VSO ANSI accreditation
Accredited as a Standards Development Organization (SDO) in June 1993 by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), the VITA Standards Organization (VSO) meets every two months to address vital embedded bus and board industry standards issues. Information on ANSI/VITA standards is available on the VITA website.
VSO study and working group activities
Standards within the VSO may be initiated by a study group and developed by a working group. A study group requires the sponsorship of only one VSO member and is used to build interest in a standard. A working group requires the sponsorship of at least three VITA members, and the proposed work must fit within the defined scope of VITA’s accreditation with ANSI.
VITA 17.2 – 10 Gbit Serial FPDP
Objective
Develop a standard for 10 Gbit data transfer on Serial Front Panel Data Port (SFPDP).
Status
Ralph Berrera, Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing, has been appointed the new chair of VITA 17.2 and will be scheduling weekly teleconferences.
VITA 41 – VME Switched Serial (VXS)
Status
VITA 41.0, 41.1, and 41.2 have all passed working group ballots and are being submitted to the VITA ANSI ballot process for ANSI standardization.
VITA 42 – Switched Mezzanine Card (XMC)
Objective
Extend PMC to include serial fabrics.
Status
VITA 42.0 has been issued as a draft standard for trial use for an 18-month period. VITA 42.1, 42.2, and 42.3 have successfully completed working group ballots and are being submitted to the ANSI ballot process.
VITA 46 – VPX
Objective
Develop a 3U/6U 160 mm deep Eurocard module with a high-performance connector capable of supporting both parallel and serial fabrics.
Status
The working group continues to refine VITA 46.0 based on comments from the first working group ballot. In addition, VITA 46.3, Serial RapidIO on VITA 46, will be revised and submitted to a working group ballot.
VITA 48 – Enhanced Ruggedized Design Implementation (ERDI)
Objective
Define a general mechanical design implementation for circuit card assemblies that will enhance both their thermal performance and structural integrity.
Status
Drafts for VITA 48.1 and 48.2 are being revised based on comments from previous working group ballots. VITA 48.0 has been revised and submitted to a second working group ballot.
VITA 49 – Digital Intermediate Frequency (IF)
Objective
Develop a new interconnect standard for passing a radio’s digitized IF data between computer boards.
Status
A rough first draft has been circulated for working group comments. The group continues to focus on the scope of the effort.
VITA 51 – Reliability Prediction
Objective
Develop a better method for predicting electronic module reliability.
Status
Members of the working group gave a presentation at the International Society of Logistics conference in Orlando and identified 28 people interested in the VITA 51 effort. An all-day working group meeting is planned for November.
VITA 52 – Lead Free
Objective
Determine how to meet current and impending lead-free regulatory requirements.
Status
The VITA 52 working group continues to provide input on documents being developed by LEAP to address the transition to lead-free electronics.
VITA 53 – Market Surveillance
Objective
Develop a standard method to collect product life information.
Status
The working group had a half-day meeting at the September VSO meeting. Several manufacturers presented their approach on end-of-life issues.
VITA 55 – Aurora
Objective
Develop a standard method for implementing Aurora in VITA standards.
Status
VITA members would like to use Aurora on VITA 41 and 42 modules. This effort would create a single implementation standard for Aurora on VITA 41, 42, and 46 form factors.
VITA 56 – Embedded Platform Management Architecture (EPMA)
Objective
Develop a standard for a front insertable/removable mezzanine card.
Status
This is a new effort. David Pepper, GE, and others presented their proposal at the September VSO meeting for a front-panel insertable/removable mezzanine card. Sponsors include GE, SBS, and Yamaichi.
John Rynearson is technical director of VITA. Previously, he founded Rystar, Inc., specializing in VMEbus training, and was one of the founders of Mizar, Inc., an early VMEbus company.
VITA, the VMEbus International Trade Association, was formed in 1984 to promote and enhance VME standards and to champion open standards in the embedded computing industry. VITA received accreditation as an ANSI-certified standards developer in 1993 and accreditation as an IEC-ITA certified standards developer in 2000.