News
News Releases
2001
- PICMG® Elects Officers for 2001
- PICMG Kicks Off 3.X Series of Specifications for Next-Generation Communications Equipment with 100-Plus Companies Involved
- PICMG Issues CompactPCI MultiComputing Specification
- PICMG Issues CompactPCI Packet Switching Backplane Specification
- PICMG to Develop New Series of Specifications
for Next-Generation Communications Equipment
- PICMG PUBLISHES TWO NEW COMPACTPCI SPECIFICATIONS:
2.7 DUAL SYSTEM SLOT, AND 2.15 PCI TELECOM MEZZANINE CARD (PTMC) - PICMG Kicks Off StarFabric CompactPCI Specification Effort
- PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group
(PICMG® )
Releases Revision 2.0 OF CompactPCI® Hot Swap Specificati
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For further information:
Judith Vanderkay, Virtual, Inc., (781) 246-0500
jvanderkay@virtualmgmt.com
PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group Membership Now Over 600 Companies
WAKEFIELD, Mass., Feb. 5, 2001 — The results of recent elections were announced today by the PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group (PICMG® ), which was founded in 1994 as a consortium of industrial computer product vendors dedicated to the creation of open industry standards. PICMG membership now numbers more than 600 companies, from over a dozen countries. The continuing high level of participation points to broad interest in PICMG and its associated specifications.
PICMG members registered approval for the work of incumbents, re-electing PICMG President Joe Pavlat (Director of Strategic Planning, Motorola Computer Group); Vice President, Marketing Rob Davidson (Director of Marketing, Ziatech, an Intel company); Vice President, Technology Dick Somes (Technical Director for Standards and Industry Relations at Force Computers Inc.); and Secretary-Treasurer Michael Munroe (Director of Business Development, ERNI).
"Our charter is to promote open architecture computing for demanding applications," said Pavlat. "As we move beyond CompactPCI and towards switched serial interconnects and optical transport, PICMG specifications will continue to ensure consistency and clear migration paths for manufacturers and end users alike. As an organization, we have an operational model that works extremely well. As officers, we will continue to work for our members to create the most innovative and elegant solutions."
"Once again I’m gratified by the confidence in our leadership expressed by the PICMG Membership," said Somes. "As I look ahead to a fifth term as your Vice President of Technology, I see an organization that continues to generate new ideas from the grass roots. Our challenges are to maintain focus on the technical activities we undertake, driving them to prompt completion while responding to emerging technologies."
Davidson noted, "PICMG and our specifications have become very influential in the industry, with more and technologies looking to our group to provide direction. "
Munroe said, "I’m proud to be associated with this successful, active organization, and I will continue to do my best for the group. The conscientious work of the members of this volunteer organization is an inspiration to all of the officers."
About PICMG
Founded in 1994, PICMG’s original mission was to extend
the PCI standard beyond the desktop into demanding industrial and
telecommunications applications. PICMG developed the CompactPCI specification
and continues to develop important extensions and improvements. The
members of the consortium have a long history of developing leading
edge products for the industrial and telecommunications industries.
PICMG members now number more than 600 companies worldwide, at three
membership levels: Executive, Associate, and Affiliate.
For information about PICMG membership, or to find out how to obtain PICMG specifications, visit the PICMG website at http://www.picmg.org or call PICMG headquarters at (781) 246-9318.
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PICMG and CompactPCI are registered trademarks of the PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers' Group.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For further information:
Judith Vanderkay, Virtual, Inc., (781) 876-6208
JVanderkay@virtualmgmt.com
FOR NEXT-GENERATION COMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT
WITH 100-PLUS COMPANIES INVOLVED
WAKEFIELD, Mass., Nov. 19, 2001 – With a record number of companies participating, the PCI Industrial Computers Manufacturers Group (PICMG®) has taken up work on its new series of specifications for next-generation telecom equipment, with a new form factor and based on switched fabric architectures. More than 100 companies registered to participate in the two days of meetings held last week in Chicago. The committee got a kick start from the efforts of a working group of companies that turned over the results of a three month long effort in the form of early draft specifications and electrical and thermal simulations.
