FPGAs are prevalent in all sorts of military embedded applications and systems these days, and form factors such as AdvancedTCA, MicroTCA (collectively referred to as xTCA), and AdvancedMC (AMC) are increasingly following suit.

Editor's note: Just when we think things might be settling down to a predictable level within VME's relatively stable ecosystem, our recent interview with Mark Overgaard, Pigeon Point Systems' founder and president, reveals otherwise. From the heretofore telecommunications-focused company's recent acquisition by Actel to its participation in OpenVPX, things are anything but predictable. Edited excerpts follow.