The OpenVPX™ System Specification is the first system-level VPX specification dedicated to interoperability of multivendorsystem and sub-system building blocks. The OpenVPX specification was created with a top-down, systems-level view of performance and interoperability. It addresses the architectural issues required to define, implement, and deploy VPX-based systems from a broad choice of interoperable, COTS hardware building blocks from multiple suppliers.

This paper presents an overview of why and how OpenVPX was created, a description of the OpenVPX System Specification features, the OpenVPX design and development process, and basic system-development building blocks and tools provided by the OpenVPX System Specification. An application-specific example identifies the strategic benefits of the specification for embedded system development.