The new series of specifications, beginning with PICMG 3.0, is aimed at further expanding the market for off-the-shelf, modular solutions for the communications industry, a move that was begun by the highly successful CompactPCI® specifications (PICMG 2.x series). In Chicago, the 3.x participants elected a Chair for the 3.0 subcommittee, Jeff Munch of Motorola Computer Group; a Vice-Chair, Jim Medeiros of Intel; an Editor, Dick Somes of Force Computers; and a Secretary, Ron W. Smith of Intel. The group also agreed on a statement of work for the PICMG 3.0 specification, which is expected to receive a formal name in the next two weeks. The full statement of work is attached.
"The industry needs a standards-based approach to fabric interconnects, high speed fabric interconnect, larger board area and pitch, and more power and cooling per board. The open architecture supplier industry specifically needs to better understand the needs of telecom equipment suppliers, including regulatory compliance, high availability, robust power and system management requirements. And finally, the industry needs to develop something quickly. We hope that this effort will deliver on all these counts," said Jeff Munch, the new committee chair.
"The enthusiasm and broad-based interest from all parts of PICMG’s membership and the telecom industry in developing the 3.x specifications proves that PICMG is the right place for this initiative," said Joe Pavlat, PICMG President.
"We hope that the development of these specifications will help to accelerate the development of next generation telecom equipment as well as reducing its cost," added Rob Davidson, VP of Marketing for PICMG.
The 3.0 Committee determined that the next specifications in the family will likely be PICMG 3.1, for Ethernet fabric, and PICMG 3.2, for Infiniband™ fabrics. Calls for participation in these additional technical subcommittees are about to be issued. The committee is aiming for final ratification of the initial specifications by September 2002.
About PICMG
Founded in 1994, PICMG is a consortium of over 600 companies that
collaboratively develops open specifications for high performance
telecommunications and industrial computing applications. The members
of the consortium have a long history of developing leading edge
products for these industries.
For information about PICMG membership, or to find out how to obtain PICMG specifications, visit the PICMG website at http://www.picmg.org or call PICMG headquarters at (781) 246-9318.
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PICMG and CompactPCI are registered trademarks of the PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group. InfiniBand is a trademark of the InfiniBand Trade Association. All other brand or product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.
PICMG 3.0 Statement of Work
The PICMG 3.0 specification will establish a cost effective, fabric based, modular, interoperable and scalable architecture for converging communications and data networking applications. Mechanical, thermal management, power distribution and system management will be defined in this "core" specification, but it will be fabric agnostic so as to support transitions in technology over time or by application. The focus for features will be telecommunications carrier grade [Reliability, Availability, Serviceability (RAS)] oriented with a second order objective to accelerate the adoption in highly available data center applications. PICMG 3.0 and its subsidiary specifications will provide a solution for markets that are currently underserved by existing standard and proprietary approaches.
PICMG 3.0 is intended for higher performance applications and is legacy free with respect to the direct electrical support for existing bus-based solutions such as PCI or H.110. The mechanical elements will be based on existing IEC 60297-3-xxx standards (Eurocard equipment practice) with additional requirements specified to meet the intended applications. A robust system management scheme will be defined. Equipment practice for power and cooling at the board and shelf level will be defined. Specific regulatory specifications will be referenced within PICMG 3.0 to give guidance to board, shelf and frame manufacturers building carrier grade equipment.
The PICMG 3.0 "core" specification will specify board, backplane and shelf mechanicals, power distribution and the connectivity required for system management. Multiple zones for connectors and their alignment and keying features will also be defined, and the physical mapping to a connector family will be specified. Specific fabric definitions will be undertaken on subsidiary specifications (PICMG 3.1, PICMG 3.2, etc.). In this manner, component interoperability will be defined by the combined PICMG 3.0 core specification and a subsidiary fabric specification. It is the intent to develop the core specification and subsidiary specifications as nearly in parallel as possible, with a target publication of the initial 3.x specifications in September, 2002.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For further information:
Judith Vanderkay, Virtual, Inc., (781) 876-6208
JVanderkay@virtualmgmt.com
WAKEFIELD, Mass., Oct. 3, 2001 -- The PCI Industrial Computers Manufacturers Group (PICMG® ) has published the PICMG 2.14 CompactPCI® MultiComputing Specification. The new specification defines packet-based communications between heterogeneous PCI agents (MultiComputing) within the CompactPCI system architecture.
