PCIe switch has six completely configurable ports

The PEX 8524 is billed as the industry's most versatile and flexible 24-lane switch, featuring nontransparency and the highest port count for a switch of its lane count.

New from PLX Technology is the ExpressLane PLX PEX 8524 PCI Express (PCIe) switching device.

The PEX 8524 is the industry's most versatile and flexible 24-lane switch, featuring nontransparency and the highest port count for a switch of its lane count.

The PEX 8524 is sampling now.

This device offers 24 flexible PCIe lanes that can be allocated to six highly configurable ports, one of which could be programmed as nontransparent port to allow addition of a second CPU or an intelligent I/O module.

The device provides hot-plug capability on every port, large internal packet memory, nonblocking switch fabric, programmable outputs, and multiple configuration options.

"PLX is bringing to market PCI Express products such as the PEX 8524 so that designers can select from a broad portfolio of PLX devices that deliver the specific features they need", said Akber Kazmi, PLX Senior Product Marketing Manager.

"PCI Express deployment is expanding across all segments of the technology landscape and PLX products are playing a key role in this expansion".

The PEX 8524 is suitable for server applications for fanout of a wide port from the north-bridge in x86-based systems to a larger number of narrower ports.

The device is also capable of being connected directly to the PCIe port of a RISC-based processor for PCIe fanout.

Additionally, the PEX 8524 allows graphics fanout from an upstream port to several downstream ports.

Furthermore, the switch can be used in communication and storage applications for high-speed port aggregation, such as gigabit Ethernet or Fibre Channel.

The PEX 8524 rounds out PLX's already-robust family of PCIe switches and bridges.

This PCIe family includes the PEX 8516 (16-lane) and PEX 8532 (32-lane) PCIe switches, and the PEX 8111 PCIe-to-PCI and PEX 8114 PCIe-to-PCI-X bridges.

PLX customers already are in development with their products using these switches and bridges.

The PEX 8524 is the industry's only PCIe switch with six completely configurable ports, and is designed for use in high-performance systems ranging from high-speed I/O boards to complex switch-fabric systems.

Any port can be configured as either upstream or downstream through hardware strapping, software configuration or an optional EEPROM.

The device can be used in fan-out or peer-to-peer switching applications, providing a designer with unmatched flexibility in utilising each lane and port.

The PEX 8524 also is the only 24-lane PCIe device available to support mapping of eight traffic classes on two virtual channels for each port, allowing the implementation of quality of service for blade server, storage, communications, and multimedia applications.

The device's peer-to-peer-transfer feature frees the system bandwidth that otherwise would be required by the host to orchestrate or manage data transfers between I/Os.

Additionally, the PEX 8524 supports nontransparent port functions, allowing the isolation of two CPU or memory domains and enabling the use of PCIe technology in multi-host environments and high-availability applications.

PLX introduced nontransparency to the PCIe architecture and is the first to implement it.

Like the PEX 8516 and PEX 8532 switching devices, the PEX 8524 is designed for the most demanding high-reliability applications, such as servers and storage, by offering both link and end-to-end CRC capability.

Though the end-to-end CRC feature is optional in the PCIe specification, PLX has integrated it in its entire product line of ExpressLane switches.

Additionally, the devices feature advanced error detection and correction capabilities that ease system development and debug, as well as a nonblocking architecture that improves quality of service and throughput efficiency.

To aid system and board designers in streamlining their PEX 8524-based product development and bring their designs to market faster, PLX is expanding its rapid development kit (RDK) hardware and software to include design tools for the new switch.

The PEX 8524RDK kit includes a proven, working hardware platform incorporating the switch chip, complete set of board schematics, symbols and layout files for hardware design, and an extensive software development kit (SDK) that includes a graphical utility for access to chip registers, sample drivers and support library for Microsoft Windows and Linux operating systems.

The PLX PEX 8524 PCI Express switch is sampling now, comes in a 35 x 35mm package and is priced at under $40.00 in volume quantities.

The PEX 8524RDK rapid development kit is available now for $1400.00.

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