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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
Aculab
Agere Systems
APW electronic Solutions
Artela Systems
Artesyn
Asis Ltd
AudioCodes
AVX
Axiowave Networks
Bittware
Blue Wave Systems
Brooktrout
Bustronic/Elma Electronic
Carlo Gavazzi/Mupac
Coax Corporation
Communication Automation Corp.
Comtel Electronics GmbH
Continuous Computing
Diversified Technology Inc.
Dy4 /Ixthos
Eurotech spa
FCI Electronics
Hewlett-Packard
Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.
Hybricon
IBM
Ibus/Phoenix
Intel
International Product Design Inc.
Interphase Corporation
IT Enclosures |
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Kaparel
LynuxWorks, Inc.
Mellanox
MEN Mikro Elektronik GmbH
Microsoft
Molex
MontaVista
Motorola
National Instruments
NMS Communications
Octave Communications
Pacific Broadband Communications
Pentair Electronic Packaging
Performance Technologies
PICMG Europe
PICMG Japan
Pigeon Point Systems
Pinnacle Data Systems
Pivotech
SBE
SBS Technologes
Schroff
Sky Computers
Spectrum Signal Processing Inc.
SRC Corporation
StarGen
Summit Microelectronics, Inc.
Sun MicroSystems
Teknor Applicom Inc.
Tyco Electronics
Znyx
3Up Systems |
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