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PLX Technology (News - Alert) is a Company that has been developing I/O interconnect silicon and complimentary software since 1994. The company currently specializes in PCI (News - Alert) Express, USB and other standard input/output devices for the server, storage, communications, embedded-control and consumer markets. The company’s products enable new markets, including key support for emerging storage server appliances, and the use of PCIe as an external connectivity fabric within the racks of enterprise data centers.

Recently, the company announced that its three PLX ExpressLane PCIe Gen3 switches have passed the testing procedures of the PCI-SIG Compliance Workshop and are now listed on the group's PCIe 3.0 Integrators List.

PLX claims that it is the only PCIe switch vendor to date that has achieved Gen3 compliance.

"PLX leadership in PCIe-compliant interconnect solutions is highlighted by 46 switches, bridges and development kits being approved for the highly regarded PCI-SIG PCI Express 2.0 Integrators List," Eugene Cabanban, marketing manager, PCIe solutions, PLX said in a statement.

"Our goal is to gain compliance across the board for PLX's growing Gen3 portfolio by continuing to take our switches to future compliance testing events, as some companies refer to the list when making purchasing decisions. Meanwhile, our Gen3 switches share a common switching architecture and SerDes so designers can use all of our Gen3 switches with full confidence," Cabanban added.

Developed on 40nm technology, the newly compliant PLX ExpressLane switches PEX8725 (24 lanes, 10 ports), PEX8734 (32 lanes, 8 ports), and PEX8749 (48 lanes, 18 ports) are members of PLX's extensive family of 18 PCIe Gen3 switches. The PEX8725 and PEX8749 feature on-chip direct memory access engines that provide the capability to move large amount of data from local memory to devices attached to the switch. Also, these devices feature valuable on-chip and software-backed debug and diagnostic tools including Rx eye measurements, packet generation, data logging, and error counting that help eliminate the need for expensive test equipment for bring-up and run-time monitoring of designs using PLX switches.

PLX is planning to unveil more Gen3 switches to enable its ExpressFabric initiative, enterprise storage, and other key cloud/data center applications. The company also has plans to venture on PCIe Gen4 products.