The ExpressLane™ PEX 8725 is a 24-lane, 10-port, PCIe Gen 3 switch device developed on 40nm technology. PEX 8725 offers Multi-Host PCI Express switching capability that enables users to connect multiple hosts to their respective endpoints via scalable, high-bandwidth, non-blocking interconnection to a wide variety of applications including servers, storage, communications, and graphics platforms. In addition to high number port count, the device offers on-chip DMA engines, two NT ports and clock isolation capability. Due to their backwards compatibility, designing with PCIe Gen3 switches in mixed (Gen1, Gen2 and Gen3) systems allows designers to future-proof their designs for full Gen3 enablement when migrating to next-generation end-points. The PEX 8725 is well suited for fan-out, aggregation, and peer-to-peer traffic patterns. Included is PLX's proprietary visionPAK debug software, which allows, for example, internal receive-eye observation after equalization and access to the devices' internal debug registers thus enabling faster time to market.
