Si531xx and Si53019 PCIe Gen3 Fanout Buffers Minimize Power and
External Components for Server and Storage Motherboard Designs
AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Silicon
Labs (NASDAQ: SLAB), a leading provider of high-performance timing
solutions for Internet
infrastructure, today introduced a new family of PCI Express (PCIe)
Gen1/2/3 fanout buffers designed for data center applications including
servers, storage and switches. Designed for today's leading x86
motherboard and server systems, the new Si5310x/11x/019 PCIe buffer
family expands Silicon Labs' growing PCIe
timing portfolio with the industry's most power-efficient fanout
buffers. Available with a broad choice of output count options, the new
PCIe buffers are qualified for use in 98 percent of x86-based
server/storage motherboard designs.
For many years, data center equipment makers have had a limited supplier
base for PCIe Gen3 buffers approved by the leading x86 CPU and chipset
supplier. These conventional PCIe buffers are based on power-hungry
constant-current output technology, which increases bill of materials
(BOM) count by requiring four external termination resistors per output,
as well as one reference resistor. As power consumption and cooling
costs have become critical concerns for data center designs, developers
increasingly are seeking components that deliver the utmost energy
efficiency while complying with stringent x86 board specifications.
Silicon Labs' Si5310x/11x/019 family provides equipment makers with
lower power, standards-compliant PCIe buffer products qualified by the
leading x86 CPU and chipset supplier and backed by an outstanding
technical support organization.
More than 90 percent of existing motherboard designs use PCIe buffers
based on constant-current output technology. To address this existing
market need, Silicon Labs' new Si53019 PCIe constant-current buffer
delivers a fully qualified drop-in compatible solution with 30 percent
lower power than conventional solutions.
To minimize power even further, Silicon Labs' Si5310x and Si5311x
devices use an innovative push-pull output architecture to deliver the
industry's lowest power family of PCIe buffers. These devices consume 60
percent less power than constant-current buffers while reducing the
required number of external resistors per output, significantly reducing
external component count and simplifying printed circuit board (PCB)
design. For example, by using Silicon Labs' 19-output Si53119 push-pull
buffer instead of a conventional constant-current device, developers can
save nearly 1 Watt of power and eliminate 39 external components.
Silicon Labs' Si5310x and Si5311x push-pull output devices are also
optimal PCIe timing solutions for system designs using new ARM®-based
SoCs targeting the hyperscale server and storage markets. Similar to
x86-based designs, ARM-based SoC platforms for the server and storage
markets use PCIe as the primary system data bus and interconnect. With
system-level power efficiency being a major benefit of the hyperscale
architecture, the new Si5310x and Si5311x push-pull output devices are
ideally suited for all server and storage platform designs, regardless
of CPU architecture.
In addition to power consumption concerns, data center equipment makers
face the challenge of maintaining signal integrity while driving clocks
between boards over cables up to 60 inches in length. A PCIe clock's
rise and fall times degrade and slow down over such long distances,
resulting in reduced jitter performance and increased system packet loss
failures. Silicon Labs' PCIe Gen3 buffers are designed to drive long
clock signal traces while maintaining standards-compliant PCIe rise and
fall time specifications to prevent excessive jitter and packet loss.
Silicon Labs' new PCIe buffer family includes 6, 8, 12, 15 and
19-output devices as well as a combination of constant-current and
push-pull buffers, enabling developers to tailor the optimal solution
for each application. Silicon Labs' devices are pin- and functionally
compatible replacements for conventional PCIe buffers, providing
developers with superior alternatives that improve power efficiency,
signal integrity and jitter performance.
"Mobile Internet traffic and cloud computing are driving the need for
faster, higher performance data center equipment requiring
high-precision timing solutions supporting both the PCIe standard and
leading x86 specifications," said James Wilson, marketing director for
Silicon Labs' timing products. "We've expanded our PCIe timing portfolio
to include fully x86-qualified PCIe Gen3 fanout buffers that reduce the
power, cost and complexity of data center equipment. Our new PCIe
products complement Silicon Labs' any-frequency clock generators by
providing a single-chip clock tree solution for any server, switch or
storage design."
Silicon Labs offers a broad
timing portfolio of frequency-flexible clock generators, jitter
attenuators, clock buffers, PCIe clocks and oscillators to address a
wide range of Internet infrastructure applications. These
high-performance timing solutions enable developers to work with a
single one-stop-shop supplier capable of fulfilling comprehensive timing
requirements in data center, core network, wireless infrastructure,
broadband access, and test and measurement designs.
Pricing and Availability
Samples and production quantities of the Si531xx and Si53019 PCIe fanout
buffers are available now. Pricing for the Si531xx push-pull output
buffers begins at $1.70 in 10,000-unit quantities, and the Si53019
constant-current output buffer is priced at $2.85 in 10,000-unit
quantities (all prices in USD). To accelerate development of server and
storage applications based on push-pull output clock buffers, Silicon
Labs offers the Si53108-EK, Si53112-EK and Si53119-EK evaluation boards,
each priced at $125 (USD MSRP). For more information about Silicon Labs'
PCIe Gen3 fanout buffers and to purchase samples and development tools,
please visit www.silabs.com/PCI-express-clocks.
Silicon Labs
Silicon Labs (NASDAQ: SLAB) is a leading provider of silicon, software
and system solutions for the Internet of Things, Internet
infrastructure, industrial automation, consumer and automotive markets.
We solve the electronics industry's toughest problems, providing
customers with significant advantages in performance, energy savings,
connectivity and design simplicity. Backed by our world-class
engineering teams with unsurpassed software and mixed-signal design
expertise, Silicon Labs empowers developers with the tools and
technologies they need to advance quickly and easily from initial idea
to final product. www.silabs.com
Cautionary Language
This press release may contain forward-looking statements based on
Silicon Labs' 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 Labs' financial results and cause actual results to
differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, please
refer to Silicon Labs' filings with the SEC. Silicon Labs disclaims any
intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking
statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or
otherwise.
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Silicon Labs
Dale Weisman, +1-512-532-5871
dale.weisman@silabs.com
Source: Silicon Labs
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