National Semiconductor has introduced a quad equaliser specifically designed for PCI Express (PCIe) applications up to 8 Gbps data transmission rates. The device supports PCIe Gen1 (2.5 Gbps), PCIe Gen2 (5 Gbps) and PCIe Gen3 (8 Gbps) data rates, with typical power consumption of 100 mW per channel.

The DS50EV401 provides high-speed signal transmission over backplanes and cables used in storage area networking (SAN), switch fabrics, communications infrastructure and automated test equipment (ATE). The quad equaliser compensates for transmission medium losses, reducing deterministic jitter on four data transmission channels.

It provides 20 dB of receive boost to equalise up to 10m of PCIe cable or 40 inches of FR-4 printed circuit board (PCB) at data transmission rates up to 5 Gbps, with less than 0.2 unit intervals (UI) of residual jitter at the equaliser output. Additionally, the DS50EV401 equalises up to 30 inches of FR-4 at data rates up to 8 Gbps, while maintaining the same jitter performance.

Its power-to-speed ratio of 13 mW/Gbps per channel, when used in 8 Gbps applications, positions the DS50EV401 among National's PowerWise family of energy-efficient products.

The DS50EV401 simplifies system integration. Its input signals can be AC or DC coupled to interface with a variety of ASIC and field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). The device provides two equalisation settings to reduce inter-symbol interference (ISI) generated by the interconnect media. One setting minimises jitter for PCIe Gen 1 and PCIe Gen 2 data rates, while the other minimises jitter for the anticipated PCIe Gen 3 data rates.

The DS50EV401 supports PCIe link extensions with transmit idle and beacon signaling on a 1x, 2x and 4x lane basis. It uses differential current-mode logic (CML) inputs and outputs that feature 8 kV of electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection. Additionally, the equaliser includes a loss-of-signal (LOS) detect for each channel, operates over the full -40 degrees C to 85 degrees C temperature range and requires a single supply voltage of 2.5V or 3.3V.

The DS50EV401 is the latest addition to National's family of signal-conditioning equalisers, which include the DS64EV400 and DS32EV400 quad equalisers, DS64EV100 and DS32EV100 single-channel equalisers, DS38EP100 and DS80EP100 power-saver equalisers, DS16EV5110 video cable equaliser, DS25BR110 LVDS equaliser, DS40MB200 dual mux-buffer, and DS15BA101 and DS15EA101 cable extender chipset.

Pricing and availability

Available now, the DS50EV401 is offered in a 7 mm by 7 mm, 48-pin leadless LLP package and is priced at $9.90 each in 1,000-unit quantities. For more information on the DS50EV401 or to order samples and an evaluation board, visit www.national.com/pf/DS/DS50EV401.html.