"PICMG’s goal for the CompactPCI MultiComputing specification was to develop standardization in the methods for processor boards to communicate with each other when co-existing in a shared PCI address space," said Dick Somes of Force Computers, PICMG Technical Officer. "The MultiComputing specification specifies system topology and software mechanisms such that standard networking software run on boards from different vendors will interoperate with each other without modification by the end user."
The PICMG 2.14 technical subcommittee’s approach endeavored to include any microprocessor family (e.g. Pentium II, PowerPC, MIPS, etc.) and to be operating-system-agnostic, as well as to qualify and specify minimal hardware requirements for in-band PCI signaling.
"The PICMG 2.14 subcommittee succeeded in its goals by providing a specification that is flexible, scalable and provides interoperability for all platforms. The effort put forth by the variety of subcommittee members shows the need and commitment to provide another mechanism for solving the industry's insatiable communications needs," said Sean O’Brien of Intel, chair of the technical subcommittee. "Now that PICMG 2.14 and PICMG 2.16 have been ratified, these two complementary specifications will allow further flexibility in design of communications for MultiComputing environments serving the needs of the industry that will continue to use CompactPCI well into the future."
The CompactPCI MultiComputing Network (MCNet) allows multiple Peripheral Nodes (PN) CPU boards and one System Node (SN) CPU board to perform inter-processor communications (IPC) over a CompactPCI backplane (or other shared PCI address space) as if they were discrete computers on a network. The software interface to perform IPC may be the protocol stack packaged with the operating system using the MCNet as a data link layer, or there may be a direct application programming interface (API) to the MCNet data link layer driver, bypassing the OS network protocol stack. The interface to the data link layer is not fully specified, allowing implementers to choose an interface suited to their application requirements.
An MCNet comprises one System Node and zero to N Peripheral Nodes. An MCNet operates within 1 to M PCI bus segments that are logically one PCI address space. The design will accommodate over 4,000 PNs per MCNet. An MCDevice may have a PN on one MCNet and an SN or PN on another, thereby facilitating packet routing between two or more distinct PCI busses.
All System and Peripheral Node service sharing is a function of the operating system’s ability to provide shared network services via the protocol stacks (e.g. Windows file and print sharing capabilities, NFS, etc). The MCNet protocol specification accommodates Hot Swap and other fault management of MCNodes and MCDevices. Packet buffering is performed in a non-contentious manner, thereby not requiring read-modify-write locked cycles.
The specification was approved by the PICMG Executive membership earlier in September and has been shipped to members in good standing. The specification is also available to non-members for a nominal fee from the PICMG Web site, www.picmg.org. A list of the companies who participated in the technical subcommittee is included in the specification.
About PICMG
Founded in 1994, PICMG is a consortium of over 700 companies
that collaboratively develops open specifications for high performance
telecommunications and industrial computing applications. The members
of the consortium have a long history of developing leading edge
products for these industries.
For information about PICMG membership, or to find out how to obtain PICMG specifications, visit the PICMG website at http://www.picmg.org or call PICMG headquarters at (781) 246-9318.
###
PICMG and CompactPCI are registered trademarks of
the PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers' Group.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For further information:
Judith Vanderkay, Virtual, Inc., (781) 876-6208
JVanderkay@virtualmgmt.com
PICMG ISSUES COMPACTPCI PACKET SWITCHING BACKPLANE SPECIFICATION
WAKEFIELD, Mass., Sept. 19, 2001 -- The PCI Industrial Computers Manufacturers Group (PICMG®) has published a new specification, denoted PICMG 2.16, for a CompactPCI® Packet Switching Backplane (CompactPCI/PSB). The CompactPCI/PSB provides for scalability in density, reliability, cost, and performance. This new standard continues the evolution of CompactPCI, and provides new levels of performance, flexibility, and density.
The CompactPCI Packet Switching Backplane specification describes a redundant, switched 10/100/1000 Ethernet network within a CompactPCI chassis providing IP connectivity between all CompactPCI and/or CompactPCI/PSB slots using a "star" topology. It is intended to coexist with 64 bit CompactPCI and H.110, and it therefore allocates the pins for CompactPCI/PSB links on J3 of all peripheral slots. Special slot(s) for active switching fabric element(s), which may be redundant, are also specified.
