PLX Gen 2 switches in NI's PXI Express high-performance chassis

SUNNYVALE, USA: PLX Technology Inc., the leading supplier of PCI Express (PCIe) switches and bridges, today announced that National Instruments, a leader of test, control, and embedded design solutions, is using PLX PCIe Gen 2 switches (three total) in its newly released NI PXIe-1082 high-performance chassis.

The NI PXIe-1082 features a high-bandwidth backplane with PXI Express lanes routed to every slot to meet a wide variety of test, measurement and control application needs.

The NI PXIe-1082 is an eight-slot chassis for PXI and PXI Express modules and the first to market using next-generation PLX PCIe switches conforming to the PCI-SIG’s PCI Express Base Specification, rev 2.0. This design represents the growing penetration of PCIe in the embedded space.

The NI PXIe-1082 is ideal for high-speed measurements, data streaming, and high-channel-density measurement solutions. The chassis also features four hybrid slots, which provide added compatibility with standard PXI and CompactPCI modules.

Additionally, the NI PXIe-1082 offers four x4 PCIe links (1 GB/s single direction per link), with one x4 link connected directly to slot 2, while the other three x4 links are connected to three the PLX switches, providing an x4 PCIe link to the six remaining peripheral slots.

The four hybrid slots on the NI PXIe-1082 are enabled by two PLX ExpressLane PEX 8612 (12 lanes, three ports) PCIe switches and one PEX 8616 (16 lanes, four ports) PCIe switch. These feature-rich switches offer the industry's lowest latency at 150ns and highest performance via its non-blocking architecture, and are capable of supporting host-centric as well as true peer-to-peer traffic.

The PLX switches also feature an on-chip non-transparent (NT) port for dual-host and failover applications, along with two on-chip Hot-Plug controllers, thus allowing designers to implement a lower-cost, simplified layout using single-chip solutions.

“National Instruments developed the next-generation NI PXIe-1082 PXI Express chassis for demanding test, measurement, and control applications,” said Patrick Webb, PXI chassis product marketing manager at National Instruments. “The PLX Gen 2 switch devices and proactive technical support team provided unique features and invaluable assistance in our efforts to design the NI PXIe-1082 chassis to our exact requirements.”