© PLX Technology, www.plxtech.com
Highlights
PEX8603 General Features
PEX8603 Key Features
o 3-lane, 3-port PCIe Gen2 switch
o 10 x 10mm
o Typical Power: 0.7 Watts
o Standards Compliant
o High Performance
o Flexible Configuration
o Quality of Service (QoS)
o Reliability, Availability,
o Power Management
Integrate 5.0 GT/s SerDes
package
PCI Express Base Specification, r2.1
PCI Power Management Spec, r1.2
Microsoft Windows 7 Compliant
Dynamic SerDes speed control
Non-blocking switch fabric
Full line rate on all ports
Packet Cut-Thru with 250ns max
256B Max Payload Size
Ports configurable as x1, x2
Registers configurable with strapping
Reference Clock Buffered Output
Lane and polarity reversal
Compatible with PCIe 1.0a PM
Eight traffic classes per port
Round-robin source port arbitration
Relaxed PCI Ordering
Serviceability
visionPAK™
All ports hot plug capable thru I
Data Path parity
Memory (RAM) Error Correction
INTA# and FATAL_ERR#
Advanced Error Reporting
Port Status bits and GPIO available
Per port error diagnostics
JTAG AC/DC boundary scan
WAKE#, Beacon, Vaux support
(backwards compatible w/ PCIe
1.0a/1.1)
packet latency (x1 to x1)
pins, EEPROM, I
signals for downstream ports
• Per Port Performance Monitoring
• Per port payload & header counters
• SerDes Eye Capture
• Error Injection and Loopback
(Hot-Plug Controller on every port)
signals
2
, 136-pin QFN
2
C, or host software
2
C
The ExpressLane
enabling users to add scalable high bandwidth non-blocking interconnection
to a wide variety of applications including control plane applications,
consumer applications and embedded systems. The PEX8603 is well suited
for fan-out and peer-to-peer applications.
Low Packet Latency & High Performance
The PEX8603 architecture supports packet cut-thru with a maximum latency of
250ns in x1 to x1 configuration. This, combined with low power consumption
and non-blocking internal switch architecture, provides full line rate on all ports
for low-power applications such as consumer and embedded. The low latency
enables applications to achieve high throughput and performance. In addition to
low latency, the device supports a max payload size of 256 bytes.
Data Integrity
The PEX8603 provides end-to-end CRC protection (ECRC) and Poison bit
support to enable designs that require guaranteed error-free packets. PLX also
supports data path parity and memory (RAM) error correction as packets pass
through the switch.
Power Management and Reference Clock Buffers
The PEX8603 supports the following power management states: L0, L0s, L1,
L2/L3 Ready, L2 and L3. Moreover, the PEX8603 supports Vaux along with the
external signal WAKE# and the in-band Beacon for the PCIe endpoints to use to
inform the system host to exit the low power savings mode.
The PEX 8603 supports two pairs of buffered, 100 MHz HCSL output clocks,
one pair for each downstream port of the switch. Each clock output pair can be
disabled by software or serial EEPROM when not in use, for additional power
savings. This feature greatly reduces system BOM cost by eliminating the need
for extra clock buffers on the PCB.
Interoperability
The PEX8603 is designed to be fully compliant with the PCI Express Base
Specification r2.1 and is backwards compatible to PCI Express Base
Specification r1.1 and r1.0a. Additionally each port supports auto-negotiation and
polarity reversal. Furthermore, the PEX8603 is designed for Microsoft Windows
7 compliance. All PLX switches undergo thorough interoperability testing in
PLX’s Interoperability Lab and compliance testing at the PCI-SIG plug-fest to
ensure compatibility with PCI Express devices in the market.
Device Operation Configuration Flexibility
The PEX8603 provides several ways to configure its operations. The device can
be configured through strapping pins, I2C interface, CPU configuration cycles
and/or an optional serial EEPROM. This allows for easy debug during the
development phase and functional monitoring during the operation phase.
PEX8603, PCI Express Gen 2 Switch, 3 Lanes, 3 Ports
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™
PEX8603 device offers PCI Express switching capability
8/17/2011, Version 1.1