Draft 0.2

Wednesday, May 8, 1996

Introductions

Ray Alderman, VITA, opened the meeting and asked those in attendance to introduce themselves. The minutes from the previous meeting were accepted with no changes.

Installation of New Officers

Ray asked Dick Somes, DEC, to come forward and accept the chair position of the VSO having been duly elected per VSO Policies and Procedures at the March meeting. In addition Ray acknowledged that Bob Downing had been duly elected to the position of vice chair of the VSO.

Agenda Review

Dick Somes asked if there were any modifications to the agenda. Several revisions were made and the agenda was accepted as amended. See attached.

Call for Patent Disclosure

Dick Somes, after stating the early disclosure patent policy per the VSO Policies and Procedures and the requirements of the ANSI patent policy, called for patent disclosure.

Juergen Baumann, FORCE, stated that FORCE had a patent on automatic daisy chain and wished to grant VITA members the unlimited right to use the automatic daisy chain patent for VME backplanes under the condition that they would reference the FORCE patent in any product documentation that used such technology. (Editor's Note: Currently no existing or proposed VSO standard requires this patent. Hence this patent does not fall under ANSI rules.) Wayne Fischer agreed to provide a copy of the FORCE patent in the minutes. See attachment.

There was also some discussion as to whether restricting the grant to VITA members was non-discriminatory. It was decided that as long VITA membership was available to anyone under reasonable terms, the restriction was non-discriminatory.

Roger Hinsdale, IBM, stated there are a number of other patents on bus automatic daisy chains and that he would provide such a list to the VSO. In addition, Roger indicated that he felt the issue of patents on the biasing resistors on ETL needed clarification and that he would provide more details in an up coming meeting.

The chair requested that the details of all patents disclosed be filed with the VITA office.

Lou Francz, Dialogic, suggested that the membership should review the patent policy as outlined in the VSO P&P for possible revision. This issue was added to the agenda for discussion on Thursday afternoon.

John Rynearson, VITA, indicated to members that disclosure of patents was important because recently courts had disallowed patent claims that were not properly disclosed during the standards making process. The courts held that it was improper for a company to be involved with the inclusion of technology that was later patented by that company without making clear at the outset that the company had already or would shortly file patents on that technology and would subsequently require a license to use such technology.

General Announcements

Dick Somes stated that Chris Parkman, CERN, had volunteered to be project editor for the review of IEC 821. He noted that since the IEC process was long and involved initial efforts would be aimed at bringing IEC 821 into synchronization with CENELEC modifications. Dick stated that Roy Reed, DEC's representative on the British National Body was willing to sponsor Chris.

Ray Alderman introduced VITA staff who were present at the meeting.

- Cheryl Cook, Office Administration and VSO Support

- Diana Hickman, Ad Sales and Public Relations

- Lollie Wheeler, Office Adminstration and Product Director Editor

Ray presented recognition awards to Mike Munroe, ERNI, VSO vice chair for 1995, and to Bob McKee, MITRE, for chairing the BLLI standards effort. (Editor's Note: This is the short version. Call Ray for the long version.)

Bob McKee handed out recognition awards to the following individuals for their contribution to the BLLI standards effort.

- Malcom Airst, MITRE

- Colin Davies, Radstone

- Kelvin Rawls, MITRE

- Wayne Fischer, FORCE

- Steve Corbesero, Mupac

- Mike Hasenfratz, Micro Memory

- Dick DeBock, Matrix

- Frank Hom, Electronic Solutions

Canvas Ballot Report

John Rynearson reported on the status of standards in the ANSI canvas ballot process.

M-Modules will begin precanvass ballot solicitation within the next 30 days.

HIC is being balloted. Ballot period ends May 15.

IP Modules is being balloted. Ballot period ends May 21.

SKYchannel is in negative ballot review. An extension has been granted until the end of 1996.

