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

RapidIO Trade Association at Work:

The RapidIOŽ Trade Association has been aggressively showcasing members and their solutions at key events.

On April 27, The Linley Group hosted a Fabric and High-Speed Interconnects Seminar in San Jose where RapidIO Trade Association member Craig Lund, VP and Chief Technology Officer, Mercury Computer presented: RapidFabric, a chance to explore the world of RapidFabric and see how Mercury deploys RapidIO in order to meet their customers' requirements.
http://www.linleygroup.com/Seminars/seminar_program.html

Held in May 2005, the RapidIO Trade Association's Boston and Munich Developer Summits were cited by attendees as strong demonstrations of both RapidIO-based technology and products and further evidence of the momentum the mature RapidIO interconnect standard is gaining among leading OEMs. Representatives from market leaders including EMC, Lucent, Motorola, Siemens, Curtiss Wright Controls, Raytheon Systems Company, ETAS GmBh, and many others attended the Developer Summits. During the events, the first several planned in North America and Europe, RapidIO Trade Association members and participants discussed design issues and considerations for RapidIO technology implementations, leveraging the depth and breadth of RapidIO products on the market.

A highlight for attendees was the technology lab where numerous RapidIO vendors demonstrated RapidIO applications and product interoperability, including switches, processors, FPGAs, and even the first Serial RapidIO-based ATCA platform from Mercury Computer.

Additional events are planned for Fall 2005 and will be online, http://www.rapidio.org.

The RapidIO Trade Association hosted a booth at Supercomm featuring a live interoperability demonstration. The QNX RapidIO demonstration compared the performance achievable over both RapidIO and Gigabit Ethernet. Using the STx RapidIO development system and QNX distributed processing capability, the demo showed maximum application bandwidth between two Freescale MPC8560 RapidIO endpoints using the Tundra TSI500 RIO switch as well as Gigabit Ethernet using the GigE ports on the MPC8560. The demonstration also showed the maximum raw bandwidth achievable over RapidIO.

In addition to the live demonstration, the RapidIO Trade Association was highly visible at Supercomm's Advanced TCA Forum, and was also a Silver Sponsor. The RapidIO Trade Association was represented by Dr. Ian Dunn, Technical Director, OEM Solutions Group Communications Computing Segment of Mercury Computer during the AdvancedTCA Forum. Iain Scott gave a web-site commentary on the Industry Perspective: "China Rising." http://www.supercomm2005.com/ind_news/ind_persp.cfm?mode=detail&id=236

On the heels of Supercomm, the Freescale Technology Forum featured a wide range of RapidIOŽ product announcements, demonstrations and technical training, and RapidIO technology implementation emerged as a primary agenda item for attendees. Beginning with the keynote address, which included an on-stage demonstration of Freescale's AdvancedTCA platform with Serial RapidIO technology, RapidIO products and technology prevailed. Other forum highlights included RapidIO and AdvancedTCA panel discussions, product announcements from Fabric Embedded Tools, Freescale, Jennic, MontaVista, and QNX; numerous demonstrations in the technology lab; a Best of Show Runner-up Award for RapidIO implementations by Fabric Embedded Tools; and hours of technical training. RapidIO technology presentations from this event are now available for download online from:
http://getregisterednow.com/FTF/Sessions/Attendee/Frames.asp