PCIe 4.0 test platform boasts two x4 optical links

BY MAJEED AHMAD

Electronic interconnect supplier Samtec has joined hands with interface IP solution provider PLDA to help create a platform for networking product developers to test PCIe Gen4 architecture for endpoint/PHY/boards with their own software, designs, and boards in real time.

PLDA’s PCIe 4.0 platform development kit (PDK) is based on the company’s PCIe-compliant XpressSWITCH IP and its XpressRICH4 controller IP for PCIe Gen4 technology running on a Xilinx Virtex UltraScale FPGA. The test platform, based on PLDA’s Gen4SWITCH technology, supports one PCIe Gen3 x8 electrical upstream and one Gen 4 electrical downstream in the backplane.

Moreover, the Gen4SWITCH test platform features one PCIe Gen4 x4 DS port, which is connected to an external device under test (DUT). The Gen4 DUT is connected to Gen4SWITCH via Samtec’s PCUO FireFly PCIe Optical Flyover cable assembly.

Samtec’s PCUO FireFly PCIe Optical Micro Flyover cable assembly provides two x4 PCIe 4.0 optical links in PLDA’s PCIe 4.0 PDK. The cable assembly maker claims that its PCUO series of interconnect products offers designers required flexibility to achieve higher data rates and greater distances.

The PCUO series leverages MMF technology to support the PCIe Gen4 links of up to 100 meters. Furthermore, it features x4 optical engine-enabling aggregation for x8 and x16 PCIe links. The PCUO-based optical links also offer support for bidirectional reset and cable present sidebands for both transparent and NTB applications.

Samtec’s FireFly interconnect solutions offer optical connectivity for PCIe-over-fiber applications and claim to do that with high density, ease of routing, and optimized signal integrity.