Vita Industry Survey 2010

atWork

MarketingAlliance

VITA Industry SurveyAugust 2010

Copyright © 2010VITA

P.O. Box 19658Fountain Hills, AZ 85269

[email protected]

August 2010 VITA Industry Survey

Table of Contents

Message from Chairman of the VPX Marketing Alliance: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Target Audience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Timing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Placements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Data Collection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Geographic Locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Question 1: Primary Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Question 2: Job Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Question 3: Product Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10Question 4: Information Delivery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12Question 5: Publications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13Question 6: Conferences and Exhibitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14Question 7: VITA Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15Question 8: VPX Plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16Question 9: Obstacles to Implementing VPX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17Question 10: Alternatives to VPX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18Question 11: Features/Benefits of VPX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19Question 12: Board Formats and Cooling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21Question 13: Serial Switched Fabrics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22Question 14: Backplane Topology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23Question 15: Processing Modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24Question 16: Limitations in VPX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25Question 17: Learn More About VPX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26Question 18: VITA Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

DISCLAIMER

The publisher has used best efforts to assure the accuracy of the material used in preparing this report .

The publisher makes no warranty of any kind, expressed or implied, with regard to the information contained in this report . The publisher shall not be liable in any event for incidental or consequential damages in connection with, or arising from, the information contained in this report .

Any reference to particular products or manufacturers to illustrate points made in this report should not be construed as an endorsement of said products or manufacturers .

The opinions contained herein are those of the authors and are based upon published and unpublished information obtained from a variety of sources, interviews with industry participants, results of the VITA Industry Survey 2010, and many years of experience .

VITA Industry SurveyCopyright 2010 by VITA

All rights reserved

This publication may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any manner or in any form or otherwise, without the prior written permission of VITA .


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

Marketing Alliance


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 .


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 .


What is your primary industry?

Which serial switched fabric do you plan to use?

Which backplane topology do you plan to use?

How important are each of these features / benefits of VPX?

Which publications (print or online) do you receive?

Which conferences and exhibitions do you attend?

How important are these methods to you when doing product research?

Thank you and exit

What more would you like to learn about VPX, OpenVPX, VPX REDI?

If, you have found major limitations in VPX, what are they?

Do you see any of the following as being obstacles to implementing VPX?

How many major processing modules do you estimate will be in your next

system?

Which of these board formats and cooling options will you use in the next

12 to 18 months?

If you are using or planning to use VPX, VPX REDI or OpenVPX

technology we would like to ask you additional questions .

Technical

Awareness

If you have an upcoming project, what will you be using instead?

How aware are you of these VITA Technologies?

What is your job function?

How do you value web-based methods of information delivery?

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:

Start

Yes, I have plans

No plans

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q5

Q6

Q7

Q8

Q9

Q10

Q18

Q17

Q16

Q15

Q14

Q31

Q12

Q11

Figure 1: Survey Structure


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 PercentUnknown 16 6 .8%AUSTRALIA 1 0 .4%AUSTRIA 1 0 .4%BELARUS 2 0 .9%BULGARIA 1 0 .4%CANADA 5 2 .1%CHILE 2 0 .9%CHINA 11 4 .7%EGYPT 1 0 .4%FRANCE 5 2 .1%GERMANY 8 3 .4%HONG KONG 2 0 .9%INDIA 14 6 .0%IRAN 1 0 .4%ISRAEL 2 0 .9%ITALY 7 3 .0%JAPAN 5 2 .1%KOREA, REPUBLIC OF 2 0 .9%NETHERLANDS 1 0 .4%NEW ZEALAND 1 0 .4%NORWAY 1 0 .4%POLAND 1 0 .4%ROMANIA 1 0 .4%RUSSIAN FEDERATION 5 2 .1%SAUDI ARABIA 2 0 .9%SPAIN 1 0 .4%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

