mbellon@urbsdc.Urbana.Gould.COM (09/11/88)
Versabus Module Eurocard [format]
sandy@garfield.cs.mun.ca (Sandy Walsh) (04/06/91)
Here is the RQOTM (Retarded question of the month) ... I have seen VME Bus used everywhere, and after about 1 year of asking cannot find a definative answer. So far the winner seems to be Virtual Memory Environment with Virtual Memory Expansion a close second ( and my favorite ). I have checked trade magazines and everything with no success. Does everyone just agree on this abbrev. and it not have any meaning? Please help me, Sandy Walsh ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | "Vrooom ... What was that? | Sandy (Books) Walsh | /\O Yee| | That was your life, mate. | Memorial University | #\/Haa| | Do I get another one? | St.John's, NF, Canada | #__ | | Nope, sorry. One's your lot." | Computer Science Dept. | /\/ \/ | | - Basil Fawlty | sandy@garfield.cs.mun.ca | |||||||| | ------------------------------------------------------------------------
se@snert.ikp (Stefan Esser) (04/08/91)
The V of VME seems to be short for VERSA, the E might be 'Europe' as in the earlier VERSAbus-E (VERSAbus on european board sizes). I don't know what the M is standing for... May be its short for Motorola ? Then VME would mean 'VERSAbus Motorola Europe'. Stefan -- Stefan Esser, Institute of Nuclear Physics, University of Cologne, W. Germany se@ikp.Uni-Koeln.DE [134.95.192.9]
dolf@idca.tds.PHILIPS.nl (Dolf Grunbauer) (04/08/91)
In article <1991Apr7.235606.196933@rrz.uni-koeln.de> se@snert.ikp (Stefan Esser) writes: >The V of VME seems to be short for VERSA, the E might be 'Europe' >as in the earlier VERSAbus-E (VERSAbus on european board sizes). >I don't know what the M is standing for... May be its short for Motorola ? > >Then VME would mean 'VERSAbus Motorola Europe'. > I have heard two things: 1. If VMEbus would have been an abbreviation, then the M is for Modules, as the VMEbus is an open standard allowing everyone to make its own Modules to be used by everybody else. 2. VMEbus is no abbreviation, it is a name in itself (just like Apple, Commodore, Atari etc, so not like IBM, DEC, CDC etc).
billg@hitachi.uucp (Bill Gundry) (04/08/91)
From article <1991Apr5.194027.22127@garfield.cs.mun.ca>, by sandy@garfield.cs.mun.ca (Sandy Walsh): > Here is the RQOTM (Retarded question of the month) ... > > I have seen VME Bus used everywhere, and after about 1 year of asking > cannot find a definative answer. > > So far the winner seems to be Virtual Memory Environment > with Virtual Memory Expansion a close second ( and my favorite ). When I was at Motorola, the standard answer was : Versa Module - Europe as it was developed at the Motorola Munich facility. Bill Gundry Hitachi America - Semiconductor & IC Div. ...uunet!hitachi!billg
tsych@pyrthoth.pyramid.com (Terry Sych @ Pyramid Technology Corp.) (04/09/91)
In article <1991Apr7.235606.196933@rrz.uni-koeln.de> se@snert.ikp (Stefan Esser) writes: >The V of VME seems to be short for VERSA, the E might be 'Europe' >as in the earlier VERSAbus-E (VERSAbus on european board sizes). >I don't know what the M is standing for... >May be its short for Motorola ? > >Then VME would mean 'VERSAbus Motorola Europe'. > >Stefan >-- > Stefan Esser, Institute of Nuclear Physics, University of Cologne, W. Germany > se@ikp.Uni-Koeln.DE [134.95.192.9] VME == Versa Module Eurocard (It is derived from Motorola's earlier Versabus, but it uses a standardized double Eurocard format board (160mm x 200mm). From "Structured Computer Organization" by Tanenbaum.) --Terry
bill@mwca.UUCP (Bill Sheppard) (04/09/91)
In article <1991Apr5.194027.22127@garfield.cs.mun.ca> sandy@garfield.cs.mun.ca (Sandy Walsh) writes: >Here is the RQOTM (Retarded question of the month) ... > >I have seen VME Bus used everywhere, and after about 1 year of asking >cannot find a definative answer. >Sandy Walsh According to my VITA Directory, how about "VERSAmodule Europe", generally specified by Force and Motorola. -- ############################################################################## # Bill Sheppard -- bills@microware.com -- {uunet,sun}!mcrware!mwca!bill # # Microware Systems Corporation --- OS-9: Seven generations beyond OS/2!! # ######Opinions expressed are my own, though you'd be wise to adopt them!######
dlau@mipos2.intel.com (Dan Lau) (04/09/91)
