RapidIO provides transmission rates hundreds of times faster than current interconnection architectures, interoperates with the widely-used PCI bus and is software transparent. The specification defines a switch fabric architecture and is backed by major industry vendors including Alcatel, Cisco Systems, EMC Corp., Ericsson, Lucent Technologies, Mercury Computer Systems, Motorola and Nortel Networks, among others.
Interconnect issues are the next hurdle to improving system efficiencies.
Developed in collaboration with both silicon providers and leading equipment vendors worldwide, RapidIO technology addresses the needs of system designers, not a specific vendor. In comparison, RapidIO offers performance levels of up to 64 gigabits per second, per port, with an aggregate of hundreds of gigabits per second in a single system. It is applicable to interconnections found in networking and telecommunications equipment, storage subsystems, signal and image processing devices, and other embedded computing and communication systems. The RapidIO specification combines real-time performance with a high degree of scalability and flexibility. It includes hardware-based error detection and correction on each link in the data transfer path with guaranteed forward progress.