Certification by supplying vendors will facilitate the cost-effective integration of these items in larger systems

VITA, October 16, 2019 — VITA, the trade association for standard computing architectures serving critical and intelligent embedded computing systems markets, announces the ratification by ANSI and VITA of the suite of standards, ANSI/VITA 47.x-2019: Environments, Design and Construction, Safety, and Quality for VPX Plug-In Units. These standards have completed the VITA and ANSI processes reaching full recognition under guidance of VITA.

ANSI/VITA 47.0-2019

The ANSI/VITA process requires that every active standard be reviewed every five years. ANSI/VITA 47.0 was originally ratified in 2005. Changes in the 2019  revision include:

• Updated abstract and forward explaining the addition of new VITA 47 dot standards.
• Added new EAC7 Environmental Class to Table 2-1.
• Corrected the Operating Temperature Class EC1 thru EC4 for Environmental Classed EFC1 thru EFC4.

This standard is being retained to document heritage applications.

ANSI/VITA 47.1, 2, 3-2019

The new dot standards add more detail to the requirements for environments, design and construction, safety, and quality for modules meeting the VITA 47 standard. This set of standards replace the original VITA 47 standard. The modular structure of the new series enables additions for emerging applications like space deployment.

• ANSI/VITA 47.1: Defines the common requirements for environments, design and construction, safety, and quality for all VPX plug-in modules.
• ANSI/VITA 47.2: Defines the unique requirements related to products meant to align with the applications defined in IPC J-STD-001, Class 2. These applications for VPX plug-in units operate in less severe environments and have less consequence of failure.
• ANSI/VITA 47.3: Defines the unique requirements related to products meant to align with the applications defined in IPC J-STD-001, Class 3. These applications for VPX plug-in units operate in  more severe environments and greater consequences of failure, applications like airborne uninhabited fighters.

Modules certified to a specific environmental class meet the corresponding operating temperature class, non-operating temperature class, temperature cycling class, vibration class, and operating shock class. Suppliers are encouraged to indicate this compliance in their documentation so that it is easier and faster for users to determine if a specific product will meet their environmental requirements. This enables users to verify a specific plug-in module is applicable to a specific application and will result in the desired system reliability.

The industry benefits in multiple ways:

1. A better fit between the module design and the application results in improved reliability and durability.
2. Better system engineering without reliance on a specific VPX module supplier’s ruggedization guide. There is more consistency in terminology and data across suppliers.
3. Improved capability to perform future module upgrades and resolution of obsolescence and maintenance issues.
   

COTS plug-in units are widely used in commercial and military, ground and aerospace, mobile applications. Certification of COTS plug-in units, by supplying vendors, to these standard will facilitate the cost-effective integration of these items in larger systems.

The ANSI/VITA 47.x standards are provided as a complete set. Copies are available for purchase at the VITA Online Store (www.vita.com/Purchase).

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 American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) accreditation to develop standards (VME, VXS, VPX, OpenVPX, VPX REDI, XMC, FMC, FMC+, VNX, Reliability Community, etc.) for embedded systems used in a myriad of critical applications and harsh environments. For more information, visit www.VITA.com.

VITA and the VITA, VMEbus Technology, VXS, VPX, OpenVPX, VPX REDI, XMC, FMC, FMC+, VNX, and Reliability Community logos are trademarks of VITA in the United States and other countries. Other names and brands may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

Key revisions made to improve capabilities

VITA, October 9, 2019 — VITA, the trade association for standard computing architectures serving critical and intelligent embedded computing systems markets, announces the ratification by ANSI and VITA of ANSI/VITA 57.1-2019 “FPGA Mezzanine Card (FMC) Standard”. This standard has completed the VITA and ANSI processes reaching full recognition under guidance of VITA.

ANSI/VITA 57.1-2019: FMC describes FMC IO modules and an electro-mechanical bridge between front panel IO, on the mezzanine module, and an FPGA processing device on the carrier card, which accepts the mezzanine module.

The VITA/ANSI process requires that every active standard be reviewed every five years. ANSI/VITA 57.1 was originally ratified in 2007 and revised in 2013. Changes in this revision include:

• Added observation to account for jackscrew stand-off - miniature (JSOM) options.
• Ground restrictions made optional for RF modules.
• Changes to accommodate larger EEPROMs.
• Increased 3P3VAUX maximum amps to 110mA.
• Added observation to address FPGA power sequencing.

