VITA, the trade association for standard computing architectures serving critical embedded systems industries, has announced completion of a successful first VPX System Management Interoperability Workshop (VSM-IW) to test compliance of relevant VPX products to the VITA 46.11 System Management for VPX standard. In a VSM-IW, VITA member companies who build VPX chassis and modules that comply with VITA 46.11 come together to systematically test the interoperability of their chassis and module combinations. VITA member Mercury Systems hosted this first VSM-IW in Burlington, MA. Other participants included Elma Electronic, Extreme Engineering Solutions and Pigeon Point Systems.
The VITA 46.11 specification was approved by its Working Group in November 2013 as a Draft Standard for Trial Use (DSTU), along with an explicit plan to organize a first VSM-IW as part of the effort to achieve full ANSI/VITA ratification. As preparation for the workshop, the VITA 46.11 Working Group developed a set of test plans for key functional areas of the standard and then used those plans to guide the testing. The test plans used in the VSM-IW highlighted where the DSTU can be clarified and improved to enhance interoperability for products built to the standard.
VITA 46.11 was intentionally modeled on the hardware management layer of AdvancedTCA (ATCA), a PICMG-developed open modular platform that is in its second decade of broad worldwide use in telecommunications and other applications. PICMG authorized VITA to leverage the hardware management portion of the ATCA specification as well as test plans used in dozens of similar interoperability workshops for ATCA and related platforms since 2002. The VITA 46.11 specification adapts the ATCA management architecture and test plans to the special needs of critical embedded systems.
The two main layers of VITA 46.11 are:
1) Chassis Manager, which manages and represents a chassis to upper level management
2) Intelligent Platform Management Controller (IPMC) integrated into each VPX module and representing that module to the Chassis Manager.
The standard defines two tiers of functionality for each layer to enable implementation flexibility. This VSM-IW tested the interoperability of two independent Chassis Manager implementations and four IPMC implementations. The testing included a 16-slot OpenVPX chassis filled with modules from multiple vendors, including both tiers of IPMC functionality.
Participant Quotes
“With increased emphasis on interoperability, reduced integration effort, and time-to-market, we believe a standardized OpenVPX system management architecture will enable our customers to quickly and efficiently combine platform elements for their applications while implementing the appropriate level of system management,” said Dan Toohey, Technical Director at Mercury Systems and VITA 46.11 Working Group Chair. “This VSM-IW, which we were pleased to host and participate in, is another positive step towards making the VITA 46.11 standard a reality. Mercury Systems plans to continue additional trial testing using Chassis Managers and IPMCs based on Pigeon Point Systems’ reference implementations for these functions.”
“As with other interoperability workshops, this has proven the importance of such testing to insure that we work collectively to maintain a healthy ecosystem that supports the very foundation of open architectures,” said Gary Hanson, Senior Systems Engineer at Elma Electronic. “Elma welcomes these opportunities to work with industry colleagues to develop strong technical solutions that enable our customers.”
“This VSM-IW and the test plan preparations for it were a very productive step toward a ratified ANSI/VITA 46.11 standard,” said Mark Overgaard, Founder and CTO, Pigeon Point Systems. “We are pleased to apply our decade plus of management experience with ATCA to helping to meet the need for dependable, compliant and interoperable management solutions for VPX, including the Chassis Managers and IPMCs successfully tested here.”
“The interoperability workshop was a positive experience that enabled companies who provide VPX solutions with IPMI support to get a head start on verifying VITA 46.11 specification compliance,” Matt Starzewski, Principal Software Engineer, X-ES.
About VITA
Founded in 1984, VITA is an incorporated, non-profit organization of suppliers and users who share a common market interest in critical embedded systems. VITA champions open system architectures. Its activities are international in scope, technical, promotional, and user-centric. VITA aims to increase total market size for its members, expand market exposure for suppliers, and deliver timely technical information. VITA has ANSI and IEC accreditation to develop standards (VME, VXS, VPX, OpenVPX, VPX REDI, XMC, FMC, etc.) for embedded systems used in a myriad of critical applications and harsh environments. For more information, visit www.vita.com.