ITDev’s Media-over-IP FPGA Reference Design has achieved IPMX certification, with both the transmitter (TX) and receiver (RX) configurations certified on the AMD ZCU106 evaluation platform.
When ITDev announced this certification, it raised some important questions: What does certification of a reference design mean, how does it differ from certification of an end product, and what does it mean for adopters?
What does IPMX certification tell you?
IPMX certification provides independent evidence that an implementation meets the relevant IPMX requirements and can interoperate within a multi-vendor environment. What that means in practice depends on what has been certified.
Certification of an end product
For systems integrators and end users
Certification provides confidence that the product itself has been independently tested for IPMX conformity and interoperability.
This can provide:
- Confidence in interoperability when combining products from different manufacturers.
- Reduced integration risk when designing and commissioning systems.
- A clearer basis for product selection when specifying IPMX solutions.
- Easier fault resolution by helping distinguish certified implementations from those that have not been independently tested.
Certification of a reference design
For product developers and manufacturers
Certification provides evidence that the underlying technology has already demonstrated IPMX conformity and interoperability in a known implementation.
This can provide:
- Reduced technology risk when selecting an IPMX implementation.
- Faster evaluation using a reference design that has already been independently tested.
- Reduced development effort through access to proven IPMX building blocks.
- Greater focus on differentiation by allowing engineering teams to concentrate on product-specific features.
- A stronger starting point for product certification as the underlying technology has already been proven compliant.
Reference-design certification does not mean that a finished product incorporating the technology is automatically IPMX certified. The finished product still requires its own certification, but the risks and challenges of doing so are greatly reduced.
Together, these benefits can help reduce development costs and shorten time to market.
What does this mean for manufacturers adopting ITDev IP?
ITDev’s certified reference design provides a proven starting point for evaluating and integrating our separate TX and RX FPGA IP cores. Both configurations have demonstrated conformity and interoperability through the IPMX certification process.
Manufacturers can therefore start with independently tested IPMX technology and focus more of their engineering effort on product-specific integration and differentiation. Building a product around IP that has already undergone certification testing provides greater confidence in the underlying implementation and a stronger starting point for achieving compliance in the finished product.
Supporting the IPMX ecosystem
As IPMX adoption grows, certification provides independent evidence to support both selecting products for multi-vendor systems and selecting technology from which to build those products.
ITDev is contributing to that ecosystem by providing certified IPMX technology as a foundation for manufacturers developing their own media-over-IP products.
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