Using nextgen PCI Express switches to eliminate network I/O bottlenecks
By Steve Moore, PLX Technology
(02/06/08, 03:43:00 PM EST) -- Embedded.com
Controllers in today's network-connected embedded systems often are overwhelmed by the data streaming to and from the various I/O sources; it can be difficult for the system's root complex to absorb high-speed bursty traffic such as 10Gig Ethernet when it competes with very fast streaming data from sources such as InfiniBand and Fibre Channel (FC) storage elements.
For example, when a few bytes of Ethernet data get stuck behind large packets of FC data in the root complex, the latency that is introduced by this congestion will severely impact system response time and create bandwidth limitations (see Table 1 below).

Table 1. Ethernet latency bandwidth tradeoffs
The next generation of PCI Express (PCIe) switches have added many new features to mitigate the effects of having to process competing data protocols, thereby improving overall system performance.
Advanced new features such as Read Pacing, enhanced port configuration flexibility, dynamic buffer memory allocation, and the deployment of PCIe Gen2 signaling are reducing I/O bottlenecks, providing dramatic improvements in system performance in server and storage controllers.
(02/06/08, 03:43:00 PM EST) -- Embedded.com
Controllers in today's network-connected embedded systems often are overwhelmed by the data streaming to and from the various I/O sources; it can be difficult for the system's root complex to absorb high-speed bursty traffic such as 10Gig Ethernet when it competes with very fast streaming data from sources such as InfiniBand and Fibre Channel (FC) storage elements.
For example, when a few bytes of Ethernet data get stuck behind large packets of FC data in the root complex, the latency that is introduced by this congestion will severely impact system response time and create bandwidth limitations (see Table 1 below).

Table 1. Ethernet latency bandwidth tradeoffs
The next generation of PCI Express (PCIe) switches have added many new features to mitigate the effects of having to process competing data protocols, thereby improving overall system performance.
Advanced new features such as Read Pacing, enhanced port configuration flexibility, dynamic buffer memory allocation, and the deployment of PCIe Gen2 signaling are reducing I/O bottlenecks, providing dramatic improvements in system performance in server and storage controllers.
To read the full article, click here
Related Semiconductor IP
- eUSB2V2.0 Controller + PHY IP
- I/O Library with LVDS in SkyWater 90nm
- 50G PON LDPC Encoder/Decoder
- UALink Controller
- RISC-V Debug & Trace IP
Related Articles
- How HyperTransport and PCI Express complement each other
- Advanced switching boosts PCI Express
- Compatibility issue slows PCI Express
- With StarFabric as an on-ramp, the PCI Express Advanced Switching is ready
Latest Articles
- QMC: Efficient SLM Edge Inference via Outlier-Aware Quantization and Emergent Memories Co-Design
- ChipBench: A Next-Step Benchmark for Evaluating LLM Performance in AI-Aided Chip Design
- COVERT: Trojan Detection in COTS Hardware via Statistical Activation of Microarchitectural Events
- A Reconfigurable Framework for AI-FPGA Agent Integration and Acceleration
- Veri-Sure: A Contract-Aware Multi-Agent Framework with Temporal Tracing and Formal Verification for Correct RTL Code Generation