PLDA Announces New Test And Validation Platforms For PCIe

PLDA has leveraged their extensive PCIe expertise to provide a comprehensive suite of Test and Validation solutions for the PCI Express protocol, enabling faster and more affordable validation of PCIe silicon and devices

SAN JOSE, Calif., April 23, 2018 – PLDA®, the industry leader in PCI Express® interface IP solutions today announced the launch of a new Test and Validation Platform line of products, aimed at creating easier and faster routes to PCIe® 4.0 design. It includes their Inspector ME, Gen4SWITCH, Gen4ENDPOINT and VU3P-IPP products, which offer a range of options to test and validate designs in Switch, Root Port or Endpoint configuration at PCIe 4.0 16GT/s speeds. These innovative products allow PCIe designers to more easily validate their designs, reducing their time-to-market.

In addition to their core business of licensing PCIe semiconductor IP, PLDA has a long history of robust hardware designs. PLDA initially built its first PCIe 4.0 platform, Gen4SWITCH, as a way to demonstrate the PCIe 4.0 technology and to test designs at PCIe 4.0 speed for its own needs. Widely used during tradeshows and at PCI-SIG workshops as an early PCIe 4.0 host platform, Gen4SWITCH has become a star product in high demand, and has spawned a complete Test and Validation product line, targeted specifically at the needs of PCIe 4.0 SoC designers and system vendors.

OVERVIEW OF THE PCIe 4.0 PLATFORMS:

PLDA’s Diagnostic and Debug Platforms

• PLDA Inspector ME: Interposer module for in-system PCIe link diagnostic and add-in card testing at up to PCIe 4.0 16GT/s speed.

Validation Platforms

• PLDA Gen4ENDPOINT: PCIe 4.0 endpoint adapter card that enables the testing of PCIe 4.0 Host adapters and motherboards, Root Port silicon and PHY test chips
• PLDA Gen4SWITCH: PCIe 4.0 switch adapter card with 1 downstream port that enables the testing of PCIe 4.0 Endpoint adapters and PHY test chips

IP Prototyping Platforms

• VU3P-IPP: FPGA prototyping card based on Virtex® Ultrascale+ VU3P for PCIe (upstream and downstream) and FireFly™ prototyping.

“Using PLDA’s Inspector for PCIe 4.0 host system with Gen4ENDPOINT allowed us to quickly demonstrate the capabilities of our Xgig® 4K16 PCIe 4.0 Protocol Analyzer/Jammer with real PCIe traffic at 16GT/sec” said Tom Fawcett, VP and GM, Lab and Production Business Unit at VIAVI Solutions. “The Xgig 4K16 product family, which includes CEM and other interposers for PCIe system attachment, provides dynamic trace capture and triggering for in-depth LTSSM, ASPM, NVMe and other analyses, enabling quick IC, FPGA, system or application debug. We’re glad to see PLDA leveraging their PCIe semiconductor IP expertise to supply high quality host and end-point devices for the new PCI Express 4.0 standard."

According to Arnaud Schleich, CEO of PLDA “We were initially surprised at the interest PCIe designers had in our platforms during the PCI-SIG Workshops and DevCon events and realized that there was a true need for innovative Test and Validation products for PCIe 4.0 designs.” Schleich added “We are pleased to provide SoC designers and system vendors with a new category of test and validation products at PCIe 4.0 speeds as they design their next generation products.”

More Information:

If you want a real demonstration, you can visit PLDA’s booth at :

• TSMC Symposium SANTA CLARA (Booth ) (May 1^st)
• PCI-SIG DevCon Munchen 2018 (Booth 2) (May 7-8)
• TSMC SYMPOSIUM Shanghaï (May 22)

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/testbenches, PCIe drivers, and APIs. PLDA is a global company with offices in North America (San Jose, California), Europe (France, Italy, and Bulgaria), and Asia (China, Taiwan).