"CompactPCI/PSB has evolved from the confluence of new IP-based telephony applications, the growing popularity of CompactPCI, and the fact that Ethernet switching has become the dominant LAN topology in the enterprise marketplace," said Dick Somes of Force Computers, PICMG Technical Officer. "It blends the robustness, reliability and hot-swap capabilities inherent in CompactPCI architecture with the ubiquity of Ethernet – yielding an architecture suited for high availability and next-generation IP network applications."
"The PICMG 2.16 CompactPCI Packet Switching Backplane specification is the result of intense work by dozens of PICMG members over the past 10 months, and the extremely rapid development of this new standard underscores the sense of urgency being placed on bringing switched backplane technology to market," said John Peters, vice president of engineering for Performance Technologies and chairman of the PICMG 2.16 subcommittee. "The specification's unique leveraging of existing standards such as CompactPCI, Ethernet and TCP/IP is sure to accelerate its market acceptance and allow for rapid deployment in the very near future."
The CompactPCI/PSB can support full 21 slot backplanes, multiple enclosures forming large "virtual" backplanes, full backplane redundancy down to the slot level, scalable bit rate (10/100/1000/2000Mbit) per slot, selectable chassis bandwidths of between 200Mbit and 40Gigabit, link layer flow control, QoS/CoS support, a concise pinout (20 pins) per slot and many other advanced features.
The specification was approved by the PICMG Executive membership earlier in September and is now being shipped to members in good standing. The specification is also available to non-members for a nominal fee from the PICMG Web site, www.picmg.org. A list of the companies who participated in the technical subcommittee is included in the specification.
About PICMG
Founded in 1994, PICMG is a consortium of over 700 companies
that collaboratively develops open specifications for high performance
telecommunications and industrial computing applications. The members
of the consortium have a long history of developing leading edge
products for these industries.
For information about PICMG membership, or to find out how to obtain PICMG specifications, visit the PICMG website at http://www.picmg.org or call PICMG headquarters at (781) 246-9318.
###
PICMG and CompactPCI are registered trademarks of the PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers' Group.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For further information:
Maggie Galloway, Virtual, Inc., (781) 246-0500
mgalloway@virtualmgmt.com
PICMG TO DEVELOP
NEW SERIES OF SPECIFICATIONS
FOR NEXT-GENERATION COMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT
Industry-Leading Companies Give the New Specification Effort a Head Start
BOSTON, Sept. 6, 2001 -- The PCI Industrial Computers Manufacturers Group (PICMG®) is issuing a call for participation for the development of an entirely new series of specifications with a new form factor and based on switched fabric architectures. The announcement was made today at the Embedded Systems Conference in Boston.
The new series of specifications, beginning with PICMG 3.0, will build on the efforts of a group of companies that have been working to define the requirements for a follow-on to the highly successful CompactPCI®specification (PICMG 2.x series). "CompactPCI has been and will continue to be very successful. However, it has limitations in the telecom network arena," said Rob Davidson, PICMG Vice President, Marketing. "As parallel bus structures give way to high performance switched fabric architectures, a new approach is needed."
The new series of specifications will define a new blade form factor and spacing. The proposed form factor is based on the widely used Eurocard standard but will use a larger board size and wider pitch than CompactPCI. The goal is to make the most efficient use of the 600mm deep telco racks widely used in carrier grade equipment and still provide enough space and cooling for emerging high performance processors. Redundant 48V DC power and a robust system management approach will be specified for carrier grade applications. High speed connectors are arranged to support both star and mesh fabric topologies simultaneously.
As proposed, the PICMG 3.0 specification will define the mechanical details, including connector locations. PICMG 3.1 will define the mapping of Ethernet, and PICMG 3.2 will define the mapping of InfiniBand™ signaling. It is anticipated that other fabric technologies will be defined and supported within the 3.x series of specifications.
"This structure allows much of the work to proceed in parallel and allows for future inclusion of other interconnect technologies in a clean way," said Dick Somes, PICMG Technical Officer. "These 3.x specifications are the logical progression from bus-based architectures to fabric-based architectures begun by the PICMG 2.16 specification for switched Ethernet on CompactPCI."
