Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!decwrl!world!ksr!jfw
From: jfw@ksr.com (John F. Woods)
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: What does VME stand for?
Summary: what the Spec says
Keywords: VME
Message-ID: <3089@ksr.com>
Date: 10 Apr 91 19:46:42 GMT
References: <1991Apr5.194027.22127@garfield.cs.mun.ca> <1991Apr7.235606.196933@rrz.uni-koeln.de>
Sender: news@ksr.com
Lines: 18

se@snert.ikp (Stefan Esser) writes:
>The V of VME seems to be short for VERSA, the E might be 'Europe' 
>as in the earlier VERSAbus-E (VERSAbus on european board sizes). 
>I don't know what the M is standing for... 
>May be its short for Motorola ?
>Then VME would mean 'VERSAbus Motorola Europe'.

The VMEbus Specification Rev C.1 does not list an expansion for the letters,
but in discussing the history of the VMEbus on page v, mentions that the
first VERSAbus cards were called VERSAmodules.  At the time that the VERSAbus
specification was being nailed down (*after* the first cards were designed,
of course), Motorola's European Microsystems Group in Germany designed a
Eurocard version they called the VERSAbus-E; shortly thereafter, Motorola,
Mostek, and N.V.Philips/Signetics all agreed to support it, and renamed it
VMEbus.

"VERSAmodule Eurocard" would therefore be a good candidate.
 V    M      E