Is the power market ready for Advanced Telecommunications Computing Architecture Systems (ATCA) - board-level power considerations?

Advanced Telecommunications Computing Architecture (ATCA) is an open standard for the implementation of telecom computing and data center systems. It is the largest specification effort in the history of the PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group (PICMG), with more than 100 companies participating. Known as Advanced TCA^TM, the official specification designation is PICMG 3.x [1]. Some of the applications include, but not limited to: Modular Telco line cards, Next generation DLCs / Remote DSLAMs, Fiber to the curb, Optical network concentrators, Wi-Fi and WiMAX radio devices, Base stations and Ethernet hubs This article examines what the ATCA system is and the power management challenges it poses for blade designers.