Express9 Backplane - Product - Starin.biz

The Datapath Express9 backplanes use advanced PCI Express switches to create a high bandwidth fabric that connects up to nine PCI Express plug-in cards into a host system.

The host can take the form of a Single Board Computer (SBC) which connects directly into the PICMG 1.3 system board slot of the Express9, creating a stand-alone 9 slot PC system. Alternatively a remote host can be connected into the Express9 backplane using Datapath’s HLink-G3 and SLink-G3 products, transforming the Express9 into a 9 slot expansion backplane. Using multiple Express9 backplanes configured in expansion mode allows the construction of very large systems (up to 41 slots).

The Express9 backplanes provide nine 16-lane physical connectors, eight of which are electrically configured as 4-lane slots, and one of 8-lanes (slot 1). The 8-lane slot can be used normally, or can accept a Datapath HLink-G3 board to extend the PCI Express bus, over eight lanes, onto a subsequent Express9 expansion board.

The Datapath Express9 uses PCIe 2.0 (Gen2) switching technology. The peak bandwidth available from the PICMG and slot 1 is 4 GB/s and the peak bandwidth from slots two to nine is 2 GB/s. The PICMG and the nine slots are all operating in bi-directional mode.

Features

• Nine slot PCI Express backplane 1 x8 lane and 8 x4 lane slots
• 1 x PICMG 1.3 SBC slot
• Standard ATX form factor
• Support for daisy chaining multiple backplanes
• Supports 8GB/s full duplex links between backplanes using HLink-G3 and SLink-G3
• 48 lane PCIe 3.0 switch