The FMC working group has an ongoing series of activities underway to add further capability to this popular FPGA mezzanine standard. Anyone interested in participating is invited to contact VITA for more information.

Copies of these standards are available for purchase at the VITA Online Store (www.vita.com/Purchase).

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 American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) accreditation to develop standards (VME, VXS, VPX, OpenVPX, VPX REDI, XMC, FMC, FMC+, VNX, Reliability Community, etc.) for embedded systems used in a myriad of critical applications and harsh environments. For more information, visit www.VITA.com.

VITA and the VITA, VMEbus Technology, VXS, VPX, OpenVPX, VPX REDI, XMC, FMC, FMC+, VNX, and Reliability Community logos are trademarks of VITA in the United States and other countries. Other names and brands may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

Popular standard for critical and intelligent embedded computing systems updated to meet current market requirements

VITA, October 2, 2019 — VITA, the trade association for standard computing architectures serving critical and intelligent embedded computing systems markets, announces the ratification by ANSI and VITA of the ANSI/VITA 46.0-2019 VPX Baseline Standard for critical embedded computing. This standard has completed the VITA and ANSI processes reaching full recognition under guidance of VITA.

The VITA/ANSI process requires that every active standard be reviewed every five years. The VITA 46 VPX working group started work in March 2003, ratifying a baseline VPX standard in 2007, and revised in 2013. This 2019 revision makes several deletions, clarifications and updates to the capabilities defined in the standard to be in line with current requirements of VPX technology.

“VPX has gained widespread acceptance as a key high-performance embedded computing platform in many defense applications”, stated Jerry Gipper, VITA Executive Director. “Much of the hardware work being done by the SOSA^TM Consortium is based on the VPX family of standards.” (https://www.opengroup.org/sosa-consortium-applauds-recent-tri-services-directive-use-modular-open-systems)

The VPX base standard defines physical features that enable high-speed communication in a 3U or 6U backplane-based critical and intelligent embedded computing systems.

The VPX family of standards includes:

• ANSI/VITA 46.0 Baseline Standard
• ANSI/VITA 46.1: VMEbus Signal Mapping
• ANSI/VITA 46.3 Serial RapidIO
• ANSI/VITA 46.4 PCI Express
• ANSI/VITA 46.6 Gigabit Ethernet Control Plane on VPX
• ANSI/VITA 46.7 Ethernet
• ANSI/VITA 46.9 PMC/XMC rear I/O
• ANSI/VITA 46.10 Rear Transition Module
• ANSI/VITA 46.11 System Management on VPX

The ANSI/VITA 65.x architecture framework standards define system-level VPX interoperability for multi-vendor, multi-module, integrated system environments. Several other related standards add capability to VPX. Additional work is underway to improve the data rate of VPX to 25 Gbaud. 

Copies of these standards are available for purchase at the VITA Online Store (www.vita.com/Purchase).

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 American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) accreditation to develop standards (VME, VXS, VPX, OpenVPX, VPX REDI, XMC, FMC, FMC+, VNX, Reliability Community, etc.) for embedded systems used in a myriad of critical applications and harsh environments. For more information, visit www.VITA.com.

VITA and the VITA, VMEbus Technology, VXS, VPX, OpenVPX, VPX REDI, XMC, FMC, FMC+, VNX, and Reliability Community logos are trademarks of VITA in the United States and other countries. Other names and brands may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

VITA, January 16, 2019 — VITA, the trade association for standard computing architectures serving critical and intelligent embedded computing systems markets, announced that Rodger Hosking, vice-president and co-founder of Pentek, Inc., was elected to the VITA Board of Directors. With this election, the board will consist of four members.

“We are very pleased to announce that Rodger has joined the Board of Directors, where his expertise will be a key asset,” said Jerry Gipper, VITA's Executive Officer. “Rodger has a solid understanding of the technology and business strategies that drive the critical embedded computing industry. He brings a unique perspective from a smaller company to the board and we look forward to benefitting from his extensive expertise in the industry and management as we continue to execute against our objectives and take action to create value for our members.”

Mr. Hosking is responsible for new product definition, technology development and strategic alliances at Pentek. With over 30 years in the electronics industry, he has authored hundreds of articles about software radio and digital signal processing. Prior to his current position, he served as engineering manager at Wavetek/Rockland, and holds patents in frequency synthesis and spectrum analysis techniques. He holds a BS degree in Physics from Allegheny College in Pennsylvania and BSEE and MSEE degrees from Columbia University in New York.

