Bye Bye Bus&Board

I attended the ninth and most likely the last annual Bus&Board Conference earlier this week in Long Beach California. Started in 1999 by VITA (VMEbus International Trade Association) and PICMG (PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group) as a business and technology gathering, speakers present industry statistics along with the latest standards of interest to board manufacturers. PICMG withdrew from the conference in 2005 leaving an awkward emphasis on VITA sponsored initiatives such as VME technology and its offshoots.

In addition to keynotes by Tundra Semiconductor and Kontron executives, there was a very interesting discussion on the problems and possible future restrictions on disclosure and licensing of patents in standards. You can view the presentations here. The conference is held in one large meeting room with a couple of large presentation screens in front and the sponsor’s table top displays around the perimeter. This year there were 25 press/analyst plus 36 sponsor companies including Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Technology, GE Fanuc Embedded Systems, and Mercury Computer Systems. Attendance was in the sub-500 range. Although this was probably the last Bus&Board Conference, VITA’s Executive Director promises to expand the scope with a new website and annual meeting focusing on “Critical Embedded Systems”.