However, I have realized in the past month or so that maybe the self-appointed sage’s proclamation of daily unknowns was actually right. Though I have my world completely scheduled and predictable, others are taking action, unbeknownst to me, yielding what? Surprise. And the embedded electronics industry – specifically the VPX world – is no exception. I was certainly surprised by the following two recent happenings.
Mercury attends to VPX – outside VSO
A couple weeks ago, Mercury Computer Systems sent out its
email relaying an industry first: It had initiated its own working group
– outside VITA/VSO – to further development of VITAís
VPX specifications. In what could be perceived by some as irreverence for
following Standards Development Organization (SDO) protocol, Mercuryís new OpenVPX Industry Working Group aims to solve VPX
system-level interoperability issues and what Mercury calls ambiguity in areas
such as VPX pinouts, where present specifications
could be interpreted differently by various manufacturers, among other issues.
The two questions most embedded industry players have are the
same things Group Editorial Director Chris Ciufo and
I were wondering when we chatted with a Mercury representative shortly after
the groundbreaking announcement: Why go outside VITA? What was the reaction of
the VSO on the formation of an external, independent working group? How will
the OpenVPX Industry Working Group submit its
conclusions to VSO, or will it? And how will this affect the industry in the
long run – will this set a precedent for other companies to follow in
developing outside-of-VITA working groups focused on VITA technologies?
While we donít want to ruin the surprise behind Mercuryís answer to these questions and more (see
the April print edition of VME and
Critical Systems for in-depth coverage including an interview with
Mercury), what we can say for now is this: Mercury developed its own working
group to fast-track VPX, choosing key industry players (as of yet, unannounced primes and vendors) deemed
as having high relevance and impact on VPX, to streamline the development
process and cut to the chase.
The Mercury representative indicated, as did Mercuryís PR,
that Ray Alderman and VITA/VSO have voiced no objections to the OpenVPX Industry Working Group. Further, Mercury has no
intention of competing with VITA, it says, and will submit all its VPX
recommendations in what it calls ìa comprehensive System Design Guideî to be
submitted to the VSO and considered for draft specification. Mercuryís hope is
to complete the effort by this June. Once the task is accomplished, the OpenVPX Industry Working Group will disappear. So, what
effect will all this have on VITA/VSO and VPX in the long run, and will it set
a precedent for other break-out working groups? Well Ö
those will constitute yet more surprises as events unfold.
VPX supplier Elma takes on new dimension
Though acquisitions are frequent in the embedded electronics
industry, another item that recently took me by surprise was the announcement
that VPX purveyor Elma Electronic had acquired ACT/Technico.
Admit it, youíre still surprised by specific acquisitions too, when they occur
– unless youíre one of the few whose ears receive advance ìrumblingsî
that a particular acquisition is afoot. Nevertheless, while some thought Elma
had the whole package (pardon the pun), apparently its execs wanted to add ACT/Technicoís subsystem integration expertise to Elmaís own
bevy of electronic packaging products in the VPX, VME, and VXS form factors, in
addition to its AdvancedTCA, MicroTCA,
and other wares.
ACT/Technicoís acquisition also
gives Elma access to ACT/Technicoís array of
standards-based offerings, including SBCs, PMCs, I/O solutions, networking and carrier products, and
software – including that of Wind River Systems and Sysgo,
among others. Of course, Elma also, ironically, acquires ACT/Technicoís enclosures and chassis. What effect will this
merger have on the embedded market? Look for our interview with Elmaís
president in the upcoming June Resource Guide (print) edition. No telling what
heíll say. Ah yes, yet another
surprise.
In this edition Ö
Meanwhile, in this edition, the main surprise is that weíre
delivering this all-new material, special electronic edition of our magazine
(not our typical ìE-letterî) in digital format, as opposed to our usual (now
environmentally friendly) ink. Highlights include a Q&A with Green Hills
Softwareís CTO David Kleidermacher on GHís revolutionary EAL 6+ certification. We also share the
latest from VITAís executive director, Ray Alderman,
who compares some board segmentsí tread in todayís economy to his youthful,
agrarian observations of pigs on ice. Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded
Computing also makes a bid for VITA 47 ruggedization,
while Kontron presents a counterbalance case for another path: a ruggedized
coupling agent.
In addition, Robert Normoyle from
DRS-Signal Solutions takes readers inside the emerging VITA 46.14 RF backplane
interconnect standard, and John Rynearson, VITA
technical director, provides the latest status update roundup and VITA activity
chart. Weíre also including a white paper on reverse engineering by Randy
Torrance and Dick James of Chipworks Inc., who
provide a scientific look at the often-controversial practice.
We hope you enjoy this full, all-new electronic edition of VME and Critical Systems, and that you
enjoy lifeís wonderful surprises when they come – and make lemonade of
lifeís more lemony surprises when they happen.
Sharon Schnakenburg