3. Marketing Alliance
Message from Chairman of the VPX Marketing Alliance:
The VPX Marketing Alliance (VMA), an alliance of VITA members who are VPX technology suppliers
developing products based on the VPX family of specifications, is very excited to provide these survey results
to the media and our members.
The goal of this survey was to understand the key technologies used in future critical embedded computing
systems by gathering feedback from anyone with involvement in the planning, design, manufacture, or
support of products utilizing embedded computing systems. The outcome of these results will influence
how our member companies develop and market products, the focus of VMA marketing activities and the
prioritization of technologies and specifications developed within VITA.
Overall the results are very exciting for our member companies. They indicate that our efforts have been
highly successful and the awareness of and demand for VPX continues to grow. The results also indicate
trends on how our target customers collect data and what is important to them for future requirements.
The VMA would like to thank all who supported this project. I look forward to more industry initiatives like
this as we work to further the awareness of VPX and our member companies.
Neil Peterson
VPX Marketing Alliance
Chairman
Peterson_neil@hotmail .com
August 2010 VITA Industry Survey Page 3
4. Introduction
The members of the VITA VPX Marketing Alliance recently created and conducted a web survey to
get a better understanding of the technology awareness of the system designers in the industry . The
members were also trying to get a better feel for the media habits of the same designers .
This report details the methodology and the results of that survey .
Background
Objectives
The objectives of this demand side survey of the industry were to discover:
1 . The level of awareness of VPX before and after VPX Marketing Alliance activities .
2 . The level of technical understanding of VITA technologies .
3 . What information potential users may be missing .
4 . Who might be potential users of VPX .
5 . If the messaging is clear; do people understand or are they confused by our nomenclature?
In addition, information was collected on demographics, media usage, and data gathering preferences
of those taking the survey .
Target Audience
The target audience for this survey were employees of companies
developing or planning to develop products utilizing embedded
computing systems . No specific market application segments were
directly targeted, but it should be noted that the majority of the
members and the media assisting had a very strong focus on the
aerospace and defense market segments .
Instructions at the beginning of the survey specifically stated:
“If you are involved in any role during the planning, design,
manufacture, or support of products utilizing embedded computing
systems, then VITA’s VPX Marketing Alliance wants to hear from you .”
Timing
The survey ran from April 23 through July 31, 2010 .
August 2010 VITA Industry Survey Page 4
5. Placements
VITA Media Partners were recruited to assist with promoting the survey . They were encouraged
to place mentions of this survey in appropriate websites, newsletters, publications, and editorial .
Members participating included:
• Military & Aerospace (PennWell) - posted on site
• RTC Group – posted as link button
• OpenSystems Media - two E-lerts during campaign
• Tech Briefs – newsletter
• Extension Media – June 17th VME/VPX e-newsletter
• Open Architecture Review – posted
• Micro Technology Europe (MT Publications Ltd) - newsletter
• ECN – July 7-9 newsletters
• VITA - posted on www .vita .com and www .vita .com/vpx
Many of the members of the VPX Marketing Alliance also posted the survey button on their respective
websites during the survey period .
Information on the sourcing website was not collected so it is not possible to determine which of the
many links generated the most responses .
Data Collection
Only response data to the questions was collected . No contact information was requested or collected .
No specific geographic or company information was collected from the respondents but IP addresses
were captured . This helped to eliminate repeat respondents and provide some estimation of the
geographic location of respondents .
Respondents could stop any time that they wished, with the responses up to the stop point collected .
Only one response per IP address was allowed preventing someone from using the same computer to
complete the survey multiple times . Respondents were not allowed to return to the survey to change
or complete an unfinished survey .
• 234 respondents started the survey .
• 154 completed the survey (65 .8%) .
The number of respondents varies by question due to opting out by the respondents or cross-
tabulation in the analysis .
SurveyMonkey was used to construct, conduct and analyze this survey .
Structure
The survey was structured as indicated in figure 1 . It consisted of 18 questions . The first six questions
were focused on gathering information about the demographics, media usage, and data gathering
preferences of those taking the survey . This information will be used to help guide marketing plans of
the VPX Marketing Alliance members .
Respondents were able to opt out at Question 8 if they did not have plans to use VPX technology of
any type . They were asked two additional questions to understand why VPX might not be in their
future plans .
The remaining questions were to gather awareness information and technical needs assessment of
current and potential users of VITA technology, and in particular, VPX technology and products .