"PICMG offers the fastest process to get a specification to product and the best selection of representative member companies to make sure it is technically sound and meets the users’ needs," said Joe Pavlat, PICMG President. "The depth of experience brought by the members of this working group will give this series of specifications an excellent jump start."
The 3.0 call for participation will be followed by initial PICMG subcommittee meetings in October, where the full output of the working group will be turned over. Full development and ratification of the initial specifications is expected in mid-2002.
About the Working Group
Representatives of the working group companies have been meeting
to define a proposal for a new communications chassis form factor
and interconnect. Their work will form the basis of the new PICMG
3.x specifications. The members of the group felt that a smaller
group was the fastest way to reach the point where a public specifications
body could quickly complete the task. The working group comprised
representatives from the following companies: Cypress Point Research,
Force Computers, Hewlett-Packard Company, IBM, Intel, Lucent Technologies,
Motorola Computer Group, NEC, Nokia, RadiSys and Rittal.
About PICMG
Founded in 1994, PICMG is a consortium of over 700 companies
that collaboratively develops open specifications for high performance
telecommunications and industrial computing applications. The members
of the consortium have a long history of developing leading edge
products for these industries. For information about PICMG membership,
or to find out how to obtain PICMG specifications, visit the PICMG
website at http://www.picmg.org or call PICMG headquarters at (781)
246-9318.
###
PICMG and CompactPCI are registered trademarks of the PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers' Group. InfiniBand is a trademark of the InfiniBand Trade Association.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For further information:
Judith Vanderkay, Virtual, Inc., (781) 246-0500
jvanderkay@virtualmgmt.com
PICMG
PUBLISHES TWO NEW COMPACTPCI SPECIFICATIONS:
2.7 DUAL SYSTEM SLOT, AND 2.15 PCI TELECOM MEZZANINE CARD (PTMC)
Wakefield, Mass. – Aug. 15, 2001 – The PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group (PICMG®) has released two new specifications that extend its core CompactPCI® specification, PICMG 2.7 6U Dual System Slot and PICMG 2.15 PCI Telecom Mezzanine Card (PTMC). PICMG is a consortium of over 700 companies that collaboratively develop open specifications that adapt PCI technology for use in industrial and telecommunication computing applications. CompactPCI is a high-performance industrial computer platform based on the standard PCI electrical specification in rugged Eurocard packaging, with a high-quality 2mm metric pin and socket connector.
The new specifications were approved by PICMG's Executive membership and are presently being distributed to all members of the organization. The specifications are also available to non-members for a nominal fee from the PICMG Web site, www.picmg.org. Lists of the companies who participated in the two technical subcommittees are attached.
"PICMG 2.7 adds to the architectural framework by establishing design rules for driving dual CompactPCI bus segments from a single slot pitch system slot," said Richard Somes, Director of Standards at Force Computers Inc. and PICMG Vice President for Technology. "PICMG 2.15 enhances CompactPCI as a user configurable platform for telecom and datacom oriented IO controllers in mezzanine form factor."
The Dual System Slot (DSS) Specification, PICMG 2.7, defines the interface requirements between a CompactPCI System Board and backplane for two independent CompactPCI buses to be driven from the System Board. In DSS systems, CompactPCI buses are provided at J1/J2 and J4/J5. The bottom bus connected to J1/J2 is referred to as CompactPCI Bus A; the top bus connected to J4/J5 is referred to as CompactPCI Bus B. The relationship between CompactPCI Bus A and CompactPCI Bus B is not specified. This specification allows backplane designers and CPU manufacturers to refer to a common specification from which to build systems.
In the PICMG 2.15 specification, the PCI Telecom Mezzanine Card (PTMC) is based on the four connector standard PCI Mezzanine Card (PMC). The PTMC specification provides all of the traditional PMC 32-bit PCI signals on the Pn1 and Pn2 connectors and specifies the use of industry standard telecom interfaces on Pn3 and Pn4. In addition, interoperability with 64-bit PCI is provided as a dedicated configuration type. The PTMC specification leverages the success, form factor, and functionality of the PMC series of peripheral mezzanine cards, but is not a replacement for PMC. It will coexist with PMC and support four popular industry standard telecom bus interfaces.
