NAT

Products & Solutions Around the MTCA Standard

NAT GmbH is a European specialist in high-performance connectivity products for data and telecommunications solutions, accelerated industrial vision, and software-defined radio. Based in Bonn, Germany, the company designs and supplies custom and turnkey systems, leveraging the latest open standards, for applications in the telecommunications, industrial automation, defense, and scientific research sectors.

N.A.T. distinguishes itself through its integrated approach covering hardware, software, and systems, offering exceptional modularity and flexibility. The company is recognized for its expertise in MicroTCA (MTCA) technologies, FPGA-accelerated industrial vision under the NATvision brand, as well as software-defined radio (SDR) under the NATwireless brand.

Technologies and Ecosystem

NAT’s expertise is based on mastery of open standards and modular architectures, enabling great flexibility and system scalability.

  • Open and modular standards: NAT is a key player in MicroTCA (MTCA) and AdvancedTCA (ATCA) technologies, offering chassis, power modules, and management cards for these architectures (MCH/MicroTCA Carrier Hub).

  • Accelerated industrial vision (NATvision) : NATvision is NAT’s vision platform, combining AMD Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC FPGAs and FMC modules for real-time image processing with very low latency. The platform supports AI, OpenCV, and Visual Applets, and offers scalability up to 12 FPGA cards in a single MTCA system.

  • Software-defined radio (NATwireless) : Design of SDR systems based on FPGAs and RF converters, for 4G/5G communication, electromagnetic intelligence, and electronic warfare applications. The NATwireless solution is available both as COTS board-level products and as turnkey systems ready for deployment, for example as eNB or gNB for private networks.

  • Custom and turnkey solutions: NAT excels in the integration of complete systems, from specification definition to delivery of a ready-to-use solution, including firmware and software development.

Product Ranges

NAT offers a comprehensive range of products covering market needs, from individual components to integrated systems.

1. MicroTCA Systems and Chassis

NAT offers several ready-to-use systems for different integration needs, ranging from 1U to 9U form factors.

2. MicroTCA Infrastructure Modules

These modules are essential for the operation of any MTCA system:

  • MCH (MicroTCA Carrier Hub) : Management and switching cards for MTCA systems. The latest generation (Gen4) supports speeds up to 40/100GbE and PCIe Gen4/5. N.A.T. also offers a cost-reduced eMCH (embedded MCH) for smaller applications.

  • Power Modules (PM) : Power supply modules for MTCA chassis, with redundancy and power management.

  • JSM (JTAG Switch Module) : JTAG switching module for programming and debugging FPGAs in MTCA systems.

3. AMC Modules (Advanced Mezzanine Card)

NAT develops several families of specialized AMC modules:

  • AMC CPU Modules: Computing cards based on powerful processors.

  • AMC FPGA Modules: AMC modules based on FPGAs.

  • SDR Modules (NATwireless) : Combination of a NAT-AMC-ZYNQUP-ADV carrier board with 1 or 2 SDR FMC modules, up to 4 ADRV9009 RF transceivers.

4. AMC Interface Cards

  • Telecommunications interface card for SDH/SONET networks (OC-3/STM-1, OC-12/STM-4).

  • Interface card with 4 DS3/E3 interfaces.

5. FMC (FPGA Mezzanine Card) and XMC Modules

NAT offers several modules compliant with VITA 57.1 (FMC) and VITA 42 (XMC) standards to extend the capabilities of FPGA cards:

  • FMC module with 4 RJ45 ports compatible with GigE Vision and Power-over-Ethernet (IEEE 802.3af), enabling power and connection of industrial cameras.

  • FMC module with SFP connectors for high-speed optical links.

  • RF FMC module integrating 2 Analog Devices ADRV9009 dual RF transceivers, offering 4 Rx/Tx channels with wide bandwidth and synchronizable for creating large phased arrays.

  • XMC module with Spartan-7 FPGA and E1/T1 framer.

6. Other Modules and Accessories

  • Extension card for AMC, facilitating debugging and testing of modules.

  • PCIe card with Spartan-7 FPGA and 4 E1/T1 interfaces.

  • Audio and video acceleration AMC card, with up to 8 OCT2224M DSPs.

Main Application Areas

NAT solutions are deployed in sectors where reliability, performance, and flexibility are essential.

  • Telecommunications: Infrastructure for 4G/5G networks (base stations, transport equipment), access and aggregation networks. NATwireless solutions are particularly suited to these markets.

  • Industrial automation: Industrial vision (NATvision) for quality inspection, manufacturing control, robotic vision, and continuous material analysis.

  • Defense and security: Military communications, electronic warfare, electromagnetic intelligence, radar systems.

  • Aerospace and research: Satellite ground stations, radio telescopes, material testing (crash tests, aerodynamics).

  • Medical and sciences: Medical imaging, physics, chemistry, biology, and biomechanics.

Why NAT is a Strategic Partner for EMG2

At EMG2, we provide innovative technology building blocks and electronic solutions, particularly in embedded systems (chassis, power & MTCA cards, FMC modules) and networks & radio frequencies (SDR cards, VPX, SmartNIC). NAT perfectly complements our offering by bringing its expertise in MicroTCA systems, accelerated industrial vision (NATvision), and software-defined radio (NATwireless), essential for industrial, telecommunications, and defense applications.

Our collaboration allows French customers to benefit from:

  • Local EMG2 support in France, for technical assistance and close consulting on N.A.T. ranges.

  • Simplified access to NAT systems and components, from individual modules to turnkey solutions.

  • Complementary expertise to integrate these solutions into complex systems (vision, motion control, embedded systems, radio frequencies).

  • A tailored response for automation, telecommunications, defense, research, and industry projects requiring high-performance vision and connectivity solutions.

We support our customers in the selection and integration of N.A.T. solutions, offering technical expertise for implementation, thereby ensuring the success of their most demanding projects.

Next Steps