August 2010 VITA Industry Survey Page 5
6. Figure 1: Survey Structure
Start Awareness
Technical
Q1
What is your primary industry?
Q11
Q2
How important are each of these
features / benefits of VPX?
What is your job function?
Q12
Q3 Which of these board formats and
How important are these methods to cooling options will you use in the next
you when doing product research? 12 to 18 months?
Q31
Q4
How do you value web-based methods Which serial switched fabric do you plan
of information delivery? to use?
Q5 Q14
Which publications (print or online) do Which backplane topology do you plan
you receive? to use?
Q6
Q15
Which conferences and exhibitions do How many major processing modules
you attend? do you estimate will be in your next
system?
Q7
How aware are you of these VITA Q16
Technologies?
If, you have found major limitations in
Yes, I have plans VPX, what are they?
If you are using or planning to use
VPX, VPX REDI or OpenVPX Q8 Q17
technology we would like to ask What more would you like to learn about
you additional questions . VPX, OpenVPX, VPX REDI?
No plans
Q9
Q18
Do you see any of the following as being VITA is committed to continued
obstacles to implementing VPX? development of OpenVPX-related
standards . In which of the following
Q10 areas would you like to see further
If you have an upcoming project, what development of standards:
will you be using instead?
Thank you and
exit
August 2010 VITA Industry Survey Page 6
7. Analysis
The following section contains the details and analysis for each question . The type of question is
defined as well as the number of respondents to each question . If comments were allowed, they are
presented as submitted to the survey .
The observations and analysis were completed by Jerry Gipper (jerry@vita .com) and Neil Peterson
(peterson_neil@hotmail .com) with guidance from members of the VPX Marketing Alliance .
Geographic Locations
Table 1 lists the geographic locations of all respondents who started this survey . There was
representation from around the world . The US had 45% of the respondents, with India, the UK, China,
and Germany rounding out the top 5 countries .
Table 2 lists the geographic locations of respondents that completed section 2 of the survey, minus
the respondents that selected Sales or Marketing as a job function . These same respondents were
included in the analysis of questions 11 through 18 .
Country Total Percent Country Total Percent
Unknown 16 6 .8% Unknown 6 6 .1%
AUSTRALIA 1 0 .4% BULGARIA 1 1 .0%
AUSTRIA 1 0 .4% CANADA 2 2 .0%
BELARUS 2 0 .9% CHINA 6 6 .1%
BULGARIA 1 0 .4% EGYPT 1 1 .0%
CANADA 5 2 .1% FRANCE 1 1 .0%
CHILE 2 0 .9% GERMANY 3 3 .1%
CHINA 11 4 .7% HONG KONG 1 1 .0%
EGYPT 1 0 .4% INDIA 8 8 .2%
FRANCE 5 2 .1% ITALY 1 1 .0%
GERMANY 8 3 .4% JAPAN 1 1 .0%
HONG KONG 2 0 .9% KOREA, REPUBLIC OF 1 1 .0%
INDIA 14 6 .0% NORWAY 1 1 .0%
IRAN 1 0 .4% POLAND 1 1 .0%
ISRAEL 2 0 .9% ROMANIA 1 1 .0%
ITALY 7 3 .0% RUSSIAN FEDERATION 1 1 .0%
JAPAN 5 2 .1% SWEDEN 1 1 .0%
KOREA, REPUBLIC OF 2 0 .9% TURKEY 1 1 .0%
NETHERLANDS 1 0 .4% UNITED KINGDOM 2 2 .0%
NEW ZEALAND 1 0 .4% UNITED STATES 57 58 .2%
NORWAY 1 0 .4% VIET NAM 1 1 .0%
POLAND 1 0 .4% Total 98
ROMANIA 1 0 .4%
Table 2: Respondents
RUSSIAN FEDERATION 5 2 .1%
completing survey minus sales
SAUDI ARABIA 2 0 .9%
SPAIN 1 0 .4% and marketing job function
SWEDEN 2 0 .9%
SWITZERLAND 2 0 .9%
TAIWAN 3 1 .3%
TURKEY 2 0 .9%
UKRAINE 1 0 .4%
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 3 1 .3%
UNITED KINGDOM 13 5 .6%
UNITED STATES 106 45 .3%
VIET NAM 2 0 .9%
YEMEN 1 0 .4%
Total 234
Table 1: Total Respondents
August 2010 VITA Industry Survey Page 7
8. Question 1: Primary Industry
Q1. What is your primary industry?
