Jerry Gipper, Editorial Director
-
VITA 57.4: FMC+
Field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) are utilized in many applications, with the range expanding as new variations of FPGAs emerge. By design, FPGAs are easily reconfigured as application needs change. But sometimes a change to the front-end hardware connecting the FPGA to a real-world application must also change. Until the advent of the FPGA Mezzanine Card (FMC), there was no universally accepted way to modularize the I/O. FMC must now continue to improve in order to meet the latest wave of performance requirements.
-
VITA's switched fabrics roadmap
Over the years, VITA's charter has evolved to embrace a host of new open architecture standards for critical embedded computing. Originally founded to develop standards and an ecosystem in support of VMEbus, VITA has evolved its interconnect strategy for high performance computing to be based on leading switched fabrics. Most popular are Ethernet, PCI Express, InfiniBand, and Serial RapidIO. Today's working groups now spend their efforts on developing standards that implement the latest advancements in the roadmaps of these fabrics in various VITA form factors such as VPX, VNX, XMC, and FMC. The working groups are no longer responsible for defining the protocols but ensuring that the right connector technology is defined suitable for VITA form factors and ensuring that the correct connector technology is implemented as appropriate.
-
VITA Standards Organization activity updates
The September VITA Standards Organization (VSO) standards' meeting was held in Huntsville, Alabama. 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.
-
Visions of Sugar Plums!
We have 20 sponsors lined up for the 2019 edition of Embedded Tech Trends to be held at The Andaz in San Diego, California on January 28 and 29. Embedded Tech Trends is an industry-wide forum where suppliers of component, board and system level solutions meet exclusively with members of relevant industry media to discuss technologies, trends, and products.
-
1, 2, 3, ... Slots are In
When one envisions a VPX system, the image that often comes to mind is a multislot high performance computing system full of processing and I/O boards. But there is a completely different class of VPX "systems" that range from one to three slots in size, primarily in a 3U form factor. What do these "systems" look like and what is driving their existence?
-
VITA 67: VPX coaxial interconnect
One of the biggest challenges for VPX system designers is the management of I/O [input/output] to and from the modules. VPX leaves a lot of room for handling all types of I/O and the teams working on the standards have brought some excellent solutions to market.
-
VITA Standards Organization activity updates
The December VITA Standards Organization (VSO) standards meeting was held in Austin, Texas. 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.
-
Converge and merge
Two big news items have occurred since our last issue. The first is that under The Open Group, the Sensor Open Systems Architecture (SOSA) standard began the process to establish itself as its own consortia. The second is the end-of-the-year Mercury Systems' announcement that they were acquiring Themis Computer.
-
Hall of Fame
Since the announcement of VMEbus in 1981 there have been a great number of people and ideas that have had an impact on the development and advancement of open standards used in critical embedded computing systems. The intention of the VITA Technologies Hall of Fame is to honor and preserve the remembrance of those people and technologies that have had the greatest influence on the VITA open standards industry. Many others are to come - innovators and influencers, who have made a significant impact on developing, designing, creating the technology, and ferrying the technical specifications into open standards. These are the people who have overcome the technical and procedural problems, the products that set new expectations. It is our pleasure to honor these primary contributors to this industry.
-
Embedded Tech Trends 2018 Wrap-up
In January, Embedded Tech Trends 2018 was held in Austin, Texas at the Hilton Garden Inn Downtown. Just off 6th Street, attendees had walking access to the famous Austin music scene and wonderful BBQ.
