Draft 0.1
Day One, Wednesday, August 2, 1995
Introduction/Minutes Approval/Agenda Review
Ray Alderman, VSO Chair, asked members to introduce themselves. The minutes from the previous meeting were approved as submitted and the agenda for the current meeting was approved as amended.
General Announcements
Eike Waltz, Rittal submitted for the minutes an article regarding compliance standards for various European countries.
Dennis Terry, Heurikon, submitted for the minutes some correspondence that he had received discussing the need for CE marking of VMEbus boards beginning January 1, 1996 in Europe. Hermann Straus, Technology Consulting, offered to give a short presentation regarding CE marking.
Ray Alderman noted that ANSI had recently set up new audit requirements and that VITA was notified that it was scheduled for an audit in 1996. Ray also noted that the IEC has recently changed it requirements such that ANSI recognition was no longer a requirement before submitting a potential standard to the IEC. Ray discussed VITA plans for utilizing the Web to distribute information and reduce paper use and postage cost.
Mike Munroe, ERNI, introduced Ed Walsh and Phil Stokoe both from Teradyne. Mike noted that he had invited Ed and Phil to the VSO meeting to help resolve certain issues regarding the 160 pin connector.
John Rynearson, VITA, made several announcements and gave a report on the current status of several standards in the Canvass Ballot process. VITA received a letter from Teradyne which was placed in the minutes stating Teradyne's intention to license under reasonable and non-discriminatory conditions certain patents which may be required to implement the 160 pin connector. John announced that MUMM, the Manufacturers and Users of M Modules was holding a meeting on September 20 to discuss the need for a new mezzanine standard most likely based on PCI. The meeting announcement was placed in the minutes. John presented a letter received from Mary Mosier, NAWC, regarding an expected visit from Ericcson officials interested in discussing and exchanging information about connector technology for mobile and aircraft use. Individuals interested in meeting with Erricson officials should contact Mary to schedule an appropriate time. A short explanation was given regarding voting rules according to Robert's Rules of Order. In summary, abstentions during voting are consider don't care positions and as such are not counted as votes. Thus votes consist only of yes or no votes and a majority or a 2/3 majority is calculated only from the yes and no votes. John noted that both Raceway and SCSA have been submitted to ANSI's Board of Standards Review for their consideration and that a response is expected in several weeks. The VME64 specification has been put into final form for publication and a proofing copy is expected this week.
Hotel Issues
Ray introduced Paulette Peek to answer questions regarding the hotel's cancellation policy. Members asked that the 72 hour cancellation policy be waived during summer meetings and that up to 5% of the total number of members attending be allowed to cancel nights without a penalty. Paulette said she would speak with her manager and get back to us.
VME64 Extensions
Wayne Fischer discussed VME64 extension issues. Wayne noted that the draft had not changed since January 1995 and that the goal was to hold another task group ballot in September. The group discussed the status of the 160 pin connector. Harting indicated that because of certain unresolved issues related to Teradyne patents it had ceased selling its connector until such issues were resolved. Elwood Parsons, AMP, submitted for the minutes patent no. 5403196 dated 4/4/95 and assigned to BERG. Mike Munroe, ERNI, also submitted an ERNI patent. A discussion of patent issues in general ensured. Ed Walsh, Teradyne, indicated that it was Teradyne's intention to require only a single license for the use of their technology.
Wayne Fischer presented the report on 2eMBLT. Chau Pham was not available due to other commitments. Wayne asked Bob Downing, Fermi, to serve as document editor and to resolve any outstanding issues. Bob asked that a 2eMBLT meeting be held later in the day to address such issues.
FMDC/VME
Wayne Fischer, Force, gave a report on FMDC/VME. He noted that he had attended the Fault Tolerant Computing Conference and would be presenting a paper on Hot Swapping VME at the Embedded Systems Conference in September. He submitted a copy of his paper for the minutes. He discussed various alternatives for an alternative access channel including, CAN bus, I2C, and Access bus. He expressed his views that 1149.5 was not the best choice, but indicated that all candidates would be examined at the September meeting. Pat McHugh, Army Research, indicated that he felt that 1149.5 was an appropriate choice and did meet all requirements.
Hotel Issues
After lunch, Paulette Peek, Regal McCormick Ranch, indicated that the hotel was willing to waive their 72 hour cancellation policy during the summer and would reduce the notification time to 48 hours during the rest of the year. She indicated that a cancellation fee would be charged only if the canceled room could not be rebooked. Members asked they be given until 6PM to provide notification of cancellation. Paulette accepted this condition. She also offered to help the group work with Super Shuttle so that long waits upon arrival did not occur.
IEEE 1149.5 Status Report
Pat McHugh, Army Research, reported on the status of IEEE 1149.5. He indicated that approval had been received and that there were three potential chip vendors that he hoped to be able to announce at the September meeting. A general discussion of bus interface requirements ensued.
IEEE P1101.10 Status Report
Eike Waltz, Rittal, gave the P1101.10 report. He indicated that P1101.10 was going to sponsor ballot.
Study Group Report - WSC-3(V)XX
Bob Walker, NISE, presented a report on the WSC-3(V)XX Recommended Practices Guide. He noted the goal of the group is to produce a modular, scaleable, and open systems approach for UHF LOS/SATCOM based VMEbus systems. Bob McKee indicated that a draft document should be ready by September.
