About GMS
Since its inception in 1979, General Micro Systems, Inc. (GMS) has been true to its mission statement:
“To Become the World’s Leading Technology Independent Supplier of Computing Engines, while Providing the Best Price/Performance, Quality and Customer Support, Demanded by Our Current and Our Future Customers.”
But what does ”technology independent” mean? And how do you measure “price /performance”?
These are two questions often asked by our customers.
To be technology independent, GMS has an operational model that requires utilization of the best CPU technology available from any supplier in the market. Unlike most other computer manufactures, GMS does not make commitments to a given processor company. Since 1979, GMS has deployed over 40 different CPU technologies, from the very first Intel® 4004/8008 microprocessor, to the Rockwell® PPS-4/8, Rockwell/MOS Technology® 6502, Zilog® Z80, Motorola® 6800/6810/6820/6830/6840/6860, Sun Microsystems SPARC®, Motorola Power PC® and currently the Atom™, Core™ i7 and Xeon® processors from Intel®. The criteria used to select a CPU are based on a simple formula: The “bang”-per-watt. The “bang”-per-watt is defined as the processor’s aggregate performance divided by the “real estate” and power it requires. Using this metric allows GMS’ system engineers to optimize our computing engine designs to be the most efficient processing sub-systems in the embedded computing market. For some systems, this approach results in the lowest power-consuming product, and for others the highest performance. However, the primary objective is not necessarily to be the lowest power or the highest performance, but rather to be the most efficient engine that can be produced with the current technology.
Once the processor technology is selected, the challenge is to maximize the computing engine’s performance while achieving the lowest cost available in the market. For over 30 years GMS has been the price/performance champions of the industry. General Micro Systems has broken nearly every price barrier established by the “big boys” and has demonstrated that a quality product can be produced in the USA at an affordable price without cutting corners, and with outstanding customer support. Furthermore, GMS does not compete with its customers, because we provide only the engine to power the final solution.
This unparalleled commitment to modern technology has earned GMS the highest level of respect from our customers, the media, and even the competition. GMS has been recognized by the media for our innovation and we have received more ‘Product of the Year’ awards than all of our competitors combined. A few of our noteworthy pioneering efforts: The mezzanine concepts of the Special Application Module (SAM™) I/O, CPU carriers, VME interface silicon, Intel® processors on VME, MicroSparc, and multiple CPUs on an SBC, as well as the latest product offering - the SB1002-MD “Golden-Eyes” that includes two independent domains housed in one system, allowing multiple independent levels of security (MILS) and compliance to the High Assurance Platform® (HAP).
Not only has GMS demonstrated superiority in hardware design, but also in software support. GMS software engineers are experts in a wide variety of languages and operating systems, as well as experts in software development for embedded microprocessors and microcontrollers and system BIOS development. For over three and a half decades, GMS systems have included support for over 30 operating systems and associated custom drivers, including the unique VME/IP, which provides TCP/IP over VME to eliminate the “endian issue” and real-time asynchronous multi-processing (RAMP), which allows several processors in a VME card cage to work simultaneously on a single task. Today, GMS' products support all of the major operating systems, such as Windows®, Linux® and VMware®. In addition, the system BIOS for all GMS' products are generated and maintained in-house, as are all Linux®, Windows®,and VMware® board support packages (BSP), thus providing consistency and uniformity across all platforms. This level of control over BIOS, boot loaders and operating system drivers allows GMS to provide our customers with the option of customizing the software and firmware elements of our products to meet their specific needs, with minimal cost and minimum time to market.
With this level of knowledge and expertise, GMS is able to own its own technology from the hardware to the software, which is what truly distinguishes GMS from the competition.
General Micro Systems is in its 35th year in the embedded computing market and is the oldest supplier of embedded computers in the world. We are proud to be able to continue to outpace the market with innovations and products that have left their mark on the industry, and will for years to come. Furthermore, GMS will always strive to provide customers with the solutions they need to stay ahead of their competition - at the lowest possible price without compromising quality or customer service!