VME Reloaded

Our VME Strategy

In 2018 we launched two new VME processor boards that are based on Intel^® processor devices that have a 15-year life cycle to extend the life of VMEbus solutions.  These defense processor boards are initially available for air-cooled applications, rugged conduction-cooled variants will be available once the relevant qualification tests are completed.  Concurrent Technologies took a strategic decision in 2014 to base all new VME boards on the tried and tested Universe-II VME bridge so that we could maintain our Enhanced VMEbus API used by customers worldwide.  At the time we surveyed our customer base, 95% of which said they only used the basic VME64 functionality, some also noted that they use VME format boards but use Gigabit Ethernet for their data communications.

New boards

VP B7x/msd is based around a six-core Intel^® Xeon^® processor E-2176M (formerly known as Coffee Lake) and up to 32Gbytes of DDR4 memory.

VP F6x/msd is fitted with a four-core Intel^® Xeon^® processor E3-1505L v6 and includes dual PMC/XMC sites plus an option for two additional PMC modules using a carrier card in a 2-slot configuration.

Both boards have a site for a SATA based Flash drive up to 128Gbytes, an M.2 site for up to 1Tbytes of high speed PCI Express^® NVMe storage and an adapter for a 2-5-inch Solid State Disk.  In addition, a variety of USB, RS232, Gigabit Ethernet and display interfaces are supported.

Market Data

Brian Arbuckle of IHS Markit commented “The longevity of the VME standard is perhaps not surprising given the longer product lifetimes commonly witnessed in military systems procurement. While most of the industry discussion ranges around the introduction of the VPX standard the impression created is that VME is on its way out. This could not be further from the case as VME continues to represent a very satisfactory standard for many applications and is likely to experience further design wins and maintain significant sales revenues over the next five years.“