Products continue to be developed for the new switched fabric technologies, such as AdvancedTCA (PICMG 3.0), StarFabric (PICMG 2.17, 3.3), and VXS (VITA 41). Backplanes, switch cards, and chassis designs are becoming more prevalent for these technologies. But sometimes, products for prototyping and testing new technologies are overlooked. Without these products, how will developers test and debug their products based on these technologies?

Products like extender cards and load boards are not the only items that need to be used for prototyping. Development units in backplanes and chassis are also critical. Usually smaller and simpler (and certainly a lower price) than "standard" units, development units can be a cost-effective way to do test and debug. We'll look at what we may see on the horizon for prototyping of some of the new standards-based technologies. Plus, we'll take a look at new ways companies are dealing with the high-speeds of fabrics for their testing.