Mr. Hosking joins the current VITA Board of Directors consisting of :

• Ray Alderman, Chairman of the Board, VITA
  
• Dean Holman, Mercury Systems, Inc.
  
• Michael Macpherson, Curtiss-Wright
  

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 American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) accreditation to develop standards (VME, VXS, VPX, OpenVPX, VPX REDI, XMC, FMC, FMC+, VNX, Reliability Community, etc.) for embedded systems used in a myriad of critical applications and harsh environments. For more information, visit www.VITA.com.

VITA and the VITA, VMEbus Technology, VXS, VPX, OpenVPX, VPX REDI, XMC, FMC, FMC+, VNX, and Reliability Community logos are trademarks of VITA in the United States and other countries. Other names and brands may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

Download release

For any military, the key to victory is dominance in multiple battlefield domains -- ground, sea, air, space, and now cyber. To achieve that dominance militaries must leverage communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR) technology across those domains. This webcast will cover how embedded electronics and open standards enable superior C4ISR -- from sensors to signal processing to real-time communications.

Date/Time: August 30, 2018, 2 PM EDT

Register

Expert Speaker: Ray Alderman, Chairman of the Board, VITA

Sponsors: Elma Electronic, Pentek

ANSI and VITA Ratify ANSI/VITA 57.4-2018 FPGA Mezzanine Card Plus (FMC+) Standard

Increased throughput to 28 Gbps

VITA, September 27, 2018 — VITA, the trade association for standard computing architectures serving critical and intelligent embedded computing systems markets, announces the ratification by ANSI and VITA of ANSI/VITA 57.4-2018 “FPGA Mezzanine Card Plus (FMC+) Standard”. This standard has completed the VITA and ANSI processes reaching full recognition under guidance of VITA. The FMC+ standard extends the Gigabit transceiver support specified in ANSI/VITA 57.1 by adding two new connectors that enable additional Gigabit transceivers running at higher data rates.

FMC+ adds an optional extension connector (the High Serial Pin Connector extension, or HSPCe) to boost pin-count by 80 positions, arranged in a 4 X 20 array. This brings the maximum multigigabit interfaces to 32 full duplex channels. Additionally, throughput per multigigabit interface has increased to 28 Gbps in each direction. This will allow for higher data rates and expanded bandwidth to all fit within the same form factor as FMC.

Additional signals to support backplane reference clock and synchronization have been added. The ANSI/VITA 57.4 standard defines functionality to maintain backward compatibility between new VITA 57.4 carrier cards and existing VITA 57.1 mezzanine modules.

“Samtec is proud to offer the next-generation FMC+ connector solution” said David Givens, VITA 57.4 working group chair and Standards Director at Samtec.  “The customized SEARAY™ has flawless reliability. It provides extensive flexibility to FPGA developers and VITA-hardware users alike, while maintaining ideal signal integrity.” The SEARAY connector technology is key to meeting the data transfer goals established by the VITA 57.4 working group.

Copies of the standard are available for purchase at the VITA Online Store.

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 American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) accreditation to develop standards (VME, VXS, VPX, OpenVPX, VPX REDI, XMC, FMC, FMC+, VNX, Reliability Community, etc.) for embedded systems used in a myriad of critical applications and harsh environments. For more information, visit www.VITA.com.

VITA and the VITA, VMEbus Technology, VXS, VPX, OpenVPX, VPX REDI, XMC, FMC, FMC+, VNX, and Reliability Community logos are trademarks of VITA in the United States and other countries. Other names and brands may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

ANSI/VITA 48.4-2018 Liquid Flow Through VPX Plug-In Module standard has been posted. The standard is available for purchase at www.vita.com/Purchase

ANSI/VITA ANSI/VITA 17.3-2018 Serial Front Panel Data Port Gen 3.0 standard has been posted. See media release. The standard is available for purchase at www.vita.com/Purchase

ANSI and VITA have ratified revisions to the ANSI/VITA 46.9-2018 PMC/XMC Rear I/O Fabric Signal Mapping on 3U and 6U VPX Modules Standard. The revised standard is available for purchase at www.vita.com/Purchase. 

ANSI/VITA ANSI/VITA 67.3-2017 Coaxial Interconnect on VPX, Spring-Loaded Contact on Backplane has been posted. Available for purchase at www.vita.com/Purchase.