Jerry Gipper Editorial Director

The November VITA Standards Organization (VSO) standards meeting was held in Tempe, Arizona. This update is based on the results of that meeting. Contact VITA if you are interested in participating in any of these working groups. Visit the VITA website (http://www.vita.com) for details on upcoming VSO meetings. ANSI accreditation Accredited as an American National [...]

Jerry Gipper Editorial Director

It has been several years since the introduction of a new mezzanine form factor for low-profile applications. The VITA membership has been doing some soul-searching to determine what should be next. Plenty of controversy is in the air, with everything from simple right-angle edge connections and optical links to the carrier being thrown into the fray. [...]

Jerry Gipper Editorial Director

The original work on VPX started in 2004 with the formation of the VITA 46 working group. Since then, many enhancements have been added to the family of standards supporting the VPX architecture. Features such as advanced cooling schemes and connectivity – for RF and optical – have greatly extended the capability of VPX-based platforms, enabling them [...]

Rick Hearn, Curtiss-Wright Defense Systems, Michael Slonosky Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions , Geoffrey Waters, NXP Semiconductors, and Lisa Sarazin, Curtiss-Wright Defense Systems

In recent years, Arm processors have made a quiet, understated entry into the military/aerospace market. With a well-established reputation in commercial markets for bringing high performance to low-power mobile devices – such as smartphones, tablets, and wearables – it’s no surprise that Arm’s potential was recognized in an industry where size, weight, and power (SWaP) constraints [...]

Jennifer Keenan Mercury Systems

Almost 5,000 artificial satellites orbit our planet with just over 1,900 of them operational. These satellites provide us with communication networks, Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) coverage, technological research, as well as scientific and Earth observation data. Historically, our military forces utilized geosynchronous equatorial orbit (GEO) satellites for their reconnaissance and communications networks. These satellites orbit at an altitude of [...]

Jerry Gipper Editorial Director

In January, Embedded Tech Trends 2019 was held San Diego, California at the Andaz. Located in the heart of the famous Gas Lamp district, the attendees had ready access to great dining and local SoCal activities like the San Diego zoo and the USS Midway. The theme for 2019 was “The Future is Now!” The [...]

Jerry Gipper Editorial Director

I was saddened in February with the news from NASA that the Opportunity Rover mission on Mars was formally concluded. What was originally supposed to be a 90-day, 1,000-meter, exploratory excursion had turned into a nearly 15-year, 28.4-mile odyssey across the surface of Mars, far beyond the expectations of anyone. This mission has held a special [...]

Gary Rutledge Amphenol Backplane & System Integration

The new generation of VPX protocols are here and the next generations are on the horizon. The exciting world of high speed has arrived and before we know it today's technology will be superseded. VPX is "evolving." The next generation of PCIe and Ethernet will add more complexities to the VPX signal channel. We are seeing data rates increase exponentially and the evolution of VPX has begun.

Steve Gudknecht Elma Electronic

The concept of modular designs in small-form-factor (SFF) electronic systems poses interesting challenges to equipment suppliers who feed the embedded computing market's demand for smaller, more cost-effective solutions. Competing expectations from designers include reduced size, lower cost, lower NRE (nonrecurring engineering) charges, and the drive for the most forward-reaching future-proof designs that enable form, fit, and functional upgrades at a reasonable cost.

Ken Brown LCR Embedded Systems

Thanks to its flexibility, performance, and suitability for harsh and varied environments, VPX - especially the size, weight, and power-cost (SWaP-C)-friendly 3U VPX - has rapidly established itself as the form factor of choice for aerospace and defense programs. The majority of new opportunities are in the 3U VPX VITA 48.2 (conduction cooled) form factor, housed in an ARINC 404 enclosure, commonly called Air Transport Rack (ATR). ATR enclosures are notorious for restrictive I/O limitations.