VITA, the trade association for open standard computing architectures serving critical embedded systems industries and the FMC Marketing Alliance announce the successful completion of FMC PlugFest 2012. The PlugFest was the first utilization of FMC Check which consists of the VITA 57.2 metadata specification combined with Cloud-based builder and checker tools. FMC modules allow designers to quickly expand the application reach of a general purpose FPGA carrier card. These daughter cards are very often accompanied with a reference design that facilitates fast design verification and reuse, increasing productivity.
The VITA 57.2 metadata specification defines, in a structured form, the key design parameters for FMC modules and FMC carrier cards per the ANSI/VITA 57.1 FPGA Mezzanine Card base specification. The FMC Check tools enabled the sponsors to facilitate the testing process used during the PlugFest. The event was a chance for the suppliers of FMC modules and FMC carrier cards to work together to test the interoperability of products. System developers and integrators using FMC technology will be able to carry out pre-qualification of the wide range of products available within the globally expanding FMC ecosystem.
The following companies sponsored FMC PlugFest 2012 and participated in the testing: 4DSP LLC, Alpha Data Parallel Systems, Altera , Analog Devices, Avnet, Faster, National Instruments, Tokyo Electron Device, Xilinx. The sponsors provided 23 unique FMC modules that were used to test a range of application scenarios on 13 different FPGA carrier cards. The FMC PlugFest gave the participants an excellent opportunity to exchange ideas and to learn more about how the tools can facilitate selection of FMCs and carriers. Over 100 FMC modules are currently available from more than 30 suppliers, with more being added each month. These products cover applications that are popular FPGA targets in industries of all types.
