RapidIO Connections - December 2003
Marketing Working Group Update RapidIO Seminars — Coming Soon to an Internet Connection Near You Earlier this year, the RapidIO Trade Association embarked on a campaign to visit and educate the world’s leading OEMs regarding the RapidIO interconnect standard. The list of OEMs included major players in telecommunications, data storage and high-speed computing. The campaign’s interactive events consisted of live presentations as well as actual RapidIO product demonstrations. In general, feedback from participants was consistent: For embedded applications that require high performance, RapidIO is the best technical choice. Surprisingly, the RTA discovered there are common misunderstandings about new standards and the role they will play in the future. Just the other day, a popular electronics web site posed the question, “Which high-speed interconnect will become the biggest market success: HyperTransport, PCI Express or RapidIO?” After some thought, I realized that questions like this are fueling misperception. If it were 1995 and somebody were to have asked — “What modem technology will become the biggest market success: ISDN, dial-up or cable?” — the same type of misperception could well have ensued because a layperson might believe the correct answer is dial-up. The real problem here is that it’s the wrong question — unless of course, the question was posed by a company promoting new DSL technology, and their goal was to create the impression that DSL is roughly the same as dial-up. In much the same way that dial-up and DSL differ and have followed very different growth trajectories, the PIG SIG’s PCI Express and Intel’s Advanced Switching should not be grouped together since they are drastically different, incompatible technologies. What engineers and managers really need are clear technical details and less business posturing so that they can make the best decisions possible. The RTA is heeding the call for more technical information and is planning a second phase of a new education campaign. Starting in 2004, the RTA will deliver more frequent web-based seminars that cover a variety of topics regarding RapidIO. The first such event, entitled “RapidIO in Wireless Infrastructure Applications,” was broadcast last October; it was a great success in terms of bringing fresh technical details to a large engineering audience. (The archived version of this webcast can be viewed at: http://www.techonline.com/community/ed_resource/webcast/28967) With more web seminars and demonstrations of shipping solutions, RapidIO momentum in the marketplace will accelerate. Expect 2004 to be a year of extensive support, adoption and system implementation. How You Can Support the RapidIO Marketing Efforts Reporting to the RapidIO Steering Committee, the Marketing Working Group serves as the communications arm of the trade association. MWG activities include creation and maintenance of the web site, branding, press relations, tradeshow exhibits, conference presentations and marketing collateral, as well as unique opportunities to share in joint marketing efforts to gain a window into the mind of the customer.There is ample work and marketing opportunity for the companies involved in the MWG. To find out more, contact John Pitrus (john.pitrus@analog.com), MWG Chair at Analog Devices.
John Pitrus
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