Kim Clohessy, representing DY4, indicated that IEEE 1101.2 was up for its five year renewal and asked for volunteers to contact him if they were interested in serving on the committee. Dick Somes noted that this effort will take place under the IEEE BASC.

Executive Director Report

Ray Alderman updated members on the status of VITA's in-house web server, several new web project ideas, and efforts with EE Times and Computer Design for group VME advertising.

Wayne Fischer requested that the "vita" reflector be renamed the "vso" reflector when it is moved to the VITA in-house server.

ESSE Update

Kim Clohessy gave the membership an update on the ESSE project. A meeting was held at the ESC in Boston in April. Approximately 15 people attended. A vote was taken by the group to bring the PowerPC EABI into the group and to remove PowerPC specific items from the main body and to move architecture specific items to annexes. He indicated that Green Hills is interested in doing the MIPS annex.

MMITS (Modular Multifunction Information Transfer System) Presentation

Jim Hoffmeyer, Dept. of Commerce, gave the membership an overview of the vision and goals of the MMITS program. MMITS is an outgrowth of the SPEAKeasy software radio program. MMITS vision is to provide high quality, ubiquitous, competitively priced, advanced wireless networking systems, equipment, and services. See attached presentation.

Bob McKee, MITRE, asked that the MMITS effort be granted study group status and asked for participation from the membership. Hearing no objections Dick Somes noted for the minutes that MMITS was hereby granted study group status. Lou Francz, Dialogic, made some suggestions re: how to structure the effort and because of the wide scope of the effort Lou made a strong recommendation that the effort be broken down into doable segments.

VME64 Extensions Review

Wayne Fischer, FORCE, reviewed the changes to the draft as a result of the task group ballot and noted that no pinout changes have occurred since January 1995. Wayne discussed the positioning and labeling of P0/J0. One member requested that the positioning and labeling be consistent with P1/J1 and P2/J2. Wayne indicated that he would work on this issue with Eike Waltz, Rittal, who is chair of the IEEE 1101.10 committee.

Wayne indicated that two major issues remain: chapter 11 describing 2eVME and a request to do a backplane simulation which will be discussed on Thursday.

P0/J0 availability was discussed by Elwood Parsons, AMP, and J.J. Dumont, Framatone Connectors France. Both submitted information regarding part numbers. See attached. In addition, Mike Munroe, ERNI, who was not presented submitted part number information also. Elwood Parsons indicated that the rear I/O connectors for J0 provided by AMP and by Framatone were interoperable between the two manufacturers.

The next issue up for discussion was changing the P0/J0 connector from the Type B 95 pin version to the Type A 80 pin with a keying option. Dick Somes indicated that in his opinion discussion of this issue did not require a 2/3 majority of the membership to open since it had not been formally voted on by the full membership. There was no objection from the floor.

Jing Kwok, DY4, presented his desire for switching to the Type A connector. He stated that it was important to be able to mix convection cooled and conduction cooled VMEbus boards in the same crate during prototyping. He indicated that with the advent of the new 160 pin connector there were no other ways to provide board to slot keying.

Much discussion followed. Several members asked to be granted voting status for this issue even though they did not meet attendance requirements. Hearing no objection from the floor, voting privileges were granted to Allan Storrow from Radstone, Paul Linares from CETIA, and Ed Barsotti from Fermi Labs.

Jing Kwok made the following motion: Resolve that Type A 2mm connector be selected as the P0/J0 connector for VME64 extensions. Keying shall be in the middle of the connector. Seconded by Roger Hinsdale, IBM.

Wayne Fischer presented the opposing argument that giving up 15 I/O pins for such a small market segment did not make sense.

The vote on the motion was recorded as follows: Vote FOR the motion - 12, Vote AGAINST the motion -13.

Therefore the motion FAILED and the Type B 95 pin connector remains as the recommended connector for P0/J0 in the VME64 Extensions Draft Document. See attachments.

PMC and I/O Mapping

Wayne Fischer indicated that there had been no changes in how PMC pins were mapped to the P0/J0 connector.