Question Type: Multiple choice, only one answer . Comments were allowed . Response was
required to proceed to next question .
Respondents: 233
Respondent Comments: Additional industries listed by the respondents included;
Semiconductors (2), Robotics (1), Embedded Systems (3)
Source: VITA Industry Survey, August 2010
Chart 1: What is your primary industry?
Analysis: The majority of respondents are in the Aerospace/Defense industry . Overall, the distribution
across the industries matches closely with the historical distribution of VITA technology users . The
promotion of the survey was heavily slanted to the Aerospace/Defense industry . This is a focus market
of many of the VITA members and especially the VPX Marketing Alliance members that are developing
and promoting VPX products . The VITA media partners that provided promotional assistance also have
subscriber lists that are heavily populated with readers from the Aerospace/Defense industry .
Despite the natural focus on Aerospace/Defense, it is interesting to note that over 40% of the
responses came from other market application segments .
Follow-on surveys will likely be expanded to broader market segments to gain a better overall feel .
August 2010 VITA Industry Survey Page 8
9. Question 2: Job Function
Q2. What is your job function?
Question Type: Question type: Multiple choice, only one answer . Comments were allowed .
Response was required to proceed to next question .
Respondents: 233
Respondent Comments: Additional job functions listed by the respondents included; Product
Management (2), Testing Engineer (1), Quality Process Manager (1), Mechanical Engineer (1)
Source: VITA Industry Survey, August 2010
Chart 2: What is your job function?
Analysis: The distribution across job functions was on target to original expectations . The target
audience was design engineers and was pointed out in the instructions at the beginning of the survey .
This question enabled cross-tabulation so the focus could be on engineering job functions for many of
the following questions .
August 2010 VITA Industry Survey Page 9
10. Question 3: Product Research
Q3. How important are these methods to you when doing product research?
Question Type: Rating scale, 1 to 3 . 1 = Not important, 2 = Important, and 3 = Very important .
Comments were allowed . Response was required to proceed to next question .
Cross-tabulation: Marketing and sales job function filtered out .
Respondents: 164
Respondent Comments:
• Well written specifications/errata, full performance demonstrations .
• Having access to independent definitions / reviews of underlying technology .
• It is also good to be able to locate white papers applying the vendor products .
• Exchanging information with colleagues .
Source: VITA Industry Survey, August 2010
Chart 3: How important are these methods to you when doing product research? Ranked
This chart ranks the average score for each method on a scale of 1 to 3, with 1 = not important, 2 =
important, and 3 = very important .
August 2010 VITA Industry Survey Page 10
11. Source: VITA Industry Survey, August 2010
Chart 4: How important are these methods to you when doing product research? Detail
This chart presents the percentage of respondents selecting each option .
Analysis: Direct contact with suppliers, whether through meetings or websites was rated the highest .
Distributors and conferences/exhibitions ranked much lower in the results, reflecting the desire of
engineers to get as close as possible to the source and subject matter experts .
The technology is very complex in this industry so meeting with subject matter experts is very
important to gain a full understanding . The industry depends heavily on consultative selling in which
a salesperson plays the role of a consultant . He or she first assists the buyer in identifying his or her
needs, and then suggesting products that satisfy those needs . Most salespeople in this industry have
an engineering degree and have often started their careers as engineers .
The number of respondents dropped at this question because of the cross-tabulation to remove those
that selected Sales or Marketing as a job function . About 10% of the respondents exited the survey at
this point for unknow reasons .
August 2010 VITA Industry Survey Page 11
12. Question 4: Information Delivery
Q4. How do you value web-based methods of information delivery?
Question Type: Rating scale, 1 to 5 . 1 = Never use, not even for personal use, 2 = Never for job,
but for personal use, 3 = Infrequently or occasionally, 4 = Use monthly for job, 5 = Use daily/
weekly for job . No comments were allowed . Response was required to proceed to next question .
Cross-tabulation: Marketing and sales job function filtered out .
Respondents: 153
Source: VITA Industry Survey, August 2010
Chart 5: How do you value web-based methods of information delivery? Ranked
Analysis: The responses to this question illustrate how important websites have become as a source
of technical information . User forums and webcasts are used occasionally and by their nature,
probably come into play when issues arise or more specific information is needed .
Social media outlets ranked the lowest and actually dropped slightly when the marketing/sales
respondents were eliminated .
