Index Real-Time Magazine 97q1 on BUSES

Index Real-Time Magazine 1Q97

Editorial
By Martin Timmerman, Chief-Editor of Real-Time Magazine, Real-Time Consult.
BUSES - 97q1 - p.3
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RTDOCTOR

The Right Bus In The Right Place - A Tutorial (Part II)
A lot of parallel busses are in use today. Some of them are competitive, others are complementary. The misuse of a bus may have dramatic results in a project. This paper explains different profiles of bus use. A system architect should always take into account the basic rules and reduce the risk of bad system behaviour.

By Martin Timmerman, Editor-in-Chief of Real-Time Magazine, Real-Time Consult.
BUSES - 97q1 - p.6
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VME

Data Flow Design Dictates Useable Multiprocessor Performance on VME Bus
Signal processing applications like radar, sonar, imaging, and telecommunications have always had an insatiable need for performance. Semiconductor vendors have responded to this need by developing DSPs that are optimized for multiprocessing. Board vendors, for their part have followed suit with products that cram as many of these DSPs as possible onto a 6U VMEbus card.

By Bill Chiechi, VME Section Manager, Ariel Corp.
BUSES - 97/1 - p.11
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EUROPRO: A New Open VMEbus Multiprocessor Computer for Signal Processing and Intensive Data Processing
This paper first describes the Real Time constraints and systems in the chapter “Real Time applications”, then the multiprocessor architectures, dedicated to Real Time applications, in the chapter “Multiprocessor architectures for Real Time applications”. The chapter “Signal processing architecture” introduces finally a new multiprocessor architecture for Real Time signal processing, based on VME and PCI Single Board Computers as well as Digital Signal Processors: EUROPRO.

By Robert Nègre, Technical Director, CETIA.
BUSES - 97q1 - p.16
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How VME Facilitates the Implementation of Real-Time DSP Systems
Since its introduction VME has provided developers with a very versatile high performance bus, and it is now one of the most popular industrial standards for high end systems. This paper illustrates by example the many applications that Loughborough Sound Images has been asked to provide solutions for, in areas such as telecommunications, surveillance, high end computer systems, radar, sonar and seismic surveying.
The paper describes the problems we encountered, and how the combination of VME and high performance DSPs has facilitated a successful system solution in four example applications, using LSI’s DBV4x and DBV66 single slot 6U VME boards. The advantages of the VMEbus for real-time DSP applications are discussed, and VME is compared to CompactPCI as an environment for DSP solutions.

By Karl Wale, Product Manager, DSP Group, Loughborough Sound Images plc.
BUSES - 97q1 - p.21
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Beyond VME: Standard Interconnects Accelerate Application Throughput
This article explains the different auxiliary interconnect busses that can be used on the VME P2 connector: SKYchannel, Autobahn, HTC on VME, RACEway, VSM, ... It tries to indicate for which applications these busses are best suited, and which are the advantages and drawbacks of each choice.

By Richard Jaenicke, Marketing Director; Dianne McDermott Capps, Tech. Comm. Manager,Sky Computers, Inc
BUSES - 97q1 - p.26
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CompactPCI Candidate for Real-Time Applications
CompactPCI is definitely an emerging standard, but until today Pentium was the only technology offered in this format. In Real-Time applications the PowerPC predominates. The VME market is a good example, where the trend setters are PowerPC-based single-board processors combining an efficient on board computing power, PCI connectivity for PMC mezzanine cards, and VME bus access. That CompactPCI lacked PowerPC technology has certainly hindered its acceptance by the Real-Time community. This article describes the hardware structure CES has developed to combine PowerPC with both CompactPCI and PCI slots for PMC mezzanines with negligible impact on CPU performance.

By Patrick Chalançon, Marketing Manager, CES.
BUSES - 97q1 - p.29
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COMPACTPCI

CompactPCI Analysis and Simulation
This article is a technical paper on the backplane performance of CompactPCI. The primary focus of this article is the electrical signal transmission characteristic which results from the Compact PCI Specification.

By Paul R. Moon, Senior Scientist, Hybricon Corp.
BUSES - 97q1 - p.34
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PICMG Helps PCI Boost Passive Backplane PC Throughput
The PCI/ISA industrial PC standard allows integrators of passive-backplane systems based on PC architectures access to the performance of PCI-based peripheral controllers, whilst maintaining compatibility between processor cards from multiple manufacturers and enabling continued use of existing ISA-based I/O. This article gives an overview of the standard and the thinking behind it.

By Curt Alexander, Vice-President of Engineering, I-Bus. A division of Maxwell Laboratories.
BUSES - 97q1 - p.38
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CompactPCI is Paving the Way for the Standard PC in Industry
PCI has established as an open standard in the desktop world, and even those who decide in industry increasingly base new projects on PC systems. The electrical characteristics of PCI would certainly satisfy most customers in industry, but conventional PCI boards are not suitable for many industrial applications at least in terms of their format and connector concepts. Many a PC user would therefore appreciate the advantages of solid 19“ systems with backplane wiring. For this reason the CompactPCI specification was developed. CompactPCI is a high-performance bus system which is based on the electrical specification of the PCI standard, but which was packed into an industrial 3U or 6U format.

By Dr. Anselm Schuster, General Director; Barbara Schmitz, Marketing Manager, MEN Mikro Elektronik.
BUSES - 97q1 - p.41
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The Industrial PCI Bus, Customising the PCI Bus for Communication Applications
If the Industrial PCI Bus is to be accepted as a standard component in the communications industry, the overall philosophy of the computer bus architecture must be revisited. Implementing a communications system on a standard computer bus can be likened to the proverbial “square peg in a round hole” syndrome. A given system topology must be fitted to a standard bus configuration, instead of developing a bus architecture that is suitable to the given topology. This paper recommends a PCI Bus architecture that fits the requirements of the given topology instead of shoehorning the system into a rigid computer bus architecture.

