8-Gb/s Quad Equalizer First To Ride PCI Express

Extending backplane and cable reach while consuming 100 mW of power per channel, the DS50EV401 assumes position as the industry’s first quad equalizer for PCI Express (PCIe) applications at data rates up to 8 Gb/s. The device supports PCIe Gen1 (2.5 Gb/s), Gen2 (5 Gb/s), and Gen3 (8 Gb/s) and compensates for transmission losses. It provides 20 dB of receive boost to equalize up to 10m of PCIe cable or 40" of FR-4 PCB at data rates up to 5 Gb/s with less than 0.2 unit intervals of residual jitter at the equalizer output. Additionally, the device equalizes up to 30" of FR-4 at rates up to 8 Gb/s while maintaining the same jitter performance. Power-to-speed ratio is 13 mW/Gb/s per channel in 8-Gb/s applications. Other features include support for PCIe link extensions with transmit idle and beacon signaling on a 1x, 2x, and 4x lane basis, differential current-mode logic inputs, 8 kV of ESD protection on the outputs, a loss-of-signal detect for each channel, operating temperature range from -40°C to 85°C, and a single-supply voltage of 2.5V or 3.3V. Available in a 48-pin, 7 mm x 7 mm LLP, price is $9.90 each/1,000. NATIONAL SEMICONDUCTOR CORP., Santa Clara, CA. (800) 272-9959.