Observation: LinkedIn is starting to replace user forums in many cases . VITA has started using this tool
for supporting some of its marketing initiatives .
YouTube videos have been replacing podcasts the past several years . Suppliers find them easier to
create and promote, while viewers (engineers) find them convenient when needed .
August 2010 VITA Industry Survey Page 12
13. Question 5: Publications
Q5. Which publications (print or online) do you receive?
Question Type: Multiple choice, must pick at least one answer . Comments were allowed .
Response was required to proceed to next question . VPX Marketing Alliance members provided
the list of publications .
Cross-tabulation: Marketing and sales job function filtered out .
Respondents: 142
Respondent Comments: One each .
• Circuit Cellar Ink
• CompactPCI, AdvancedTCA, & MicroTCA
• Design News
• Government Computer News
• IEEE periodicals, IEEE Spectrum
Source: VITA Industry Survey, August 2010
Chart 6: Which publications (print or online) do you receive?
Analysis: The preferred publications selected tracks the job functions reasonably closely . Aerospace/
Defense was the leading job function selected and the publications serving this market lead this list .
Blog sites such as Embedded .com, Embedded Technology Journal, Open Architecture Review, and EG3
have not caught up to the popularity of the journals .
No attempt was made to measure print versus online preferences for publication distribution .
August 2010 VITA Industry Survey Page 13
14. Question 6: Conferences and Exhibitions
Q6. Which conferences and exhibitions do you attend?
Question Type: Multiple choice, must pick at least one answer . Comments were allowed .
Response was required to proceed to next question . VPX Marketing Alliance members provided
the list of conferences and exhibitions .
Cross-tabulation: Marketing and sales job function filtered out .
Respondents: 141
Respondent Comments: One each .
• Aero Show Bangalore
• AFCEA, AUSA
• DSEI
• DMSMS Conference
• Embedded System Conference - Bangalore
• IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium
• IEEE Real-Time Conference (2)
• SPS/IPC/Drives, Hannovermesse
• Wireless Innovation Forum
Source: VITA Industry Survey, August 2010
Chart 7: Which conferences and exhibitions do you attend?
Analysis: It was surprising to see that nearly 50% of the respondents do not attend any of the events
listed . Smaller, focused shows tended to head the list .
August 2010 VITA Industry Survey Page 14
15. Question 7: VITA Technologies
Q7. How aware are you of these VITA Technologies?
Question Type: Matrix of choices, only one answer per row . Comments were allowed . Each row
required a response to proceed to next question .
Cross-tabulation: Marketing and sales job function filtered out .
Respondents: 139
Source: VITA Industry Survey, August 2010
Chart 8: How aware are you of these VITA Technologies?
Analysis: This question was the heart of the survey as the primary goal was to measure awareness of
the major VITA technologies . It was pleasing to see that all of the technologies scored well . Combining
all of the categories and excluding “Never heard of it”, indicates that 75% to 96% of the respondents
were aware of the various technologies .
August 2010 VITA Industry Survey Page 15
16. Question 8: VPX Plans
Q8. If you are using or planning to use VPX, VPX REDI or OpenVPX technology we would like to ask
you additional questions.
Question Type: Multiple choice, must pick at least one answer . No comments were allowed .
Response was required to proceed to next question .
Cross-tabulation: Marketing and sales job function filtered out .
Respondents: 115
Source: VITA Industry Survey, August 2010
Chart 9: Do you plan to use VPX, VPX REDI, or OpenVPX?
Analysis: This question was used as the branch question to gather more information specifically on
VPX technologies .
Those who had no plans were directed to question 9 . The others were directed to question 11 .
The link button to the survey promoted VPX/OpenVPX so it is assumed that a high interest in VPX
attracted the respondents and that may have had an impact on the number of respondents that
choose to continue the survey .
August 2010 VITA Industry Survey Page 16
17. Question 9: Obstacles to Implementing VPX
Q9. Do you see any of the following as being obstacles to implementing VPX?
Question Type: Multiple choice, must pick at least one answer . Comments were allowed .
Response was required to proceed to next question .
Cross-tabulation: Marketing and sales job function filtered out .
Respondents: 37
Respondent Comments:
• Cooling
• The projects that I have worked on did not use them . As a contractor, I use what the
manufacturer that hires me is using .
• For the most part, my customers (shipboard sheltered Navy and mobile landbased Marine
Corps) are looking for, as Ray would put it, “cheap commercial crap .” They buy a network
switch from a commercial company that will fit in a ruggedized rack, they test it, and if it
passes, they use it .