VME64 Connector Update

Dave Robak, Harting, stated that prototypes would be available through July and that production was currently on schedule. He indicated that an electrical model was being worked on and the IEC 602 document was being modified to include the 160 pin connector.

2eVME Protocol Report

Bob Downing, UIUC, explained that the name had been changed from 2eMBLT to 2eVME Protocol because the scope of the effort has broadened significantly. Bob summarized the changes since the last meeting and noted that the 2eVME protocol would be part of the next VME64 extensions ballot. See attachments.

P1101.10 Report

Eike Waltz, Rittal, noted that the IEEE working group ballot was completed in January. There were several negative comments, an issue with incompatible alignment pins, and patent issues that have been resolved. Because of these changes a recirculation ballot will be required. Work on the IEEE P1101.10 and IEEE P1101.11 take place under the jurisdiction of the BASC (Bus Architecture Standards Committee) of the IEEE.

SCSA Extensions Review

Lou Francz, Dialogic, reviewed recent changes in the SCSA Extensions draft document. Lou discussed jitter and wander in SCLK. The draft document should be ready for a task group ballot in about 4 weeks.

VIPA (VMEbus International Physics Association) Report

Bob Downing, UIUC, noted the VIPA is working on a recommended practices/design guide for the physics research market. The first draft of this document should be available on the web within several weeks. Bob asked members to review the document and to provide feedback.

VME64 9U x 400 mm Report

Bob reported that work on this document had been suspended pending resolution of outstanding connector issues. Work on this effort will resume when the VME64 extensions document is completed.

Proposal for Support of Live Insertion on Daisy Chained Backplanes

Mike Thompson, Schroff, noted that to provide live insertion capability some method of dealing with daisy chained signals is required. He proposed a simple circuit module that can be plugged onto the rear of a backplane that would provide for automated jumpering of bus grant and interrupt acknowledge signals. After discussion it was decided to put this proposal into the High Availability VME document. See attached proposal.

QuickRing Report

Dennis Terry, Heurikon, noted that the task group had lost one of its original sponsors and asked that QuickRing revert to study group status until a new sponsor could be found. Hearing no objection, QuickRing was moved to study group status.

M-Module Report

John Rynearson noted that M-Module had surpassed the 75/75 rule (at least 75% ballots returned with 75% approval) during the last task group ballot and hence had been moved to canvass ballot. The precanvass ballot solicitation period will begin within the next 30 days. Anyone interested in being part of the M-Modules canvass ballot should contact the VITA office.

SPCI Update

Mark Schell, BERG, gave a brief update on small PCI. The PCI SIG has released small PCI. See attached press release.

BusNet Report

Paul Fischer could not attend the meeting. He indicated via email that he will be publishing the "official roster" of the working group and that draft 3 will be issued during the month of May. See attached email.

FPDP Report

Jonathan Jones, ICS, indicated that further progress on the Front Panel Data Port draft was awaiting completion of a timing study. When that study is completed the results will be included in a new draft.

VME on SEM-E Report

Mary Mosier, NAWC, announced that her original sponsor MIDS had decided not to continue to fund this effort because they were already producing specific hardware and because their needs did not address all the concerns with putting VME64 on the SEM-E form factor. However, Mary indicated that this effort was of interest to a number of other groups including SHARP and that they had agreed to fund Mary's participation. As a result Mary presented two pinout proposals for VME on SEM-E. One was from Harry Andreas and the other from Bob McKee. Discussion of the two proposals followed and Mary requested that Bob and Harry compare their proposals. In addition, Bob McKee, MITRE, submitted a letter requesting formal task group status for the SEM-E effort with more than the three required sponsoring VITA members. Hence VME on SEM-E was granted task group status. See attached letter and overheads.

CCPMC Report

CCPMC stands for conduction cooled PMC. Jing Kwok reported that most of the words for the first draft are completed. Drawings should be finished and the first draft released by the next meeting. Allan Storrow indicated that Radstone had been doing some thermal and mechanical testing.

