Expanded Portfolio of Off-the-Shelf and Web-Customizable Clock ICs
Offers Lowest Power, Highest Integration for Full Range of PCIe
Applications
AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Silicon
Laboratories Inc. (NASDAQ: SLAB), a leader in high-performance,
analog-intensive, mixed-signal ICs, today announced the expansion of its
PCI Express (PCIe) clock generator and clock buffer portfolio, providing
the industry's broadest range of clocking solutions to address the
stringent specifications of the PCIe Generation 1/2/3 standards. Silicon
Labs' expanded PCIe timing portfolio includes both off-the-shelf Si5214x
clock generators and Si5315x clock buffers for power- and cost-sensitive
PCIe applications and the Si5335 web-customizable clock generator/buffer
for FPGA- and SoC-based designs requiring various differential clock
formats that also comply with the PCIe standard.
The PCIe interconnect standard has been widely adopted in numerous
applications including consumer electronics, blade servers, storage,
embedded computing, IP gateways and industrial systems. The PCIe
interface is also supported in FPGA and SoC devices, providing designers
with versatile, high-performance solutions for transferring data within
systems. Silicon Labs has applied its patented mixed-signal technology
to deliver a suite of flexible clocking solutions that enable PCIe
design across varying market and application requirements.
"By applying our ‘one-stop-shop' timing IC supplier model to the PCIe
market, we're providing customers with the utmost flexibility in
choosing the right clocking solutions for their PCIe application needs,"
said Mike Petrowski, general manager of Silicon Labs' timing products.
"Our expanded PCIe timing solution portfolio gives developers a full
complement of off-the-shelf options for minimizing power, enhancing
signal integrity and reducing cost, as well as the industry's most
customizable clock generators and buffers for FPGA-based designs."
Off-the-Shelf PCIe Clocking Solutions
The Si5214x clock generator and Si5315x clock buffer families consist of
two- to nine-output timing devices that offer the industry's highest
level of performance per watt. The new PCIe clock generators and buffers
are twice as power efficient as competing clocking solutions. Lower
power helps minimize heat dissipation and reduces the need for
additional cooling components and power regulators. The devices also
meet PCIe jitter requirements with up to 50 percent margin, leading to
better system reliability and enhanced bit-error-rate performance.
Further easing design complexity, the Si5214x and Si5315x devices use
output buffer technology to integrate all external termination
resistors, thereby reducing component count, BOM cost, board space and
power. The smallest PCIe clocking devices on the market, the new clock
generators and buffers are ideal for space-constrained applications.
To combat electromagnetic interference (EMI) and radio frequency
interference (RFI), the Si5214x and Si5315x families feature
programmable edge rate and skew controls for each individual output.
Using a built-in I2C interface, developers can fine-tune signals and fix
integrity issues on the fly without adding more components. This signal
integrity tuning capability streamlines EMI compliance, speeding time to
market for PCIe board designs.
Web-Customizable Quad Clock Generator/Buffer
The Si5335 clock generator/buffer IC is the industry's
easiest-to-customize clocking solution for addressing complex timing
challenges in PCIe- and FPGA-based applications. Factory-customized,
pin-controlled Si5335 devices are available in two weeks (without
minimum order restrictions) through Silicon Labs' easy-to-use
ClockBuilder™ Web configuration utility at www.silabs.com/Clockbuilder.
Any combination of up to four output frequencies ranging from 1 to 350
MHz can be configured on the Si5335 outputs. Up to three unique device
configurations can be specified for a single part number, enabling the
Si5335 to replace three separate clock generators or buffers and
allowing developers to reuse a custom Si5335 device across multiple
designs.
The Si5335 clock generator/buffer IC features up to five user-assignable
control pins to simplify PCIe- and FPGA-based system design and
streamline EMI compliance with its PCIe-compliant spread spectrum
clocking option. The Si5335 device features Silicon Labs' patented
MultiSynth fractional divider technology, which enables any-frequency
synthesis on every output clock with sub-picosecond jitter. The Si5335
exceeds the performance requirements of PCIe, Ethernet and mass storage
industry standards. Its 0.45 ps maximum (rms) jitter is more than twice
as low as the PCIe 3.0 jitter requirement (1 ps).
The Si5335 simplifies multi-chip clocking challenges by supporting any
combination of differential formats such as LVPECL, LVDS and CML and
single-ended formats like LVCMOS. Eliminating the need for multiple
clock generators and/or buffers, the device's outputs support any
combination of four differential outputs or up to eight LVCMOS outputs.
This output format flexibility makes it easy for designers to
accommodate the widely varying output signal formats and power supply
voltages common in PCIe-, FPGA- and SoC-based embedded systems.
Pricing and Availability
Production quantities of Silicon Labs' latest PCIe clock generator and
buffer ICs are available now in a wide range of small-footprint
packages. Pricing in 10,000-unit quantities begins at $0.96 for Si5214x
clock generators, $0.94 for Si5315x clock buffers and $3.01 for the 200
MHz Si5335 clock generator/buffer (all prices in USD).
Silicon Labs offers evaluation platforms to accelerate PCIe application
development. The Si52144-EVB 4-output clock generator board, Si52154-EVB
4-output clock buffer board and Si5338-EVB clock generator/buffer board
with updated ClockBuilder Desktop software for the Si5335 are priced at
$125 each (USD MSRP). The Si52147-EVB 9-output clock generator board and
Si52159-EVB 9-output clock buffer board are priced at $175 each (USD
MSRP).
For more information about Silicon Labs' PCIe clock generator and buffer
portfolio and to order samples and development boards, visit www.silabs.com/pci-express-clocks.
Silicon Laboratories Inc.
Silicon Laboratories is an industry leader in the innovation of
high-performance, analog-intensive, mixed-signal ICs. Developed by a
world-class engineering team with unsurpassed expertise in mixed-signal
design, Silicon Labs' diverse portfolio of patented semiconductor
solutions offers customers significant advantages in performance, size
and power consumption. For more information about Silicon Labs, please
visit www.silabs.com.
Cautionary Language
This press release may contain forward-looking statements based on
Silicon Laboratories' current expectations. These forward-looking
statements involve risks and uncertainties. A number of important
factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those in
the forward-looking statements. For a discussion of factors that could
impact Silicon Laboratories' financial results and cause actual results
to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements,
please refer to Silicon Laboratories' filings with the SEC. Silicon
Laboratories disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise
any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise.
Note to editors: Silicon Laboratories, Silicon Labs, the "S" symbol, the
Silicon Laboratories logo and the Silicon Labs logo are trademarks of
Silicon Laboratories Inc. All other product names noted herein may be
trademarks of their respective holders.
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Silicon Laboratories Inc.
Dale Weisman, +1-512-532-5871
dale.weisman@silabs.com
Source: Silicon Laboratories Inc.
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