In article <682@hitachi.uucp> billg@hitachi.uucp (Bill Gundry) writes: >From article <1991Apr5.194027.22127@garfield.cs.mun.ca>, by sandy@garfield.cs.mun.ca (Sandy Walsh): >> Here is the RQOTM (Retarded question of the month) ... >> I have seen VME Bus used everywhere, and after about 1 year of asking >> cannot find a definative answer. >> >> So far the winner seems to be Virtual Memory Environment >> with Virtual Memory Expansion a close second ( and my favorite ). > >When I was at Motorola, the standard answer was : > Versa Module - Europe >as it was developed at the Motorola Munich facility. Funny this question should come up at this time. I was looking at the April 1991 issue of SunWorld magazine and in the /lex column by John Barry, it gave the full detail of the VME name, and I quote (from page 18): VME stands for Versa Module Eurocard, which derives from the VERSAbus development in Germany by Motorola and Signetic engineers. VERSA is an acronym for Verein Europaischer Regierungen Schaffend Autobusse (Organization of European Governments Producing Buses). So there you have it. Dan
rminnich@super.ORG (Ronald G Minnich) (04/09/91)
In article <1991Apr5.194027.22127@garfield.cs.mun.ca> sandy@garfield.cs.mun.ca (Sandy Walsh) writes: >So far the winner seems to be Virtual Memory Environment >with Virtual Memory Expansion a close second ( and my favorite ). ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ A timeless classic, probably derived from DEC's VAX name, but pretty completely wrong (what does a bus spec have to do with VM, much less VM expansion?) I always thought it was Versabus Module Eurocard (style) Any better ones? ?? ron
randy@imagen.com (randy scofield) (04/09/91)
In article <1991Apr5.194027.22127@garfield.cs.mun.ca> sandy@garfield.cs.mun.ca (Sandy Walsh) writes: >Here is the RQOTM (Retarded question of the month) ... > >I have seen VME Bus used everywhere, and after about 1 year of asking >cannot find a definative answer. > >So far the winner seems to be Virtual Memory Environment >with Virtual Memory Expansion a close second ( and my favorite ). > >I have checked trade magazines and everything with no success. >Does everyone just agree on this abbrev. and it not have any meaning? I thought it meant Versa-Module-Extended. Randy
dap@hare.cdc.com (da pierson x2832) (04/09/91)
In article <1991Apr5.194027.22127@garfield.cs.mun.ca> sandy@garfield.cs.mun.ca (Sandy Walsh) writes: >Here is the RQOTM (Retarded question of the month) ... > >I have seen VME Bus used everywhere, and after about 1 year of asking >cannot find a definative answer. > >So far the winner seems to be Virtual Memory Environment >with Virtual Memory Expansion a close second ( and my favorite ). > >I have checked trade magazines and everything with no success. >Does everyone just agree on this abbrev. and it not have any meaning? > >Please help me, >Sandy Walsh > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ >| "Vrooom ... What was that? | Sandy (Books) Walsh | /\O Yee| >| That was your life, mate. | Memorial University | #\/Haa| >| Do I get another one? | St.John's, NF, Canada | #__ | >| Nope, sorry. One's your lot." | Computer Science Dept. | /\/ \/ | >| - Basil Fawlty | sandy@garfield.cs.mun.ca | |||||||| | >------------------------------------------------------------------------ From "The VMEbus Handbook" by Wade Peterson: "The term VME stands for Versa Module Eurocard and was first coined in 1981 by the group of manufacturers who defined it. This group was composed of people from Motorola, Mostek and Signetics corporations ...." _____________________________________________________________ "If it's going to take forever, we'd better get started early" -- RRH c. 1978 _____________________________________________________________ David A. Pierson ARH252 Control Data Corporation 4201 N. Lexington Avenue Arden Hills MN 55126-6198 _____________________________________________________________ "If it's going to take forever, we'd better get started early" -- RRH c. 1978 _____________________________________________________________ David A. Pierson ARH252 Control Data Corporation 4201 N. Lexington Avenue Arden Hills MN 55126-6198
Edward_Engler@TRANSARC.COM (04/09/91)
According to this months SunWorld magazine: "VME stands for Versa Module Eurocard, which derives from the VERSAbus developed in Germany by Motorola and Signetics engineers. VERSA is an acronym for Verein Europaischer Regierungen Schaffend Autobusse (Organization of European Governments Producing Buses). This designation is interesting because it reveals the mistaken notion, prevalent in the computer industry, that bus comes from omnibus or bus, rather than buss." Ed Engler