There being no more business, Dick Somes adjourned the meeting until Thursday morning.

Thursday, May 21, 1996

Introductions

Dick Somes called the meeting to order and ask members to introduce themselves.

Announcements

John Rynearson reported the initial draft of the V-Net specification was available from Ron Meadows.

Dick Somes indicated that he had received an email request from Wade Peterson for a conduction cooled board to be used for the VITA training classes.

Simulation Discussion

Wayne Fischer began the discussion by reviewing the evolution of the VMEbus and providing a background on ETL. He also related his experiences with the CompactPCI effort and their decision to fund a backplane simulation. Wayne introduced Robert Cutler, AMP, who provides backplane simulations. Robert discussed the CPCI backplane simulation and presented his proposal to do a VMEbus backplane study. See attached presentation.

Bill McBride, Hybricon, presented his companies proposal to do a VMEbus backplane simulation. See attachment.

Wayne Fischer indicated that Dr. Sayer had indicated that he would also be available to do a VMEbus backplane simulation.

After the presentations the group discussed the need for a backplane simulation. No one disagreed with the need for the study. Ray Alderman discussed the possibilities of setting up a Limited Liability Corporation (LLC) to carry out the work. Approximately 15 companies indicated that they would be interested in supporting this effort.

The group discussed how the work would be managed. Three possibilities were discussed to carry out the backplane simulation. Based on a non-binding straw vote the feeling of the group was as follows. VITA would administer the work - 14. VITA would set up an LLC which would administer the work - 6, or an independent group of companies would administer the work - 0. Ray Alderman expressed his concern based on discussion with legal counsel regarding VITA carrying out the work. He indicated that setting up an LLC would be the best approach.

After further discussion a motion was made, seconded, and passed all in favor to ask Ray to ask the VITA board to either carry out the backplane simulation within VITA or to set up an LLC to carry out such a backplane simulation.

Wayne Fischer volunteered to draft the statement of work. The group also asked that a call for participating members be made with a closing date of May 24, 1996. The estimated participation fee would be no more than $3000.

Policies and Procedures Discussion - Patent Issues

There was a discussion as to whether the current language in the P&P provides sufficient encouragement for early disclosure. Based on a recent court decision, a warning that intellectual property rights might be endangered by a knowing failure to disclose a patent was suggested. It was finally agreed that the current language encouraging early disclosure is adequate.

Backplane Simulation Presentation

Drew Berding presented his simulation results for a 21 slot VME backplane, which are included in the minutes. His study supports the need for an exhaustive simulation study of ETL backplanes, and suggests that 10 ohm series resistors alone are not sufficient to achieve incident wave switching on a long heavily loaded backplane. See attachment.

Future Meetings

A discussion of future meetings followed. Wayne Fischer expressed surprise that the July meeting was scheduled on the 24 - 26 rather than the previous week which had been identified as the preferred dates at the March meeting. He requested that a notification be given over the reflector when firm dates are set for meetings.

The group affirmed September 11-13 as the preferred dates for the September meeting, at the Phoenix Airport Hilton. The BASC will not be holding a meeting in September.

The group affirmed its interest in meeting in Del Mar CA November 13-15. Frank Hom is making inquiries about hotel availability and will inform the Technical Director of his findings.

The group affirmed its interest in holding a January 15-17 1997 meeting in a location accessible to a ski area. Salt Lake City was the first choice, with locations in Idaho, New Mexico, and Nevada as backups.

There is interest in returning to Florida in March 1997, but a location other than the Florida Mall is desired. Once again, St. Petersburg was suggested as an alternative to Orlando if reasonable room rates and facilities can be secured. New Orleans or a location in Texas were suggested as other alternatives for March 1997.

Dick Somes adjourned the meeting at 2:00 PM.

Minutes submitted by John Rynearson, VITA.