RapidIO Connections Newsletter - Summer 2005

Executive Director’s Perspective Transitions: RapidIO® technology forms the critical foundation for new and emerging applications in the midst of a world of change.
Design It Fault-Tolerant Systems and RapidIOŽ
Insights What are some of the benefits to having an open standard?
Member Connections • Debugging/Analyzing Serial Rapid IO High-Speed Serial Lanes by Chris Shelsky, Project Manager, Nexus Technology, Inc.

• RapidIO and Linux by Matt Porter of MontaVista Software, Inc.
RapidIO Product News New RapidIO-based solutions continue to debut in multiple market segments from silicon to board-level products.
The RapidIO Trade Association at Work Munich and Boston Developer Summits, Freescale Technology Forum, Supercomm
In the Spotlight The RapidIO Trade Association and standard continue to be sought after news in the industry.
Where to Network Visit with RapidIO Trade Association members, learn about products and see live demonstrations.
RapidIO Hall of Fame "Did You Know?" email campaign a success!
Changes Some parting thoughts from Dan Bouvier as he steps down from the RapidIO Steering Committee.
RapidIO Reflections: Significant interest in RapidIO technology from a wide cross section of customers

Changes

As many of you know, I have decided to step down from the RapidIO® Steering Committee at the end of this fiscal year. As my day job at Freescale has taken me in new and different directions, it felt like the right time to pass the torch. So in parting I thought it appropriate to jot down a few thoughts. Looking back to 1998, when Bob Frisch, Bryan Marietta, and I put our heads together to kick off specifying a new way of connecting processors, I can safely say we didn’t realize the kind of industry mindshare that we would achieve. With Craig Lund and Sam Fuller sorting the way through putting together a new consortium, the RapidIO Trade Association, in 2000 we truly began to see the initial fruits of labor. Little did we know that the journey was only just beginning.

The early meetings of the RapidIO® Trade Association in 2000 were awkward at best. But we knew what we wanted, had a strong board of directors, and a group of participants with well-rounded experiences, so away we went. I’ll always remember the first several TWG meetings that were spent just putting together the group policies and procedures. Some were getting impatient and wanted to get working on the specification. But, I had received some good advice: have a good structure in place to operate under. Looking back, I think this was time well spent as our organization has become a model of collaboration working at its best.

The many specifications and the knowledge base that have been assembled since then are things we all should be proud of. One of the best compliments received along the journey was the attention that Intel gave to RapidIO in 2002 taking many of the ideas that we had assembled and attempting to replicate them in PCI-Express and ASI, especially after they had already declared victory with InfiniBand. To top things off they paid $1 to redirect every Google hit to a mistyped RapidIO to the PCI-Express website.

But the greatest satisfaction has come from seeing the excitement in several of the members faces as they have assembled working silicon, boards, and software, proving that this concept called RapidIO has become working technology!

I will cherish the many friendships that have been formed both between partners and competitors. The experiences that I have had and the education that all of you have brought to me are more than I could have ever imagined when we kicked this off in 1998. So in parting I just want to say thank you and I’ll see soon…

Dan Bouvier
Steering Committee Chair
RapidIO Trade Association


Editor’s Note:

In the last issue of RapidIO Connections, the email for Keith Woodard, head of the RapidIO Trade Association Customer Programs Subcommittee, was incorrect. The correct email is Keith.Woodard@idt.com.