The UTCA-5504 MicroTCA Carrier Hub (MCH) combines x86 processing, switching, management and backhaul in to a single MCH element. It supports all the functions needed to control, network, connect and manage a full system. Designed and tested in the Advantech UTCA-6302 MicroTCA system, the UTCA-5504 offers extended MCH features and facilitates user specific x86 application software development. The UTCA-5504’s onboard Carrier and Shelf Manager, 24-port non-blocking layer 2 Ethernet switch and Intel® EP80579 Integrated Processor with Intel® QuickAssist provide uncompromising processing performance and a range of connectivity options. Four GbE and four optional T1/E1 ports meet infrastructure backhaul and gateway needs whilst the on-chip accelerator provides security co-processing options for functions such as encryption. The Intel® EP80579 on the MCH runs standard Linux distributions providing a platform for control and application processing, higher-level system and switch management or boot server functions for in-system processor AMC's. Delivered with up to1 GB DDR2 SDRAM with ECC and a CompactFlash (CF) disk, the UTCA-5504 provides full flexibility in terms of OS installation and modularity. The onboard IPMI firmware developed by Advantech executes on a compact real-time OS running on a 32bit microcontroller. In addition to supporting shelf & carrier management with failover redundancy, the Intelligent Platform Management simplifies cooling and fan unit control for overall platform cost-savings.