PCI Express

• Buy the Development Kit for PCI Express: Virtex-5 FPGA edition, Spartan-3 FPGA edition.
• Download the Protocol Pack for PCI Express.

While PCI™ and PCI-X™ use parallel buses, PCI Express® is a general-purpose serial I/O interconnect that can be leveraged for communications, embedded, storage, server, mobile, and desktop applications. It can also be used as a peripheral device interconnect, a chip-to-chip interface, and a bridge to other standards such as 1394b, USB2.0, InfiniBand™ and Ethernet.

Why use the Xilinx solution for PCIe?

Implemented in 65-nm technology, the Virtex®-5 FPGA end-point block for PCI Express is low-risk and standards-compliant. The corresponding development kit incorporates proven IP and protocol-specific characterization reports.

Xilinx Solutions for PCI Express: Benefits by Market
Market	Applications	Engineer Benefit	FPGA Family
Wired networking and telecom and wireless	Control plane, fabric interface, traffic management	Low-latency 8-lane; designed for backplane applications	Virtex-5	Use model
Servers and storage	NIC, HBA, RAID	Low power GTPs for power sensitive data center applications	Virtex-5
Test and measurement	Logic analyzers, protocol analyzers, oscilloscopes	Flexible and lane-scalable solutions for high-speed data transfer	Virtex-5 Spartan®-3	Use model
Industrial, scientific and medical	Industrial automation equipment, medical imaging, wafer inspection	Flexible and scalable solutions; Support for PCI Express cable applications	Virtex-5 Spartan-3	Use model
Audio, visual, broadcast	Video processing card	Integrated hard end-point block for PCIe enables FPGA usage for DSP-intensive applications	Virtex-5 Spartan-3	Use model
Consumer	Docking station, workstation, gaming PC	Cost effective and out-of-box solution for Intel/Freescale processor-based design	Spartan-3	Use model
Aerospace/defense	Guidance systems, control systems, simulators	Industrial temperature range	Spartan-3	Use model

 

Xilinx Solutions for PCI Express: By FPGA
FPGA Device	Lanes	IP	Technical Documents	Characterization Report	Kits
Virtex-5 LXT/SXT/FXT	1, 2, 4, 8	Hard IP block	Documentation	PCIe technology-specific	Buy now
Virtex-4 FX	1, 4, 8	Soft IP	Documentation	General	Buy now
Virtex-II Pro	1, 4	Soft IP	Documentation	General	Buy now
Spartan-3	1	PIPE for PCIe	Documentation	N/A	Buy now

All solutions are PCI-SIG passed, v1.0a . Virtex-5 LXT FPGA solutions have passed v1.1 testing.

Choose the Correct Solution for Your Application

Multilane (High Performance)

The 65-nm Virtex-5 SXT/LXT FPGA series is ideal for multilane PCI Express applications with up to 8 lanes. It includes:

• Configurable built-in endpoint block for PCI Express.
• Integrated 3.2 Gbps.
• Low power RocketIO™ transceivers.
• Ample block RAMs.

You can design a complete endpoint solution with our simple CoreGen flow.

The Virtex-5 LogiCORE Endpoint Block Plus Wrapper for PCI Express provides:

• Hard IP block.
• RocketIO transceivers.
• Block RAMs for buffering.
• Miscellaneous logic.

The Virtex-5 FPGA solution offers the highest performance, lowest power, and smallest footprint.

• Learn more about the built-in block for PCI Express in Virtex-5 FPGAs.
• Evaluate the hard IP block for PCIe.
• Buy the Virtex-5 Kit for PCIe.

The Virtex-4 FX FPGA and Virtex-II Pro FPGAs offer powerful integrated Multi-Gigabit Transceivers (MGTs) up to 6.5 Gbps and soft IP to enable a solution for PCI Express:

• Learn about the Virtex-4 FX RocketIO MGT.
• Take our course on RocketIO MGTs.
• Buy the soft IP core for PCI Express.

Single Lane (Low Cost)

The Spartan™-3 FPGA family is ideal for single lane solutions for PCI Express. Xilinx and Philips (now NXP Semiconductor) offer the lowest-cost two-chip programmable solution for PCI Express using a configurable Xilinx PIPE Endpoint LogiCORE™ IP for PCI Express.

• Evaluate the Xilinx PIPE IP Core for PCI Express.
• Buy the Xilinx PIPE IP Core for PCI Express.