Source: VITA Industry Survey, August 2010
Chart 10: Do you see any of the following as being obstacles to implementing VPX?
Analysis: This was the final question for the approximately 25% with no plans to use VPX technology .
50% had no plans at all to use VPX . 40%+ probably do not understand it well enough to determine if it
may be appropriate to their applications . 20% appear confused over VPX versus OpenVPX . In general,
the technology itself does not appear to be an issue with no one indicating that key features are
missing .
August 2010 VITA Industry Survey Page 17
18. Question 10: Alternatives to VPX
Q10. If you have an upcoming project, what will you be using instead?
Question Type: Comment/essay . No response was required to proceed to next question .
Cross-tabulation: Marketing and sales job function filtered out .
Respondents: 3
Respondent Comments:
• VXS
• Single integrated board
• Ruggedized commercial network switches in the core pieces of the network . CompactPCI,
VMEbus, PMC in a few, isolated spots, (primarily) where interfacing with legacy systems is
required . I see VPX as an option for systems that are more rugged (for example, aerospace
and missile defense) than the ones I am supporting .
Analysis: This was the final question for those with no plans to use VPX technology . There was not
enough data to reach any conclusions on what other technologies might be a preferred choice .
August 2010 VITA Industry Survey Page 18
19. Question 11: Features/Benefits of VPX
Q11. How important are each of these features/benefits of VPX?
Question Type: Rating scale, 1 to 3 . 1 = No need, 2 = Nice to have, 3 = Required . Comments were
allowed . Each row required a response to proceed to next question .
Cross-tabulation: Marketing and sales job function filtered out .
Respondents: 98
Respondent Comments:
• Need air flow through and conduction cooled . LFT cooled is a way off . ANSI/VITA 47 should
be required by Open VPX to eliminate the “re-qualiifcation issue .” [Author Note: ANSI/VITA
47-2005 (R2007) “Environmental, Design and Construction, Safety, and Quality for Plug-In
Units Standard” defines requirements for commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) plug-in units (cards,
modules, etc) intended for mobile applications.]
• Anti-tamper hardened with strong active protection and a range of penalties available
• Altera FPGAs
Source: VITA Industry Survey, August 2010
Chart 11: How important are each of these features/benefits of VPX?
August 2010 VITA Industry Survey Page 19
20. Source: VITA Industry Survey, August 2010
Chart 12: How important are each of these features/benefits of VPX?
Analysis: The data is presented in a stacked chart to show how each was scored . It is also in a ranked
chart to show priority . The ranking results are right out of the VPX Marketing Alliance playbook,
strongly confirming that what is being promoted as the key benefits of VPX are also very important to
the users of the technology .
All of the features/benefits scored well and in pretty much the anticipated priority .
The low number of write-in comments would seem to indicate that this is a fairly complete list of
features and benefits that are of concern to the respondents .
August 2010 VITA Industry Survey Page 20
21. Question 12: Board Formats and Cooling
Q12. Which of these board formats and cooling options will you use in the next 12 to 18 months?
Question Type: Matrix of choices, only one answer per row . Comments were allowed . At least
one row required a response to proceed to next question .
Cross-tabulation: Marketing and sales job function filtered out .
Respondents: 98
Respondent Comments:
• You should allow more than one option in this question .
• Both Convection and Conduction for 3U and 6U
• 3U and 6U both Convection and conduction
• Proprietary - form factor dimensions dictated by host system volume allotment
• Possibly conduction cooled
Source: VITA Industry Survey, August 2010
Chart 13: Which of these board formats and cooling options will you use in the next 12 to 18 months?
Analysis: 3U conduction cooled modules hold a slight lead over 6U conduction cooled modules .
Conduction cooled had about a 2x higher interest than convection cooled .
This was a difficult question to frame and the comments reflect this difficulty . Programs may use a
specific size and cooling scheme but a designer may be working on multiple programs over a 12 to 18
month period and thus may be using different sizes and cooling schemes over that time frame .
These results reflect what VPX suppliers are seeing in the market today .
August 2010 VITA Industry Survey Page 21
22. Question 13: Serial Switched Fabrics
Q13. Which serial switched fabric do you plan to use?
Question Type: Matrix of choices, only one answer per row . Comments were allowed . At least
one row required a response to proceed to next question .
