New Albany, IN: The technical collaboration between Samtec, a privately held $625MM global manufacturer of a broad line of electronic interconnect solutions, and PLDA, the industry leader in PCI Express® interface IP solutions, provides a groundbreaking solution for PCIe 4.0 endpoint development by combining PLDA’s PCIe 4.0 hardware and IP with the Samtec’s PCUO PCIe® Optical Flyover Cable Assembly.

The PLDA PCIe 4.0 Platform Development Kit (PDK) is a complete development platform based on PLDA’s PCIe compliant XpressSWITCH IP and PLDA’s XpressRICH4™ controller IP for PCIe Gen4 technology running on a Xilinx® Virtex® UltraScale™ FPGA. This new product provides the first PCIe Gen3 x8 (upstream) to PCIe Gen 4 (downstream) Integration Backplane. By working with the PLDA Gen4SWITCH, early developers of PCIe 4.0 technology can be among the first to test PCIe Gen4 architecture for Endpoint/PHY/boards with their own software, designs and boards in a real system.

Samtec’s PCUO FireFly™ PCIe® Optical Micro Flyover Cable Assembly leverages MMF technology to support the PCIe Gen4 links of up to 100 m. Samtec FireFly™ solutions offer high-density, ease-of-routing and optimized signal integrity. The PCUO series features a x4 optical engine enabling aggregation for x8 and x16 PCIe® links. The PCUO also offers support for bidirectional reset and cable present sidebands for both transparent and NTB applications.

Key features of the combined solution include:

• Gen4SWITCH is based on a Xilinx Virtex UltraScale XCVU065-2FFVC1517E FPGA and features:
• One PCIe Gen3 x8 electrical Upstream
• One PCIe Gen4 x4 electrical Downstream
• Gen4SWITCH FPGA includes PLDA XpressSWITCH IP configured with:
• 1 PCIe Gen3 x8 US port connected to Gen3 capable computer
• 1 PCIe Gen4 x4 DS port connected to external DUT
• 1 PCIe Gen4 x4 DS port connected to PLDA PCIe Gen4 IP as PCIe Gen4 x4 embedded EP
• Gen4 DUT is connected to Gen4SWITCH via Samtec PCUO FireFly™ PCIe Optical Flyover Cable Assembly

“Samtec’s PCUO FireFly™ PCIe® Optical Micro Flyover Cable Assembly provides key optical connectivity for PCIe over Fiber applications,” said Matt Burns, Technical Marketing Manager at Samtec. “The PCUO series offers designers the flexibility to achieve higher data rates and greater distances as evidenced by two x4 PCIe 4.0 optical links supported in the PLDA PCIe 4.0 PDK.”

“PLDA is proud to be at the forefront of PCIe 4.0 development with our Gen4SWITCH product,” said Roman Tourneau, Marketing Manager at PLDA.  “The collaboration between PLDA and Samtec was one of the keys to delivering the PCIe 4.0 throughput required by designers to test their PCIe 4.0 solutions and reduce their time to market.”

Samtec will display the PLDA PCIe 4.0 PDK with the PCUO FireFly™ PCIe Optical Flyover Cable Assembly at the upcoming SC16 November 14-17, 2016 in Salt Lake City, UT. Please stop by Booth #2522 for further details.

To learn more about the Samtec PCUO PCIe® Optical Flyover Cable Assembly, please download our PCIe® Mid-Board Optics eBrochure or visit www.samtec.com/firefly.

To learn more about the PLDA PCIe 4.0 PDK featuring the Gen4SWITCH platform, please visit https://www.plda.com/products/pcie-solutions-asicsoc/pciefpga-prototyping/gen4switch.

About Samtec, Inc.
Founded in 1976, Samtec is a privately held, $625MM global manufacturer of a broad line of electronic interconnect solutions, including IC-to-Board and IC Packaging, High-Speed Board-to-Board, High-Speed Cables, Mid-Board and Panel Optics, Flexible Stacking, and Micro/Rugged components and cables. Samtec Technology Centers are dedicated to developing and advancing technologies, strategies and products to optimize both the performance and cost of a system from the bare die to an interface 100 meters away, and all interconnect points in between. With 33 locations in 18 different countries, Samtec’s global presence enables its unmatched customer service. For more information, please visit http://www.samtec.com.

About PLDA
PLDA has been successfully delivering PCI and PCI Express IP for more than 20 years. With over 6,200 licenses, PLDA has established a vast customer base and the world’s broadest PCIe ecosystem. PLDA has maintained its leadership over four generations of PCI Express specifications, enabling customers to reduce risk and accelerate time to market for their ASIC and FPGA based designs. PLDA provides a complete PCIe solution with its IP cores, FPGA boards for ASIC prototyping, PCIe BFM/testbench, PCIe drivers and APIs. PLDA is a global company with offices in North America (San Jose, California) and Europe (France, Italy, Bulgaria).

Samtec, Inc.,
P.O. Box 1147
New Albany, IN 47151-1147
USA
Phone: 1-800-SAMTEC-9 (800-726-8329)
www.samtec.com

CONTACT
Matt Burns
matthew.burns@samtec.com
812-944-6733