Country Total PercentUnknown 6 6 .1%BULGARIA 1 1 .0%CANADA 2 2 .0%CHINA 6 6 .1%EGYPT 1 1 .0%FRANCE 1 1 .0%GERMANY 3 3 .1%HONG KONG 1 1 .0%INDIA 8 8 .2%ITALY 1 1 .0%JAPAN 1 1 .0%KOREA, REPUBLIC OF 1 1 .0%NORWAY 1 1 .0%POLAND 1 1 .0%ROMANIA 1 1 .0%RUSSIAN FEDERATION 1 1 .0%SWEDEN 1 1 .0%TURKEY 1 1 .0%UNITED KINGDOM 2 2 .0%UNITED STATES 57 58 .2%VIET NAM 1 1 .0%Total 98

Table 2: Respondents completing survey minus sales

and marketing job function


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)

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 .

Source: VITA Industry Survey, August 2010


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)

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 .



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 .

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 .



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 .



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 .


Respondents: 153

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 .



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 .


Respondents: 142

Respondent Comments: One each .• Circuit Cellar Ink• CompactPCI, AdvancedTCA, & MicroTCA• Design News• Government Computer News• IEEE periodicals, IEEE Spectrum

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 .



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 .


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

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 .



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 .


Respondents: 139

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 .



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 .


Respondents: 115

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 .



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 .


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 .

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 .



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 .


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 .


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 .


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

Chart 11: How important are each of these features/benefits of VPX?



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 .



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 .


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

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 .



Question 13: Serial Switched Fabrics

Q13. Which serial switched fabric do you plan to use?



Respondents: 98

Respondent Comments: • Storage: SATA / FC / IB options as overlay• Dual star x4 SRIO

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 .



Question 14: Backplane Topology

Q14. Which backplane topology do you plan to use?



Respondents: 96

Respondent Comments: • 10Gig E; Proprietary overlays; Rate (data) may increase

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 .



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 .


Respondents: 96

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 .



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 .


Respondents: 96

Respondent Comments:

• Spec is a moving target - still early in development• Backplane configurations• Backplane connector cost is too high• No common pinout for Ethernet and serial

connections• Parallel IO

• Hot swap• Still in evaluation (2 responses)• Lack of anti-tamper protection• Variety of system synchronization• Not truly open specifications, better to move from

VME to CompactPCI

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 .



Question 17: Learn More About VPX

Q17. What more would you like to learn about VPX, OpenVPX, or VPX REDI?



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?

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



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:



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 .”

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 .



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 .


Catch the WaveThe Next Level of VPX Standards is HereOpenVPX™, the next-generation interoperability standard for system-level defense and aerospace applications, is now available with more than 150 products .

This new systems specification leverages the work of the individual VPX standards to reduce customization, testing, cost and risk . It defines an architecture that manages and constrains module and backplane designs, defines pin outs, and sets interoperability compliance while maintaining full compliance with VPX . And it is ideal for rugged applications that require smaller packages, as well as high I/O and connectivity densities .

Connect with your preferred vendor to find out more about the benefits and capabilities of OpenVPX .

Find out more at www .vita .com/vpx or visit the VITA product directory at www .vita .com .

OpenVPX is a trademark of VITA .

MEMBER COMPANIES4DSP, Inc .Aitech Defense Systems, Inc .AmphenolBittWare, Inc .Concurrent Technologies Plc .Conduant CorporationCreative Electronic Systems (CES)CSP Inc .Curtiss-Wright Controls, Inc .Diversified Technology, Inc .Dynatem Inc .Elma Electronic Inc .Emerson Network Power - Embedded ComputingExtreme Engineering Solutions (X-ES)GE Intelligent PlatformsHartmann ElectronicHDL Research Lab, IncHybricon Corp .Innovative Integration, Inc .KontronMercury Computer Systems, Inc .Meritec / Joy Signal TechnologyPCI-Systems, Inc .Pentek, Inc .SIE Computing SolutionsTechnobox, Inc .TEK Microsystems, Inc .Themis ComputerTracewell SystemsTyco Electronics CorporationVTI Instruments CorporationXembedded, LLC

Vita Industry Survey 2010

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Transcript of Vita Industry Survey 2010