RapidIO: The Next Generation Communication Fabric For Embedded Application

16.3. INDUSTRY STANDARD MECHANICAL PLATFORMS SUPPORTING RAPIDIO

Platform standards help ensure a broad level of interoperability among a set of system components such as printed circuit boards, subracks and cabinets. Including a complete set of mechanical, electrical, protocol, and operating specifications in a platform standard achieves this interoperability. The specifications are either directly defined in the platform standard or are included by referencing other standards. A platform standard enables an industry to produce various system components, which in turn can be used by OEMs to readily build an application specific solution. VMEbus, CompactPCI and PMC are some well-known examples of platform standards.

The RapidIO interconnect is an interface standard that specifies protocol, electrical and management environments to ensure interoperability on the interface. From the beginning the RapidIO Trade Association made a conscious decision not to develop a complete platform specification, which would include mechanical environment specifications. Instead, the RapidIO Trade Association relies on and facilitates various other industry standard forums to incorporate the RapidIO protocol and electrical specifications. This approach is based on the realization that the embedded application market is very broad and diverse. No one mechanical platform could address the associated diverse mechanical packaging requirements.

In the following sections several industry standard mechanical ...