespread acceptance and use of non-AMC mezzanine cards. AMC is not backward compatible with mezzanine standards based on the CMC specification, and the differences between these types of mezzanine cards may present problems, for example, when adapting legacy mezzanine cards to ATCA carriers. To connect to an AMC connector on an ATCA carrier, for example, legacy mezzanine cards may need to be redesigned to provide the proper connectors and/or bridges.
Although the following detailed description will proceed with reference being made to particular illustrated embodiments, it should be understood that numerous variations and modifications will be apparent to those having skill in the art. Accordingly, the claimed subject matter should be interpreted broadly without limitation to the particular illustrated embodiments herein.