Spring is well known as a time for change, and this spring is no exception. As promised in the Winter issue, our VME and Critical Systems magazine is going through some change. We have been studying the need for a name update to VME and Critical Systems for several years. In fact, the change to VME and Critical Systems was driven by the introduction of VPX several years ago. The thinking at that time was to eventually drop VME from the title and focus on critical embedded systems. But as time moved on, new projects appeared at the VITA Standards Organization (VSO) – projects on new rugged small form factors, system management, and reliability metrics. This expanded coverage from the VSO prompted a reset in naming strategies for this publication.
After much thought and discussion, it was decided that we would go with the title found on this issue’s cover, VITA Technologies. This gives us the ability to provide coverage on technology used in standards developed by VITA.
The title change is but one of several changes you will see in this magazine. A new feature in VITA Technologies is “The Design Wins Spotlight,” focused on design wins using VITA technologies. We will provide insight into why a particular technology was chosen and how the benefits of the technology will aid the end product.
Additionally, most of the editorial content for VITA Technologies will be staff written in 2012, giving us the chance to provide you with in-depth analysis of the technology and markets served by VITA Technologies magazine.
VITA Technologies will continue to include the “VITA News” column authored by the executive director of VITA and the “VITA Standards Update” column authored by the technical director of VITA. It will also continue to be the publication dedicated to VITA activities and its members.
To round out the changes, we have redesigned the website. Be sure to visit it at VITA-Technologies.com to see the layout. We have streamlined the navigation within the site while making the site more informative. Bookmark this page to be sure you have the latest news related to VITA Technologies.
Inaugural Embedded Tech Trends
The inaugural Embedded Tech Trends was held in Cocoa Beach Jan. 16 and 17. Embedded Tech Trends is a networking event for companies in the critical embedded computing industry. This event gives sponsors an excellent opportunity to network with each other and with the leading editors and analysts in the embedded computing industry.
This year’s event was attended by 15 sponsor companies and 12 of the top editors in the industry. Each day was packed with informative presentations and panel discussions plus time
for networking.
The event kicked off on Sunday with a visit to the Kennedy Space Center. Attendees toured the Air Force’s Cape Canaveral launch sites where the early missions of the American space program occurred. The group was able to stand in the bunker used to control the first launch of the Redstone rockets that were used in the Mercury program. We also toured Gemini launch sites and stood on Launch Complex 34 where Apollo 1 met its catastrophic fate. The tour ended at the visitors’ center where a real Saturn V rocket and command module are on display.
The agenda started off on Monday with an introduction by me. This was followed by presentations delivered by the sponsors on various VITA technologies.
- VITA 59: ESMexpress COM
- VITA 74: Small Form Factor standard
- OpenVPX Dispels the Notion that VPX is not Multivendor Interoperable
- OpenVPX Successfully Deployed
- VPX in Action
- VME in Critical Embedded Applications
- Signal Integrity and VPX Backplane Architecture Trends
- VITA 51: Introduction to the Reliability Community
- Get Flexible with FMC
- Debugging PCI Express in Embedded Systems
- An Overview of Optical Interconnect Technology
The agenda included an executive panel moderated by John McHale (OpenSystems Media). On the panel were Peter Cavill (GE Intelligent Platforms), Manfred Schmitz (MEN Mikro Elektronik GmbH), Ken Grob (Elma Electronic Inc.), and Paul Monticciolo (Mercury Computer Systems). They discussed topics ranging from technical challenges to what the future holds for critical embedded computing.
The presentations and photos of the event are available for viewing at the VITA website at www.vita.com. Look for the Embedded Tech Trends icon.
Feel free to contact me with story ideas or to share a design win. I look forward to a very exciting 2012, moving forward with VITA Technologies.