PLX Technology Brings PCI Express Expertise to Instrumentation Consortium.

Industry Leader PLX Joins PXISA as Only Member with PCI Express Switches, Bridges; PLX Devices Easily Designed into Emerging PXIe Platform

SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- PLX Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLXT), the leading supplier of PCI Express[R] (PCIe) and other standard input/output (I/O) interconnect silicon, today announced it's joined the PXI Systems Alliance (PXISA). PLX is the only member of the alliance devoted to I/O interconnect and PCIe technology. The company's ExpressLane[TM] PCIe family of switches and bridges have been architected to be used in virtually all market segments, including the next-generation, PCIe-based form factor for instrumentation, PXIe.

PCI Express Blends with PXI

PXIe technology is the latest addition to the PCI eXtensions for Instrumentation (PXI) platform for measurement and automation. PXIe integrates PCIe signaling into the PXI standard, increasing backplane bandwidth to 6 GB/s, from 132 MB/s. The PXIe specification adds these features to PXI while maintaining backward compatibility.

"As a member of the PXISA, PLX is providing assurance to designers that they can use interconnect devices from both a consortium vendor and the leading provider of PCI Express switches and bridges, and confidently design those devices into their PXIe-based products," said Krishna Mallampati, PLX senior product marketing manager and liaison to the PXISA. "We are proud PLX has been asked to join the PXISA and anticipate that out contributions to it will be significant."

"We welcome PLX and its years of I/O interconnect expertise to the consortium," said Spencer Stock, product manager at National Instruments and co-marketing chair of PXISA. "At a time when the PXI form factor is focusing on next-generation systems, PLX will play an important role in PCI Express's deployment on that platform."

Proven Experience in PXI

PLX demonstrated at a recent PXI instrumentation event its PEX 8311 PXIe RDK, a complete rapid development kit (RDK) featuring the PLX ExpressLane[TM] PEX 8311 local bus-to-PCIe bridge-based reference board in a PXIe form factor. The PEX 8311 PXIe RDK takes advantage of the PEX 8311's versatile bridging capabilities in a PXIe chassis, while highlighting the simplicity with which PCI-based designs, such as those based on the widely used PXI form factor, can be migrated to PCIe.

For a full description of PLX's ExpressLane line of PCIe switches and bridges, see www.plxtech.com/pcie.

For information on the PXI Systems Alliance organization, please visit www.pxisa.org.

About PLX

PLX Technology, Inc. (www.plxtech.com), based in Sunnyvale, Calif., USA, is a leading supplier of PCI Express and other standard I/O interconnect silicon to the communications, server, storage, embedded-control, and consumer industries.

ExpressLane, PLX and the PLX Technology logo are registered trademarks of PLX Technology, Inc., which may be registered in some jurisdictions. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.