Cross-tabulation: Marketing and sales job function filtered out .
Respondents: 98
Respondent Comments:
• Storage: SATA / FC / IB options as overlay
• Dual star x4 SRIO
Source: VITA Industry Survey, August 2010
Chart 14: Which serial switched fabric do you plan to use?
Analysis: The choice of fabrics remains mixed as was expected . Ethernet was fairly evenly selected in
all configurations from a single x1 link to the Fat Pipe x4 link configurations .
PCI Express and serial RapidIO were favored in the x4 configuration . Serial RapidIO has the largest
amount of “Not sure” responses which tends to track with the market perception for serial RapidIO .
This is an area where the suppliers would prefer to see stronger trends emerge . The nature of
technology based on serial switched fabrics means that many options are possible . Unfortunately, it
creates product management challenges for suppliers and users alike .
August 2010 VITA Industry Survey Page 22
23. Question 14: Backplane Topology
Q14. Which backplane topology do you plan to use?
Question Type: Matrix of choices, only one answer per row . Comments were allowed . At least
one row required a response to proceed to next question .
Cross-tabulation: Marketing and sales job function filtered out .
Respondents: 96
Respondent Comments:
• 10Gig E; Proprietary overlays; Rate (data) may increase
Source: VITA Industry Survey, August 2010
Chart 15: Which backplane topology do you plan to use?
Analysis: Backplane topology shows the greatest indecision . This is where serial switched fabric
systems start to get interesting . The multitude of topology options gives a designer great flexibility
but at the same time makes it hard to zero in on the right configuration . No clear winner is emerging
between centralized switching, distributed switching, or various hybrid possibilities .
It appears that designers are either happy with the 3 .125 Gbps speeds or prefer 6 .25 Gbps . Anything
between probably won’t have a significant product life cycle .
The topology, serial switched fabrics, and speed options multiply each other and quickly expands the
configuration options leading to a large number of product possibilities . It will be interesting to see
which combinations or OpenVPX profiles rise to the top . Suppliers are anxious to find out if topologies
will vary from industry to industry .
August 2010 VITA Industry Survey Page 23
24. Question 15: Processing Modules
Q15. How many major processing modules do you estimate will be in your next system?
Question Type: Multiple choice, only one answer . Comments were allowed . No response was
required to proceed to next question .
Cross-tabulation: Marketing and sales job function filtered out .
Respondents: 96
Source: VITA Industry Survey, August 2010
Chart 16: How many major processing modules do you estimate will be in your next system?
Analysis: Most systems are on the smaller size with 2-4 modules per system . These will likely use
simpler switching topologies . Over 25% of the systems are expected to have 10 or more modules
meaning there will also be a need to support some very complex switching topologies .
The choice of one was very low indicating that most realize that a switched fabric topology does not
make sense for systems of one .
August 2010 VITA Industry Survey Page 24
25. Question 16: Limitations in VPX
Q16. If, you have found major limitations in VPX, what are they? (Choose up to three)
Question Type: Multiple choice, multiple answers . Comments were allowed . At least one
response was required to proceed to next question .
Cross-tabulation: Marketing and sales job function filtered out .
Respondents: 96
Respondent Comments:
• Spec is a moving target - still early in development • Hot swap
• Backplane configurations • Still in evaluation (2 responses)
• Backplane connector cost is too high • Lack of anti-tamper protection
• No common pinout for Ethernet and serial • Variety of system synchronization
connections • Not truly open specifications, better to move from
• Parallel IO VME to CompactPCI
Source: VITA Industry Survey, August 2010
Chart 17: If, you have found major limitations in VPX, what are they?
Analysis: Interoperability was the highest concern . Fortunately, the OpenVPX architectural framework
was created to specifically address interoperability . It is expected that this concern will subside as
designers become familiar with what OpenVPX brings to VPX . Future profile alignment should reduce
interoperability issues . Leadtimes are a concern across the industry in general due to current economic
conditions and the fact that VPX products are in early stages of development .
August 2010 VITA Industry Survey Page 25
26. Question 17: Learn More About VPX
Q17. What more would you like to learn about VPX, OpenVPX, or VPX REDI?
Question Type: Multiple choice, multiple answers . Comments were allowed . At least one
response was required to proceed to next question .
Cross-tabulation: Marketing and sales job function filtered out .
Respondents: 96
Respondent Comments:
• Crystal ball to see VITA 46 .11 final spec . [ Author Note: VITA 46.11 “VPX: System Management”
defines a standardized System Management architecture for VPX Systems.]