bill@pyrite.nj.pyramid.com (Bill Pechter) (04/10/91)
In article <1991Apr7.235606.196933@rrz.uni-koeln.de> se@snert.ikp (Stefan Esser) writes: > >Then VME would mean 'VERSAbus Motorola Europe'. I thought it meant Versabus Module Eurocard -for the Versabus bus in a Eurocard standard format. I know this isn't comp arch but Anyone have the pinouts for Versabus - I have a machine running on a Versabus 68000 chassis without any idea what the pinouts are. I may want to try to interface a VME expansion chassis. -- Bill Pechter | "The postmaster always pings twice." Pyramid Technology | bill@pyrite.nj.pyramid.com 10 Woodbridge Center Drive | rutgers!pyrnj!pyrite!bill Woodbridge, NJ 07095 (908)602-6308 | pyramid!pyrnj!pyrite!bill
guy@auspex.auspex.com (Guy Harris) (04/10/91)
>According to this months SunWorld magazine: > >"VME stands for Versa Module Eurocard, which derives from the VERSAbus >developed in Germany by Motorola and Signetics engineers. VERSA is an >acronym for Verein Europaischer Regierungen Schaffend Autobusse >(Organization of European Governments Producing Buses). This >designation is interesting because it reveals the mistaken notion, >prevalent in the computer industry, that bus comes from omnibus or bus, >rather than buss." This month *is* April, after all....
ladd@cbnewsc.att.com (david.ladd) (04/11/91)
In article <3717@inews.intel.com> dlau@mipos2.UUCP (Dan Lau) writes: >Funny this question should come up at this time. I was looking >at the April 1991 issue of SunWorld magazine and in the /lex >column by John Barry, it gave the full detail of the VME name, >and I quote (from page 18): > > VME stands for Versa Module Eurocard, which derives > from the VERSAbus development in Germany by Motorola > and Signetic engineers. VERSA is an acronym for > Verein Europaischer Regierungen Schaffend Autobusse > (Organization of European Governments Producing Buses). > >So there you have it. >Dan Not to pick on Dan too much here, but since his was the second SunWorld quote I have seen I might as well mention that the article in question was an April fool's gag. The entymology got more off-the-wall as the article went on. Come on... "Schaffend" in an acronym?
jfw@ksr.com (John F. Woods) (04/11/91)
se@snert.ikp (Stefan Esser) writes: >The V of VME seems to be short for VERSA, the E might be 'Europe' >as in the earlier VERSAbus-E (VERSAbus on european board sizes). >I don't know what the M is standing for... >May be its short for Motorola ? >Then VME would mean 'VERSAbus Motorola Europe'. The VMEbus Specification Rev C.1 does not list an expansion for the letters, but in discussing the history of the VMEbus on page v, mentions that the first VERSAbus cards were called VERSAmodules. At the time that the VERSAbus specification was being nailed down (*after* the first cards were designed, of course), Motorola's European Microsystems Group in Germany designed a Eurocard version they called the VERSAbus-E; shortly thereafter, Motorola, Mostek, and N.V.Philips/Signetics all agreed to support it, and renamed it VMEbus. "VERSAmodule Eurocard" would therefore be a good candidate. V M E
art@opal.acc.com (Art Berggreen) (04/12/91)
In article <1991Apr5.194027.22127@garfield.cs.mun.ca> sandy@garfield.cs.mun.ca (Sandy Walsh) writes: >Here is the RQOTM (Retarded question of the month) ... > >I have seen VME Bus used everywhere, and after about 1 year of asking >cannot find a definative answer. > >So far the winner seems to be Virtual Memory Environment >with Virtual Memory Expansion a close second ( and my favorite ). > >I have checked trade magazines and everything with no success. >Does everyone just agree on this abbrev. and it not have any meaning? > >Please help me, >Sandy Walsh It's been a while, so the details are kinda hazy. Long ago, Motorola developed a board and backplace standard called "VersaBus". In Europe around the same time there was a effort to standarize packaging of electronic PCBs. This resulted in the "EuroCard" standard which specified that boards be multiples of basic length and width dimensions. I believe the spec also called out the "DIN" connectors we all know and love ;->. Finally, there was an effort to repackage the VersaBus designs in the EuroCard standard, thus (something like) "VersaBus Module EuroCard" or VME. At this point Motorola and an industry consortium proceeded to establish VME as a standard. Art
nick@spider.co.uk (Nick Felisiak) (04/17/91)
