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four x4 downstream ports. The downstream ports can be
of differing widths if required.
Almost all (non x86 based) high-end microprocessor
manufacturers are offering PCI Express interfaces. The
PEX 8525 can be directly connected to a processor to
fan-out its PCIe port to a larger number of ports for
enhanced connectivity as illustrated in Figure 3.
x4
x4
x4
x4
PowerPC
MIPS or
PEX 8525
x8
Figure 3. Fan out for PowerPC/MIPS CPUs
Embedded Systems
The PEX 8525 can also be utilized in embedded
applications. Figure 4 shows several independent
modules connecting through the PEX 8525. The port
widths for each module can be configured as required.
The peer-to-peer communication feature of the PEX
8525 allows these modules to communicate with each
other without any centralized control.
Local Bus
Local Bus
CPU Bus
x8
x4
x4
x8
PEX 8525
FPGA/ASIC
FPGA/ASIC
CPU
Control
DSP
CPU
Sensor
Bridge
Bridge
Bridge
Bridge
Figure 4. Embedded Systems
Peer to Peer Communication
Figure 5 represents a backplane where the PEX 8525
provides peer-to-peer data exchange for up to four line
cards where the CPU/Host plays the management role.
x4
Host
PEX 8525
I/O
I/O
I/O
I/O
x4
x4
x4
x4
Figure 5. Peer-to-Peer Usage
Graphics Fan-out Switch
As PCIe based graphics cards become more mainstream,
it will be necessary to take a x8 port on the root complex
device and fan it out to two x8 ports for dual graphics
applications. Root Complex (Northbridge) devices are
available with multiple PCIe ports. These ports can be
further expanded to connect to a larger number of I/Os
or to support dual-graphics using the PEX 8525 as
shown in Figure 6. In this dual graphics application
example, a x8 port on the root complex device is fanning
out to two PCIe graphics cards via x8 links. The figure
also shows how some of the ports can be bridged to
provide
PCI or PCI-X
slots through the use of the
ExpressLane
PEX 8114 and PEX 8111 PCIe
bridging
devices.
x1
PEX 8525
PEX 8114
x8
x8
PEX 8111
x4
x1
x8
PEX 8516
CPU
x8
Memory
HDD
GbE
USB
PCI
Complex
Root
Bridge
South
Figure 6. Dual Graphics Fan-out
PCI Express Port Expansion
The PEX 8525 enables designers to take, for example,
two x8 PCIe ports and expand them into eight
downstream ports. Some of these PCIe ports can be
bridged to PCI or PCI-X using bridging products from
PLX. Figure 7 illustrates one of the many configurations
the PEX 8525 can support.
HDD
GbE
USB
PCI
Bridge
North
Memory
CPU
CPU
Bridge
South
PEX 8525
PEX 8111
PEX 8114
x8
x4
x4
x4
x4
x8
x4
x4
x1
x4
PEX 8525
Figure 7. PCIe Port Expansion