Advantech chooses PLX PCI Express switches for connectivity Based on TI’s TMS320C6678 multicore DSP

2011 NAB Show, SUNNYVALE, USA: PLX Technology Inc., a leader in connectivity solutions for the data center and the home, announced PLX PCI Express (PCIe) switches are designed into the latest Advantech add-in cards based on Texas Instruments Inc. (TI) new TMS320C6678 multicore digital signal processor (DSP), allowing cross-functionality into multiple new market segments.

Developers in the wireless and core network infrastructures, digital media, test and measurement, communications, DSP farms, mission critical, high-performance computing, medical imaging and industrial automation markets will all benefit from the ease-of-use connectivity of PCIe-native DSPs, which take full advantage of the interconnect technology’s high speeds and heavy market penetration.

Advantech’s versatile new DSPC-8681 platform uses PLX’s ExpressLane PEX8624 PCIe switch (24 lanes, 6 ports) for high-performance 5Gb/s bidirectional fan-out both on and off the board, and enable two lanes of connectivity to each of TI’s four C6678 DSPs. TI’s TMS320C66x generation of multicore devices are built with multiple 1.25 GHz DSP cores, delivering the industry’s first 10-GHz DSP and boasting five times the performance of any DSP.

In addition to its broad market feature set, the DSPC-8681 is a highly flexible and programmable multimedia-processing engine with 32 1.25GHz DSP cores enabling real-time, multi-format video transcoding on a half-size PCIe card. Its form factor will facilitate rapid deployment in both desktop- and server-based solutions for a wide range of multimedia applications from digital video transmission to HD video telephony and telepresence.

“Advantech is excited about the integration of PCI Express and DSPs because it opens new opportunities for system builders to design with high performance and low power while maintaining a lower cost,” said Paul Stevens, telecom sector marketing director, Advantech. “PLX and TI provided Advantech with the industry’s most complete portfolios and unwavering technical support, allowing us to rapidly expand our business into new markets. As a result, we will be introducing additional PCIe cards over the coming weeks that deploy TI DSPs and PLX switches.”

“TI’s high-performance C66x multicore DSP devices are enhanced with PCI Express Gen2 to meet the integration requirements of a growing range of cross-applications that benefit from the thriving interconnect standard,” said Manish Patel, multicore media infrastructure marketing manager, Texas Instruments. “Combining TI’s leadership in DSPs, the PCI Express expertise of PLX and Advantech’s prowess in board designs brings the market a variety of powerful new choices for designers, as well as offers new customers an additional option to start development on our C66x multicore DSP platforms.”

“PLX envisions many new products from Advantech and others implementing PCI Express-enabled DSPs to take full advantage of this dominant high-performance standard,” said Krishna Mallampati, director of marketing for PCIe switches, PLX. “As technology leaders such as TI and Advantech have embraced PCI Express, we expect the ecosystem to grow and become even more powerful in the future. PLX adds even more value to the standard with enhanced, exclusive features, including our visionPAK and performancePAK development tools.”

PLX today offers more than 40 PCIe switches with multiple lane and port configurations, all supported by robust software tools. These solutions range from the industry’s largest, most versatile switch at 96 lanes and 24 ports, to a four-lane, four-port switch for more streamlined designs. PLX was first to market with PCIe switches in 2004 and has continued to innovate with the industry’s only PCIe Gen3 switch family that is sampling today, offering lane counts ranging from 12 to 48 lanes. Board and system designers can take full advantage of the latest PCIe specification’s bidirectional 8Gbp/s per lane, thus enabling one PLX 48-lane Gen3 switch to handle 96Gbp/s of full-duplex peer-to-peer bandwidth.