The objective of the PTMC specification is to provide an industry standard from which designers, manufacturers, and integrators will have a common platform for implementing a variety of telecommunications hardware or specialized voice and data applications.
About PICMG
Founded in 1994, PICMG’s original mission was to extend
the PCI standard beyond the desktop into demanding industrial and
telecommunications applications. PICMG developed the CompactPCI specification
and continues to develop important extensions and improvements. The
members of the consortium have a long history of developing leading
edge products for the industrial and telecommunications industries.
PICMG members now number more than 700 companies worldwide, at three
membership levels: Executive, Associate, and Affiliate.
For information about PICMG membership, or to find out how to obtain PICMG specifications, visit the PICMG website at http://www.picmg.org or call PICMG headquarters at (781) 246-9318.
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PICMG and CompactPCI are registered trademarks of the PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers' Group
PICMG 2.7 6 U Dual System Slot Specification Subcommittee Members
- Compaq Computer Corporation
- Force Computers
- Hybricon
- Intel
- LynuxWorks
- National Instruments
- Pentair Electronic Packaging
- PEP Modular Computers
- Summit Microelectronics
- Tyco Electronics
PICMG 2.15 PCI Telecom Mezzanine Card (PTMC) Specification Subcommittee Members
- Aculab PLC
- Audio Codes
- General Micro Systems Inc.
- Hybricon
- Intel
- NMS Communications (formerly Natural MicroSystems)
- Nortel Networks
- Performance Technologies Inc.
- RadiSys
- SBE
- SBS Technologies Inc.
- Vertical Networks
- Winchester Electronics
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For further information:
Judith Vanderkay, Virtual, Inc., (781) 246-0500
jvanderkay@virtualmgmt.com
PICMG
KICKS OFF STARFABRIC COMPACTPCI
SPECIFICATION EFFORT
Record Sixty-Five Companies to Collaborate on Specification to Enhance the CompactPCI® Architecture with StarFabric Interconnect
Wakefield, Mass. – July 31, 2001 – The PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturing Group (PICMG®), a consortium of over 700 companies that collaboratively develop open specifications that adapt PCI technology for use in industrial and telecommunication computing applications, has held a kickoff meeting for the PICMG 2.17 StarFabric CompactPCI®subcommittee. The technical subcommittee’s objective is to rapidly provide designers, manufacturers, and integrators with a common set of guidelines for implementing backplanes and cards to deliver the benefits of the StarFabric interconnect in the CompactPCI environment. The group had its first meeting at the Embedded Systems Conference in Chicago on July 11.
"Sixty-five companies have joined the 2.17 subcommittee -- the greatest number of companies ever to respond to a PICMG subcommittee call for participation," said Joe Pavlat of Motorola Computer Group, PICMG’s president. "I think this indicates the broad interest in evolving the CompactPCI architecture toward use of switch fabric technology to achieve the benefits of scalability, high availability, and flexibility."
StarFabric is a high-speed point-to-point switched backplane and chassis-to-chassis interconnect solution targeted to meet the needs of next-generation communication equipment developers.
The CompactPCI StarFabric interconnect specification will define redundant, switched, high-speed point-to-point connectivity among some or all slots using StarFabric switch cards. The StarFabric interconnect can coexist with 64 bit CompactPCI, H.110. and Ethernet backplanes as defined in PICMG 2.16. Systems that take advantage of StarFabric features can be designed to utilize existing single board computers (SBCs) and node cards. Special slot(s) for active switching fabric element(s), which may be redundant, will also be specified.
"The fact that the industry has demonstrated such a strong interest in establishing a system-level specification for StarFabric reflects the need to bring advanced switch fabric capabilities into the open platform world typified by CompactPCI," said Todd Comins, chief technology officer of StarGen, Inc. and chairman of the PICMG 2.17 subcommittee. "With this specification, communication equipment vendors and their suppliers can develop components, sub-systems and platforms that will interoperate and can leverage their existing CompactPCI hardware and software investments."
Todd Comins of StarGen was elected by meeting attendees to chair the PICMG 2.17 subcommittee. Ed Nuber of Agere was elected secretary and Steve Christo, also of StarGen, was selected to be the spec editor. A complete listing of committee member companies is attached. The subcommittee plans to complete the 2.17 specification by the second quarter of 2002.
