Switch chip boosts PCI Express density

The PLX PEX 8548 is the industry's only 48-lane, nine-port PCIe switching device.

PLX Technology has introduced the PLX PEX 8548, the industry's only 48-lane, nine-port PCIe switching device.

The PEX 8548 boasts the industry's highest lane-count, lowest latency (under 110ns) of any high-density switch, true peer-to-peer support (available in no other vendors' switches), and nine highly configurable ports (up to x16 wide) with a programmable upstream port and cross-link capability enabling dual-host configurations.

This array of features, unique to PLX, makes the PEX 8548 an ideal choice for server, backplane storage, and router applications.

With the debut of the PEX 8548, PLX is further extending its leadership in the PCIe switching and bridging market.

PLX's ExpressLane family features the broadest line of PCIe devices, with switches ranging from eight lanes and five ports to 48 lanes and nine ports.

Nine ExpressLane switches and bridges now are either sampling or in full production, more than all other vendors' PCIe-interconnect devices combined.

These PLX devices have been designed into hundreds of systems in virtually all technology market segments.

"A 48-lane PCI Express switch like the PEX 8548 will provide a useful interconnect solution for applications such as graphics, servers and routers", said Jag Bolaria, Senior Analyst at The Linley Group.

"As a PCI Express interconnect technology leader, PLX continues to build on its early commitment".

The only PCIe switch enabling port configurations from x1 to x16, the PEX 8548's nine ports provide unprecedented flexibility in port aggregation in a wide range of applications.

The PEX 8548 supports true peer-to-peer communication, which allows its use in backplane and switch fabric designs.

This combination of the device's port flexibility and peer-to-peer capabilities, coupled with its ability to cascade two or more PEX 8548 devices, enables configurations up to 80 lanes and 16 ports.

The flexibility of the upstream port allows the use of dual processors, providing CPU redundancy and failover.

The PEX 8548 also features an I2C bus, providing an out-of-band interface to ease configuration of the switch.

"PLX is committed to providing the full spectrum of interconnect solutions to a rapidly growing market for PCI Express technology", said Akber Kazmi, Director of Marketing for PCIe Switches at PLX.

"With the PEX 8548, PLX has dramatically expanded how designers can build PCI Express into large-scale systems, benefiting from the device's large lane count, high throughput, flexibility, and quality of service".

The PEX 8548's enhanced cut-through path, based on PLX's new third-generation PCIe switching architecture, delivers packet latency of less than 110ns.

This industry-low latency provides full power to all ports in bandwidth-hungry, latency-sensitive applications such as storage and communication systems.

The PEX 8548, which conforms to the latest PCI Express Base Specification (Rev 1.1), provides a fully nonblocking internal switch fabric to demanding applications.

The device can be designed into fan-out, traffic-aggregation, dual-graphics, or peer-to-peer switching applications.

In addition to its power, flexibility, and industry-leading features, the PEX 8548 provides quality of service (QoS) through weighted round-robin port arbitration.

This QoS feature allows optimal use of the device's bandwidth to improve performance in highly demanding systems.

Three ports on the PEX 8548 are hot-plug capable, with on-chip standard hot-plug controllers providing reliability and high availability to PEX 8548-based designs; the controllers enable field upgrades and hardware replacement without system power-down.

Optional end-to-end cyclical redundancy checks (CRC) support the applications that require the guarantee of data integrity while it moves from source to destination in multi-hop configurations; and supports basic as well as advanced error reporting, thus easing system development, debug and optimisation.

The PEX 8548, like most all PLX interconnect devices, is supported by a PLX Rapid Development Kit (RDK), a package of hardware and software tools that accelerate board and system design cycles.

The PEX 8548RDK includes a working hardware platform incorporating the PEX 8548 switch, along with a complete set of board schematics, symbols, and layout files for hardware design.

The RDK features PLX's extensive Software Development Kit with a GUI utility for access to chip registers, sample drivers and a support library for Microsoft Windows and Linux operating systems.

Additionally, the PEX 8548RDK can be used as an evaluation platform for the switch.

The PEX 8548 is priced at $65 in volume quantities and is scheduled for sampling in Q4, with production slated for Q1 2007.

The PEX8548 RDK will be available in Q4 for $1490.

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