By Raymond Kolment, PCI Hardware Design Team Leader, Teknor Industrial Computers Inc.
BUSES - 97q1 - p.47
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PMC and CompactPCI: Powerful PCI Bus Variants Bring High Performance I/O to Today’s Embedded Systems
With advantages like higher performance and a lower cost-of-implementation, PCI’s migration into embedded applications is assured. In fact, embedded PCI-based systems are becoming more prevalent every day. The PMC specification offers an effective stepping stone to full-blown embedded PCI. PMC merges the high-speed, low-cost I/O capabilities of the PC world with the more rugged Eurocard format and passive-backplane of the VME specification. PMC represents a blending of the best of two technologies and the result holds significant benefit for the embedded application market. By bringing PC-based I/O and software to the VME market, PMC effectively extends the life of many already-installed embedded VME systems and opens the door to new opportunities for VME in the future.

By Chris Foxell, European Sales Manager, Interphase Corp.
BUSES - 97q1 - p.51
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VME & COMPACTPCI

VME & CompactPCI Backplane Standard, The Best of Both Worlds
This paper provides a technical overview of the coexistence and advantages of a 19-inch VME backplane system coupled with the robust connectivity of CompactPCI I/O boards in a common backplane environment.

By Torsten Ballentin, Manager Technical Marketing, FORCE COMPUTERS GmbH.
BUSES - 97q1 - p.56
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CompactPCI and VME, a Winning Combination
In just a year, the CompactPCI bus has risen to prominence in the board industry worldwide, prompting users to compare it with VME and to wonder if it could replace VME in many applications. There are two ways to compare buses. The first is to look at the intricate details of the bus signals, bus transceiver technology and timing diagrams. From this point of view, VME (and VME64x) fares as an outstanding technology with plenty of growth potential. The other way is to see what silicon components, system and software facilities a given architecture offers to simplify system design. From this perspective, PCI and CompactPCI offers unique possibilities thanks mostly to the broad silicon support and “system-oriented” concepts like Plug and Play. So the question is increasingly how both architecture can benefit from each other rather than how they would compete.

By Cosma Pabouctsidis, Director of Marketing and Technology, GESPAC.
BUSES - 97q1 - p.61
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The Migration from VME to CompactPCI: Considerations and Comparisons for Systems Integrators
This article makes a comparison between the different bus-options for systems integrators, being VMEbus and CompactPCI. The article compares features, limitations and integration costs to explain the migration from VME to CompactPCI. It describes the growth of CompactPCI and offers you some alternatives for it.

By Kim Rubin, Executive Vice President and Chief Technical Officer, GreenSpring Computers.
BUSES - 97q1 - p.69
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CompactPCI: Real-Time Successor to the VMEbus?
The fast emergence of the CompactPCI industrial computer standard as a potential hardware platform for real time computing systems has invited many comparisons of this new architecture with the VMEbus, an established computer standard popular for real-time control applications. This article will define the origins and applications of CompactPCI, and discuss its differences, similarities and synergy with VME.

By Jim Medeiros, Responsible for Design and Development, Ziatech Corporation.
BUSES - 97q1 - p.74
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MEZZANINES

Comparison of Different Mezzanine Buses
This paper gives an overview of some Mezzanine board technologies used today. IP, PMC will be discussed here. M-modules, S-bus modules and some others are to be discussed in a complementary paper. A comparison is given taking into account aspects like mechanics, performance, bus architectural considerations, commercial availability and price level, support by an organisation etc. The conclusion makes the difference between competitive and complementary technologies.

By Martin Timmerman, Secretary General, GRoupIPC.
BUSES - 97q1 - p.77
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M-Modules: Mezzanine I/O Standard for Industrial Applications
This article discusses the past, the present and the future of Mezzanine I/O Modules. Mezzanine I/O modules serve as flexible extension of all kinds of computer systems like VME, PC/AT, Multibus, DSP and Single Board Computers in embedded control systems. Actually, mezzanine I/O is already used in the new CompactPCI computer systems. I/O functionality ranges from typical process I/O, measuring and control functions to serial and parallel interfaces, fieldbus interfaces etc.

By Holger Zeltwanger, Representing MUMM.
BUSES - 97q1 - p.82
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RACEWAY

RACEway, PCI, and VME: a Symbiotic Union
For quite some time, there has been a quiet competition for backplane supremacy. Today, the only remaining viable contenders are VMEbus, and PCI. Numerous derivative standards have emerged. The industrial and real-time computation community will soon have a wide choice of standardized solutions based upon these two most important building blocks (VME and PCI) to meet the greater and greater demands of applications upon developers. RACEway is one such standard that this article tells you more about.

By Dave Horton, Director of Bus Interface Products, Cypress Semiconductor Corp.
BUSES - 97q1 - p.85
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RACEway - A Better Architecture for High-Rate Data Acquisition Systems
This paper provides a brief overview of RACEway technology and currently available products from several vendors. It then describes a particular, real-world application where a 64 Mbyte/second data stream is captured, buffered, and recorded using currently available COTS equipment. Finally, other applications that use RACEway to acquire, process, record, and communicate high-rate, real-time data streams are discussed.

By Richard O’Connell, President, Myriad Logic Inc.
BUSES - 97q1 - p.90
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OTHERS

Advertisement Index
BUSES - 97q1 - p.46

Agenda
BUSES - 97q1 - p.97

Company References
BUSES - 97q1 - p.98