P1101.10 Concerns
Michael Thompson, Scroff, presented various concerns regarding keying and front panel seating as specified in P1101.10. Eike Waltz, Rittal, indicated why he felt that such concerns were not an issue. Mike indicated that these concerns would be expressed during the sponsor ballot for P1101.10.
VIPA Report
Bob Downing, U of Ill/Fermi, gave an overview of VIPA (VMEbus International Physics Association) Draft Document issues. VIPA is producing a recommended practices document to provide guidelines for the use of VMEbus systems in physics applications. See overhead presentation for more details.
VITA 1.x-199x 9U Report
Bob also gave a report on the VITA x-199x, 9U x 400 mm draft specification.
Transition Module Report
Mike Munroe, ERNI, and Joe Norris, Technobox, gave a report on Transition Modules. Mike indicated that the 9U x 400 mm draft specification did provide some guidance in this area, however, he felt that a single standard was required. Joe Norris gave a presentation showing what key decisions needed to be made and what items were required. See presentation for more details. A discussion of size ensued. Possible sizes discussed were 60, 80, and 100 mm.
Premating Issues with 160/70 Connector
Bruce Sarnowitz, EPT, presented a report that they had done on premating issues with the 160 pin connector. See attached drawings. A discussion regarding the need to define premating was held.
CE Marking
Hermann Straus, Technology Consulting, gave a short presentation regarding the status of EMC requirements in Europe. He indicated that the CE mark will be required starting January 1, 1996 and that such a requirement has been known for four years. The question for VMEbus manufacturers is whether or not VMEbus boards would require such a marking. Hermann indicated that tests could be performed by the manufacturer or by an outside supplier.
The meeting was adjourned for the day.
Day Two, July 27, 1995
Introductions
Ray Alderman asked members to introduce themselves. The agenda for Thursday was reviewed and items from Wednesday that were not addressed were added.
ESSE Update
Ray asked Kim Clohessy to provide an update on esse meetings. Kim indicated that Mike Wenzel, HP, had provided an overview of the UDI (Uniform Driver Interface) work and that four pages of issues re: the tools chain had been compiled with thanks to Craig Franklin. See specific esse minutes for more details.
Task Group Reports
Ray gave an update on Autobahn. He noted that there are still timing issues to be fixed in the chip and that another run is planned to resolve them.
Ray introduced Hermann Straus as the new chair of CXC & Modpacks.
John Rynearson gave a number of reports for task group chairs who could not attend. VITA 4-199x, Modules is completing their task group ballot and plans to move to canvass ballot soon. John indicated that a Canvass Ballot list for Skychannel had been assembled and that balloting would begin shortly.
VSB Discussion
Wayne Fischer gave a report to the membership on the status of the IEEE 1096 VSB standard. This standard did undergo reaffirmation balloting last year, however no action has occurred since then. Two issues need to be resolved with VSB. First, the current specification needs clarification, and second specific enhancements to VSB need to be defined. A reflector will be set up and a proposal for clarifications and enhancements will be put together.
VITA 13-199x, HIC on VME
Colin Whitby-Strevens, SGS Thomson, gave a report on the status of IEEE P1355 and VITA 13-199x. Colin noted that HIC had been submitted for ISO/IEC standardization and was designated ISO/IEC 14575. IEEE P1355 received a 98% affirmative ballot on initial sponsor ballot. Negative ballot issues have been addressed and P1355 is now in recirculation ballot. VITA 13-199x has been brought into line with changes in P1355, example topologies have been added, and observations on live insertion added. Draft 0.4 dated July 24, 1995 is now available. A task group ballot is being planned. See attachments.
Doug Endo, Hughes, requested that VITA provide a one sheet comparison with vendor contacts for all the current P2 busses. John Rynearson, VITA, offered to put together a comparison sheet, okay it with vendors, and make it generally available.
VITA 14-199x, CXC/Modpack
Hermann Straus, Technology Consulting, was named the new chair of the CXC/Modpack task group, He is currently cleaning up the document and will work with the VSO administrator to carry out the first task group ballot. See attachments.
VITA 3-1994, BLLI
Bob McKee, MITRE, gave a status report on VITA 3-1994, BLLI. The document has been rewritten as a recommended practices guide and been recirculated to the ballot list.
Universe Chip Presentation
Rick O'Connor, Newbridge, gave a presentation on the status of their PCI bridge chip. See attachment.
Profibus
Ray Alderman, VITA, gave a report on Profibus. Currently, Ray has received no response from ANSI regarding issues raised regarding the ISA. He attended the Profibus Trade Organization (PTO) group meeting that was held last week in Phoenix. PTO has set up a technical committee to evaluate the Profibus standard. When their evaluation is complete they will notify VITA as to their interest in pursuing further standardization of Profibus.
Meeting Wrapup
The VSO Policies and Procedures have been completed and will be made available on the web.
Kim Clohessy, OTI, gave an update on the osapi meeting. Initial efforts will focus on 32 and 64 bit applications.
September and November VSO meetings will be held in Phoenix. The January 1996 meeting will be held in Reno, Nevada. Locations for the March and May 1996 meetings are still being planned.
The VSO Contact Directory will be made available in electronic form only to those whose name is on the list.
Wayne Fischer requested a general VSO mailing approximately 3 weeks before the September VSO meeting. In addition, Wayne has scheduled a meeting on Tuesday, September 19, 1995 to discuss the FMDC/VME standard.
The meeting was adjourned by Ray Alderman.