Bridge chip goes either way for PCI Express

PLX Technology is sampling of the PLX ExpressLane PEX 8111 PCI Express-to-PCI bridge.

System and board designers now can order samples of the PLX ExpressLane PEX 8111 PCI Express-to-PCI bridge, which enables them to upgrade their PCI designs to the new PCI Express (PCIe) interconnect standard.

Designers also can order a PLX Rapid Development Kit (RDK) to evaluate the PEX 8111's features, streamline product development and quickly bring designs to market.

PLX has already sampled to manufacturers in the communications, graphics printing and notebook PC markets.

"The PEX 8111 is a key building block for the next wave of PCI Express systems in 2005", said Chris Youman, Senior Product Marketing Manager at PLX.

"Sampling of the PEX 8111 and the availability of development tools such as the RDK for the bridge marks a significant point in the deployment of PCI Express; manufacturers now have the ability to evaluate and design with the world's smallest and the only reversible PCI Express bridge, and quickly bring their designs to market".

The PEX 8111 provides a bridge from a single PCIe lane (x1) to the standard 32bit PCIbus.

The device is compliant with the PCIe base 1.0a standard, as well as the most recent PCI 3.0 specification.

The PEX 8111 operates in both forward and reverse bridging modes, and features 8K of shared RAM and multiple general-purpose I/O pins.

The device is the smallest PCIe bridge, available in a fine-pitch 10 x 10mm package.

(Standard 1.0mm pitch packaging is also available).

The device consumes less than 500mW of power.

The bridge is ideal for a wide range of applications, including small-form-factor designs for notebook computers and communication systems, such as the ExpressCard, PCI Express Mini Card, Advanced Mezzanine Card, and Switched Mezzanine Card standards.

With a single PEX 8111 bridging to the legacy PCIbus, designers can easily upgrade their conventional PCI designs to the new PCIe interface.

To aid designers and manufacturers, PLX offers two complete development support packages for the PEX 8111.

Both the forward and reverse RDKs come with a proven, working hardware platform incorporating the bridge chip, complete set of board schematics, symbols and layout files for hardware design, and an extensive software support package that includes a graphical utility for access to chip registers, sample drivers and support for Microsoft Windows and Linux operating systems.

The forward PCIe bridge RDK board has a single PCIe edge connector and plugs into any standard PCIe slot compatible with the PCI Express Card Electromechanical (CEM) spec 1.0 including PC motherboards with PCIe slots.

Reverse-bridge users can use the reverse mode RDK, which plugs into any standard or legacy PCI host system slot and enables a state-of-the-art PCIe adapter to be plugged into the RDK itself.

PCIe is the newest, standards-based serial interconnect for systems using a variety of processor, storage, graphics, and communications silicon components.

PLX is an active member of the PCI Special Interest Group (PCI SIG), the organisation responsible for the release of the PCIe specifications; the Advanced Switching Interconnect Special Interest Group (ASI SIG); and the PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group (PICMG).

PLX has chaired several subcommittees within the PCI SIG, and chaired or edited multiple PICMG initiatives for PCIe.

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