Unveiling VITA 93 Quantum Microchip: A New Era in Technology
VITA 93 QMC Standard Nears Readiness: Industry Leaders Discuss Rugged Mezzanine Technology
The VITA 93 QMC standard, a new mezzanine card standard designed for rugged and industrial applications, is nearing readiness. This standard, which extends beyond traditional military and avionics uses, features a small form factor similar to M.2 modules but offers enhanced ruggedness, modularity, and high-speed connectivity.
At the forefront of the VITA 93 QMC development are companies like TEWS Technologies and Samtec. Jan Zimmerman, General Manager at TEWS Technologies, and Matthew Burns, Director of Technical Marketing at Samtec, participated in a webinar hosted by TechXchange to discuss the features and functionality of the upcoming standard.
The VITA 93 QMC standard is designed with two sets of sockets on modules: one for the host interface and one for I/O, allowing versatility in signal routing and power delivery. It also includes power supply pins for 3.3V and 12V, an I2C interface that supports Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) and planned integration with the VITA 100.20 module management system, and a PCI Express x4 interface with additional signals such as JTAG and some unallocated pins for future use.
On the I/O side, the standard is organised as five I/O pipes, each with either eight single-ended or four differential signals, totaling 40 I/O signals per x1 QMC socket, all with dedicated ground pins to ensure signal integrity. The standard also offers scalability with modules available in x1, x2, x3, and x4 widths, allowing higher bandwidth and suitability for larger chips like GPGPUs and AI accelerators.
For cooling support, VITA 93 QMC offers standard convection cooling, with options for conduction cooling through heatsinks as required by rugged environments. Rugged mechanical features include four mounting holes per module.
Elma Electronics, another key player in the development of VITA 93 QMC, introduced the standard at Embedded Tech Trends 2025, emphasising its ruggedness, small footprint, and flexibility for military, avionics, and industrial sectors. Elma Electronics promotes the standard's alignment with commercial and industrial needs for shock and vibration resistance, modular expansion, and cooling strategies. They also highlight its compliance with open architecture systems such as OpenVPX, SOSA, and VNX+.
TEWS Technologies, presented by Jan Zimmermann, has provided technical overviews and podcast discussions emphasising the standard's high-speed connectivity, IPMI support, and rugged design benefits. TEWS focuses on the signal integrity and electrical performance aspects of VITA 93, highlighting the use of Samtec's high-density connectors.
Samtec provides the core connector technology enabling VITA 93’s high data rate and density. Their AcceleRate HD Slim Body Arrays are a cornerstone for the standard, rated for 64 Gb/s PAM4 signaling, facilitating advanced protocols like PCIe Gen 6 and Compute Express Link (CXL) on rugged mezzanine modules.
Mark Littlefield, Senior Manager of Embedded Computing at Elma Electronics, also participated in the webinar. Elma Electronics is a company involved in the development of VITA 93 QMC, and Mark Littlefield emphasised the standard's alignment with commercial and industrial needs.
In summary, the VITA 93 QMC standard is an emerging rugged mezzanine standard emphasising high-speed I/O, modular scalability, ruggedness for harsh environments, and support for modern serial interfaces, with active industry backing and discussion focused on implementation, connectivity, and application in defense and industrial markets.
[1] TechXchange Webinar: VITA 93 QMC - A New Mezzanine Card Standard for Rugged and Industrial Applications
[2] Elma Electronic Introduces VITA 93 QMC at Embedded Tech Trends 2025
[3] Elma Electronic's VITA 93 QMC Enhances Rugged Embedded Computing Environments
[4] TEWS Technologies and Samtec Drive Development of VITA 93 QMC Standard
[5] TEWS Technologies Podcast: VITA 93 QMC - A New Mezzanine Card Standard for Rugged and Industrial Applications
- The VITA 93 QMC standard, a new rugged mezzanine card standard, is not only about military and avionics applications, but it also leverages data-and-cloud-computing technology by featuring high-speed connectivity and modular scalability, aligning with commercial and industrial needs.
- In the development of the VITA 93 QMC standard, technology plays a significant role, especially in the high-speed connectivity provided by Samtec's AcceleRate HD Slim Body Arrays, which are designed for 64 Gb/s PAM4 signaling, allowing for advanced protocols like PCIe Gen 6 and Compute Express Link (CXL) on rugged mezzanine modules.