About PICMG
Founded in 1994, PICMG’s original mission was to extend the
PCI standard beyond the desktop into demanding industrial and telecommunications
applications. PICMG developed the CompactPCI specification and continues
to develop important extensions and improvements. The members of
the consortium have a long history of developing leading edge products
for the industrial and telecommunications industries. PICMG members
now number more than 700 companies worldwide, at three membership
levels: Executive, Associate, and Affiliate.
For information about PICMG membership, or to find out how to obtain PICMG specifications, visit the PICMG website at http://www.picmg.org or call PICMG headquarters at (781) 246-9318.
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PICMG and CompactPCI are registered trademarks of the PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers' Group
| PICMG 2.17 StarFabric Interconnect Specification Subcommittee Participants |
||
ACT/Technico |
Kaparel |
|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For further information:
Judith Vanderkay, Virtual, Inc., (781) 246-0500
jvanderkay@virtualmgmt.com
PCI Industrial
Computer Manufacturers Group (PICMG® )
Releases Revision 2.0 OF CompactPCI® Hot Swap Specification
WAKEFIELD, Mass., April 5, 2001 — The PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group (PICMG® ) has released Revision 2.0 of the CompactPCI® Hot Swap Specification, PICMG 2.1 R2.0. "Hot swapping" of components in CompactPCI systems is the capability of removing and replacing components without turning off the system, which has become increasingly important for applications such as telecommunications, which require that systems be operational at some level continuously. CompactPCI is a high-performance industrial computer platform based on the standard PCI electrical specification in rugged Eurocard packaging, with a high-quality 2mm metric pin and socket connector.
The new version of the CompactPCI Hot Swap Specification includes enhanced software connection architecture, 3.3 volt and 66MHz support, protection against the effects of unexpected board extraction, and PCI-X compatibility. The new specification was approved by PICMG's Executive membership and is presently being distributed to all members of the organization. The Hot Swap specification is also available to non-members for a nominal fee from the PICMG Web site, www.picmg.org.
The technical subcommittee that developed the specification was chaired by Motorola Computer Group, and it included Accel Power, Aculab, APW Electronic Solutions, Artela Systems, Asis Transelectric Ltd., Blue Wave Systems, Bustronics, BVM Limited, Compaq, Ept, Force Computers, General Micro Systems Inc., Hewlett Packard, Hybricon, Intel, Intraserver/LSI Logic, Lucent Technologies, LynuxWorks, MontaVista Software, Natural Microsystems, Pelago Networks, Pentair, Performance Technologies, Pigeon Point Systems, PLX, Sanmina, SBS Technologies, Inc., Schroff GmbH, StarGen, Teknor Applicom, Texas Instruments, Tyco, VMIC and Zephyr Engineering.
"This revision satisfies a need for clarification of the hot swap state transitions and enhancements to Hot Swap control logic, which has become evident in implementing according to the initial specification," said Richard Somes, Director of Standards at Force Computers Inc. and PICMG Vice President for Technology. "It extends Hot Swap support to 3.3 volt and 66 MHz backplanes, and anticipates the possibility of future PCI-X hot swap systems."
The basic purpose of the Hot Swap additions to CompactPCI is to allow the orderly insertion and extraction of boards without adversely affecting system operation, for repair of faulty boards or reconfiguration of a system. Additionally, Hot Swap provides programmatic access to Hot Swap services, allowing system reconfiguration and fault recovery to take place with no system down time and minimum operator interaction. Finally, for High Availability applications, Hot Swap allows the system to isolate faulty boards so that a system can continue operation (possibly with reduced capability) in the event of a failure.
About PICMG
Founded in 1994, PICMG’s original mission was to extend
the PCI standard beyond the desktop into demanding industrial and
telecommunications applications. PICMG developed the CompactPCI specification
and continues to develop important extensions and improvements. The
members of the consortium have a long history of developing leading
edge products for the industrial and telecommunications industries.
PICMG members now number more than 600 companies worldwide, at three
membership levels: Executive, Associate, and Affiliate.
For information about PICMG membership, or to find out how to obtain PICMG specifications, visit the PICMG website at http://www.picmg.org or call PICMG headquarters at (781) 246-9318.
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PICMG and CompactPCI are registered trademarks of the PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers' Group