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PLX eNews – July 2010Welcome to PLX's quarterly newsletter and thank you for subscribing. |
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In this issue: PCI Express
Consumer Storage and USBUSB Duet
Design Support |
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Using a Switch as a Bandwidth Bridge
World's First PCIe Gen 3 Silicon - Live Demo Shown at PCI-SIG DevCon
Industrial Temp Now Supported for Gen 2 Switches
The markets ideal for I-temp PCIe switches include data center servers, routers and storage, as well as military, industrial, test, medical and other rigorous applications that require intensive high-reliability performance. PLX has delivered I-temp (-40° to +85°) switches and bridges since its first generation of PCIe products and continues that trend today with high-performance, feature-rich devices ranging from four lanes to 48 lanes (and from 64 to 96 lanes at extended commercial temperature).
Interop Leadership - Design with Confidence
ASUS Names PLX Best Partner
"ASUSteK and PLX enjoy a successful business relationship, in which PLX interconnect solutions help distinguish ASUS-brand products with premium performance and value-added functionality," said Chewei Lin, general manager, Motherboard Business Unit, ASUS. "We're very pleased to name PLX an ASUS Best Partner - a much-deserved award for so valuable a vendor."
PCI Express on the Backplane Takes Root
New White Papers Help Designers Get to Market Faster
Now Sampling USB 3.0 SuperSpeed DAS Controllers
PLX's new OXU3102 DAS controller, the flagship member of the family, targets the "prosumer" (professional- and power-consumer) market segment and combines USB SuperSpeed's 5Gbps interface with dual high-speed SATA hard disk drive (HDD) ports. The midrange OXU3101 for portable computing and desktops offers the same features but bridges to a single SATA HDD. Both the OXU3102 and OXU3101 feature integrated AES-256 encryption/decryption capabilities to ensure the highest level of data security. The entry-level OXU3100 provides the essential features for basic SuperSpeed-to-SATA designs.
NAS Personal Cloud Computing Products Developed by inXtron and PLX
inXtron, a leader in consumer storage hardware manufacturing have incorporated the latest technologies from PLX Technology and its recently introduced NAS 7800 family of SoCs, to develop cutting edge NAS products that allow users to not only store digital content on their NAS units, but also share and stream over the internet. The addition of the new PLX solution allows for improved streaming whether within a local network from the inXtron PCCS to a television via a device such as a Sony Playstation or around the world via the internet.
USB Duet Simplifies Apple iPad Photo, Keyboard, Audio Sharing
USB Duet is an exclusive combination of PLX-engineered hardware and application software designed directly into OEMs' new netbook and notebook computers. USB Duet allows Windows-based computers to easily share content and functionality with the iPad -- or other PCs -- simply by attaching a standard USB cable, thus enabling effortless connectivity without the need for special drivers or setup. Common usage models of USB Duet-enabled PCs include sharing an optical disk drive to load multimedia or software, file sharing, storage and backup - all of which is much faster than engaging the cloud.
USB Duet Featured on New Fujitsu LIFEBOOK
PLX's USB Duet technology (Hi-Speed USB 2.0-compliant) is designed to allow mobile computers, such as the LIFEBOOK MH380, to instantly share any Windows-based PC's CD/DVD optical drive, thus simplifying tasks like installing new software. In addition, USB Duet enables easy file sharing and backup. USB Duet is pre-installed on the LIFEBOOK MH380 (available today in the Asia-Pacific market), and USB's wide use and simple plug-and-play capabilities allow instant usability without the need for special drivers or settings.
Express APPS - - Quick Review of Ideas for Design
Express App #76 (PDF)
Express App #75 (PDF)
Express App #74 (PDF)
Find the device relevant to your design project by visiting our applications Website File Update Alerts - Stay Informed of Changes
Technical Support Available 24/7/365The PLX web-based technical support portal is your ticket to fast relief and problem resolution. We have built a large FAQ site with a broad range of immediate answers. In the event your request can not be found in the current knowledge base, simply enter a new case and our global support team will jump to action. The PLX technical support portal login can be found here http://www.plxtech.com/support/portal. Access datasheets or update your PLX profile and subscriptions by logging in at http://www.plxtech.com/mydata/ (requires separate registration)
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A bandwidth bridge usage model exploits the performance benefits of PCIe Gen 2 (5GT/s) in slower Gen 1 (2.5 GT/s) systems. PCIe switches are typically used in fan-out applications where IO expansion is desired. However, flexibility in the configuration of PCIe switches available from PLX Technology allows system designers to overcome bandwidth limitations introduced by other components in the system.
PLX demonstrated the world's first PCI Express Gen 3 silicon at the recent PCI-SIG Developer's Conference in Santa Clara, California. The demo showcased 8GT's performance and PLX's new system debug tools. General sampling will occur later this year.
PLX's Gen 2 switch family is now offered for industrial temperature (I-temp) operation. I-temp products are ideal for emerging high-performance environments ranging from inside the box to outside box-to-box connectivity on the backplane - designs that potentially face wide-ranging temperatures.
The entire PLX PCI Express and USB controller product families are now fully represented on integrators lists of the PCI Special Interest Group and USB Implementers Forum, respectively. All 37 PLX ExpressLane switches (PCIe Gen 1 and Gen 2 devices ranging from four to 96 lanes and three to 24 ports) span the exclusive PCI-SIG Integrators List -- by far the most PCIe switches on the list from any vendor. Additionally, each of PLX's high-performance USB 2.0 controllers has secured a place on the stringently maintained USB-IF Integrators List.
PLX has been named a Best Partner by ASUSteK Computer Inc. ASUS cited PLX interconnect products' high performance and reliability, along with PLX's excellent service and technical support, as foremost reasons for the award.
PCIe has long evolved from functioning as the transport for single host to I/O device communication model wherein one host manages a set of I/O devices -- to the standard today that can easily support an efficient host-to-host communication model, as well as other configurations that include I/O resource sharing across multiple hosts. PCIe features inherently lead to a significant cost and complexity reduction. In addition, mainstream processor companies like Intel have been integrating PCIe, not just in their chipsets, but as an integral part of the core silicon. With such inherent advantages over that of 10GbE or Infiniband, PCIe can easily emerge as the ideal backplane interconnect.
In concert with PLX's exclusive SDK for PCIe switches, these documents can improve performance in designs, save development costs and speed the process to market.
PLX is now sampling three new USB SuperSpeed 3.0-to-SATA controllers targeting the rapidly expanding consumer storage market. The new trio includes the OXU3102, OXU3101 and OXU3100, which provide the highest performance of direct attached storage (DAS) products using the emerging USB SuperSpeed standard. USB SuperSpeed-enabled external storage peripherals are expected to drive the considerable demand for this new high-speed connectivity among PCs and peripherals.
inXtron Incorporated recently showcased their new network attached storage (NAS) units with i-Sharing software and the new PLX chipset solution. The new NAS devices, that inXtron refers to as their Personal Cloud Computing Server (PCCS), allow users to safely store and share the contents of their "personal cloud" either within their own local network or around the world over the internet.
PLX's unique 
The versatile PLX USB Duet solution is a key feature of the newest generation of Fujitsu LIFEBOOK MH380, providing high-performance USB 2.0 instant access to any PC with a standard USB cable. Fujitsu chose USB Duet to differentiate its products and showcase innovative new uses for its powerful Mini-Notebooks.
Express App #77 (
Engineers can now register to receive email alerts whenever a databook, app note or other specification is added or updated. Simply go to any device page to subscribe to that individual product. You will then receive alerts either by email, or only have notes posted on your