In article <45237@super.ORG> rminnich@super.ORG (Ronald G Minnich) writes: >In article <1991Apr5.194027.22127@garfield.cs.mun.ca> sandy@garfield.cs.mun.ca (Sandy Walsh) writes: >>So far the winner seems to be Virtual Memory Environment >>with Virtual Memory Expansion a close second ( and my favorite ). > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >A timeless classic, probably derived from DEC's VAX name, >but pretty completely wrong (what does a bus spec have to do with >VM, much less VM expansion?) > There was/is another VME, and this may be the one to which Ronald is referring. ICL, the British manufacturer, produced two operating systems, VME/B and VME/K. VME, in this case, stood for 'Virtual Machine Environment'. VME/B lives on in the 2900 and 3900 range. Just to complete the naming confusion, VME/B was written in a programming language called S3, derived from Algol-68. Later, they developed a processor range called S2, S3, S4 .. (don't ask what happened to S1!). -- Nick Felisiak nick@spider.co.uk Spider Systems Ltd +44 31 554 9424
low@melair.UUCP (Rick Low) (04/18/91)
I once was told by Wayne Fischer, big guy in VMEbus world from
Force Computers Inc., that VME stood for
Versa Module Europa
^^^^^^
So there!
--
Rick Low
+1 613 957 9500
mitel!melair!low@uunet.uu.netmarkw@hpcuhe.cup.hp.com (mark williams) (04/25/91)
Re: The Origin of the name VMEbus
Schlomo Pri-Tal, of Motorola, recently told me that there was NO
significance to the letters VME.
However, Motorola had a line of boards using 68000s back then which it
called Versabus boards. Hence one popular tale is that VME stands for
VERSA MODULE EUROPEAN,
since VME used the DIN connectors on VME, as opposed to edge connectors
with inch dimensions used on VERSAbus.
Perhaps we should let Wayne and Schlomo settle this in a duel :<)
Disclamer: I don't know nuttin, so I cudna sedit.goss@jetsun.weitek.COM (Richard Goss) (05/09/91)
In article <32580021@hpcuhe.cup.hp.com> markw@hpcuhe.cup.hp.com (mark williams) writes: >Re: The Origin of the name VMEbus > >Schlomo Pri-Tal, of Motorola, recently told me that there was NO >significance to the letters VME. > >However, Motorola had a line of boards using 68000s back then which it >called Versabus boards. Hence one popular tale is that VME stands for > > VERSA MODULE EUROPEAN, > >since VME used the DIN connectors on VME, as opposed to edge connectors >with inch dimensions used on VERSAbus. > >Perhaps we should let Wayne and Schlomo settle this in a duel :<) > >Disclamer: I don't know nuttin, so I cudna sedit. I missed the previous postings on this subject but maybe I can shed some light on the origins of VME. BTW, I tend to agree with Mark's interpretation of the VME's history. I was on the original Motorola Microsystems EXORmac design team based out of Phoenix. The Exormac was the origial development system for the 68000. The name was derived from the EXORcisor which was the development system for the 6800/6809. The EXORmacs was designed with a system bus we called VERSAbus. The system boards were called VERSAmodules. The VERSAmodules were fairly good size cards, something like 14 inches wide by 11 or 12 inches tall (I don't remember the exact dimensions) and used gold plated fingers at the edge connectors as was the fashion of the day. Much later on in the design of the EXORmacs, Motorola's system design guys in Germany (a sister division to the one in Phoenix) told us about the European DIN connectors and how they were becoming the connector of choice for edge connects over there. Also, the European engineering community had come up with standard form factors for PCBs, if I remember correctly. At this point Jack Kister, Hardware Project leader for EXORmacs and John Black, who was working on cleaning up the Versamodule specification for outside consumption decided to work with the German engineers to come up with a joint spec. Then somehow some engineers at Mostek and Signetics got involved (remember Mostek and Signetics were early adopters of VME and designed bus interface chips to it) and a team was between all the companies mentioned to come up with a joint spec on the signal defintion, electrical characteristics, physical dimensions, etc. for the bus spec. This was called VERSAmodule-European, later shortened to VM-E, later shortened to VME. So in summary, based on my recollections, VME at one time stood for VERSAmodule European. Hope this helps resolve the war between Shlomo and Wayne (Fisher???). -- Rich