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SUNNYVALE and POWAY, Calif. – December 17, 2012 — PLX Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLXT), a leading global supplier of high-speed connectivity solutions enabling emerging data center architectures, and Kontron, a global leader in embedded computing technology, today announced an industry breakthrough in the deployment of PCI Express® (PCIe®) technology as a backplane interconnect. Built around PLX® ExpressLane™ PCIe 3.0 (Gen3) switches, Kontron’s VX3042 and VX3044 Intel® Core™ i7-based single-board computers (SBCs) routinely achieve 5.6 gigabytes per second (GB/s) in data throughput between any boards in a VPX rack.
The Kontron VX3042 and VX3044 Intel® Core™ i7-based SBCs leverage PLX’s PCIe Gen3 switching technology along with Kontron’s exclusive VXFabric™ software. In addition to having two 10 Gigabit Ethernet channels already featured on the boards, VXFabric™ implements TCP/IP over PCI Express® as a second data plane for higher-performance embedded computing. This combination of features enables efficient system convergence, as all devices and subsystems offer native PCIe, which permits immediate use of an existing infrastructure, thereby lowering latency, cost and power. Kontron VXFabric™ provides the software between the PLX® ExpressLane™ switch and the bottom of a standard TCP/IP stack, which allows the boards to use their existing TCP/IP-based application without having to be modified.
“Embedded computer systems rarely realize a tenfold increase in I/O performance and with absolutely no porting effort,” said Vincent Chuffart, product marketing manager, Kontron. “However, the Kontron VX3042 and VX3044 SBCs put this powerful capability directly in the hands of users, allowing them to leverage PLX PCI Express switching and the ubiquitous TCP/IP socket interface. We feel this type of solution is bound to be well received in the market.”
“PCI Express has emerged as the most sensible backplane interconnect solution available,” said Gene Schaeffer, vice president worldwide sales, PLX. “This is demonstrated in how our switch features help achieve 5.6 gigabytes per second and efficient use of the TCP/IP stack implementation in the VPX ecosystem.”
PLX switches offer the ability to combine different data types in a single converged pathway. Data (compute, communication or storage) are created and consumed as PCIe on each of the slots in the rack, delivering efficiency both in hardware architectural and software usage.
Kontron VXFabric™ software simplifies and accelerates application development and helps to extend application lifecycles as it enables migration to emerging hardware communication standards, such as 10G and 40G Ethernet. The software streamlines the task of inter-CPU communication in VPX system architectures.
The VX3042 and VX3044 represent Kontron’s third generation of 3U OpenVPX™ SBCs, both using Intel® Core™ i7 processors and featuring native support for 10GB Ethernet and PCIe Gen3. The boards are specifically designed to provide the ideal combination of leading-edge performance in CPU computing power and I/O bandwidth.
Pioneers in Embedded Computing
The collaboration on the Kontron VX3042 and VX3044 Intel® Core™ I7 SBCs draws on the expertise of two embedded-systems pioneers. PLX was first to market with PCIe Gen3 silicon and has ushered in today’s powerful PCIe-based enterprise data center and consumer platforms. The company offers a market-leading 18 PCIe Gen3 Express Lane switch devices with flexible configurations ranging from three ports and 12 lanes, and up to 24 ports with 96 lanes, all of which enable PLX to champion external PCIe applications through its ExpressFabric initiative. Kontron is a recognized leader in the embedded-systems market segment and creates standards used industry-wide. The company introduced many of the market’s top embedded-system solutions, including the industry’s first fully functional COM Express® solution.
For more information on Kontron VXFabric™, please visit the product page or download the whitepaper.
For more information, please visit the Kontron 3U VPX SBC VX3042 product page.
For more information, please visit the Kontron 3U VPX SBC VX3044 product page.
About PLX
PLX Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLXT), based in Sunnyvale, Calif., USA, is an industry-leading global provider of semiconductor-based connectivity solutions primarily targeting the enterprise and consumer markets. The company develops innovative software-enriched silicon that enables product differentiation, reliable interoperability and superior performance. Visit PLX on plxtech.com, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
About Kontron
Kontron is a global leader in embedded computing technology. With more than 40% of its employees in research and development, Kontron creates many of the standards that drive the world’s embedded computing platforms. Kontron’s product longevity, local engineering and support, and value-added services, helps create a sustainable and viable embedded solution for OEMs and system integrators. Kontron works closely with its customers on their embedded application-ready platforms and custom solutions, enabling them to focus on their core competencies. The result is an accelerated time-to-market, reduced total-cost-of-ownership and an improved overall application with leading-edge, highly-reliable embedded technology.