• Currently the VITA website is hurting for more information on all of the form factors . As a
student this would be greatly appreciated .
• Major industry push back on the connector - are there any plans for a pin-and-socket
connector set in the VPX family?
Source: VITA Industry Survey, August 2010
Chart 18: What more would you like to learn about VPX, OpenVPX, or VPX REDI?
Analysis: The work of the marketing teams is never done as engineers have an insatiable thirst for
more information . These responses indicate that there are many great opportunities for continued
education of the users . This list gives some good ideas on where the priorities should lie .
VDC Research Group’s Embedded Hardware & Systems: 2010 Market Intelligence Service was recently
published with the latest on VPX market projections . See the VITA web site at www .vita .com/
mktoverview
August 2010 VITA Industry Survey Page 26
27. Question 18: VITA Projects
Q18. VITA is committed to continued development of OpenVPX-related standards. In which of the
following areas would you like to see further development of standards:
Question Type: Multiple choice, multiple answers . Comments were allowed . At least one
response was required to proceed to next question .
Cross-tabulation: Marketing and sales job function filtered out .
Respondents: 96
Respondent Comments:
• Connectors technologies for copper solutions
• VITA utterly failed with all VPX, and damaged the whole VME arena .
• Along with making ANSI/VITA 47 mandatory, require that vendors provide reliability
predictions in accordance with VITA 51 .1 and comply with VITA 51 .3 to provide a “level
playing field .”
Source: VITA Industry Survey, August 2010
Chart 19: In which of the following areas would you like to see further development of standards?
Analysis: VITA’s Standards Organization (VSO) has efforts underway in nearly all of these areas . See
www .vita .com/specifications .html for the most current list of specifications and working group
activities . Very few additional proposals were suggested .
August 2010 VITA Industry Survey Page 27
28. Definitions
VPX: The master brand for all technologies under the VPX family .
This includes VITA 46 and all ‘dot’ specifications .
VPX REDI: The Ruggedized Enhanced Design Implementation
(REDI) laid out in VITA 48 describes how to implement layout
techniques to better support cooling methodologies on specific
board form factors . Currently, it covers enhanced forced-air cooling
(using baffles and plenums), advanced conduction cooling (using
larger and more efficient thermal interfaces), and liquid cooling . It
also addresses the use of ESD covers on both sides of the board, a
necessary feature for military two-level maintenance strategies .
OpenVPX: An architectural framework that manages and
constrains module and backplane designs, including defining pin
outs, and sets interoperability points within VPX while maintaining
full compliance with VPX .
August 2010 VITA Industry Survey Page 28
29. Catch the Wave
The Next Level of
MEMBER COMPANIES
4DSP, Inc .
Aitech Defense Systems, Inc .
VPX Standards is Here Amphenol
BittWare, Inc .
Concurrent Technologies Plc .
Conduant Corporation
OpenVPX™, the next-generation interoperability Creative Electronic Systems (CES)
standard for system-level defense and aerospace CSP Inc .
Curtiss-Wright Controls, Inc .
applications, is now available with more than 150 Diversified Technology, Inc .
Dynatem Inc .
products . Elma Electronic Inc .
Emerson Network Power - Embedded Computing
This new systems specification leverages the work of Extreme Engineering Solutions (X-ES)
GE Intelligent Platforms
the individual VPX standards to reduce customization, Hartmann Electronic
testing, cost and risk . It defines an architecture that HDL Research Lab, Inc
Hybricon Corp .
manages and constrains module and backplane Innovative Integration, Inc .
Kontron
designs, defines pin outs, and sets interoperability Mercury Computer Systems, Inc .
compliance while maintaining full compliance with Meritec / Joy Signal Technology
PCI-Systems, Inc .
VPX . And it is ideal for rugged applications that Pentek, Inc .
require smaller packages, as well as high I/O and SIE Computing Solutions
Technobox, Inc .
connectivity densities . TEK Microsystems, Inc .
Themis Computer
Connect with your preferred vendor to find out more Tracewell Systems
Tyco Electronics Corporation
about the benefits and capabilities of OpenVPX . VTI Instruments Corporation
Xembedded, LLC
Find out more at www .vita .com/vpx or visit the VITA
product directory at www .vita .com .
OpenVPX is a trademark of VITA .
August 2010 VITA Industry Survey Page 29
