Benchmark Testing Shows High Performance Achieved On LeCroy PCI Express® Gen2 Exerciser

PCI-SIG® DevCon, Santa Clara, CA, June 11, 2008 - LeCroy Corporation, a leading supplier of oscilloscopes and serial protocol solutions, announced that the Summit^TM Z2-16 Exerciser has set a new benchmark performance record for bus utilization by a PCI Express exerciser system.

In system testing using the LeCroy Summit Z2-16 Protocol Exerciser with its newly-added Performance Mode, the system was able to produce sustained bus utilization rates in excess of 99%. This performance benchmark was achieved at both the current standard “Gen1” data rate of 2.5 GT/s, and the new PCI Express 2.0 “Gen2” data rate of 5 GT/s.

Protocol exercisers are an important part of protocol development and specification corner case testing. Exercisers are used in functional verification, interoperability and performance testing for PCI Express root complex and endpoint applications. By providing a high sustained data rate, developers can test new products in environments of extremely high traffic flow to ensure compliance with PCI Express specification requirements.

Benchmarking

The benchmark test configuration consisted of two Summit Z2-16 Exercisers connected together with a Summit T2-16 Protocol Analyzer performing the utilization rate testing, and validated using a Summit Z2-16 Exerciser and a prototype PCIe® Gen2 end-point. Various packet sizes were used with MemWrite32, MemRead32 and MemWrite/Read32 commands. The exercisers can be configured with or without flow control and with changeable payloads sizes, parameters that can affect performance in real world testing.

Mem Write 32 - Percent Bandwidth Utilization - G1/G2

Additional testing using MemWr64’s showed the Summit Z2-16 able to achieve and maintain over 99% bandwidth utilization with payloads as small as 10 dwords.

Sending different ratios of memory writes per read is a good way to approach real world performance. The following benchmarks illustrate how high performance is maintained even though dword size increases and the number of writes per operation goes up.

1) MemRd32/MemWr32 - single write per read - Percent Bandwidth Utilization-G1/G2

2) MemRd32/MemWr32 - three writes per read - Percent Bandwidth Utilization-G1/G2

3) MemRd32/MemWr32 - five writes per read - Percent Bandwidth Utilization-G1/G2

Using this same read/write structure, the Summit Z2-16 was able to achieve over 99 percent bus utilization on x1 lane widths at 27 dwords, and 92 percent on x16 lane widths using as many as 1024 dwords per command.

“We are very proud to bring our Summit Z2-16 Exerciser to performance levels engineers expect when testing product performance,” said John Wiedemeier, Product Marketing Manager for PCI Express, LeCroy Corporation. “This benchmark demonstrates the true value of this product. Developers that are pushing for higher performance of their products will greatly appreciate the Summit Z2-16 Exerciser for their testing needs.”

LeCroy protocol analyzers and exercisers have been at the forefront of PCI Express development. All LeCroy protocol analyzers feature a hierarchical display, real-time statistics, protocol traffic summaries, detailed error reports, powerful scripting, and the ability to create user-defined test reports, which allow developers to troubleshoot intricate problems and finish their projects on time.

Performance Mode is offered in the LeCroy PETracer^TM software version 5.6. For additional information, contact LeCroy at 1-800-5LeCroy (1-800-553-2769) or visit LeCroy’s web site at http://www.lecroy.com

About LeCroy

LeCroy Corporation is a worldwide leader in serial data test solutions, creating advanced instruments that drive product innovation by quickly measuring, analyzing, and verifying complex electronic signals. The Company offers high-performance oscilloscopes, serial data analyzers, and global communications protocol test solutions used by design engineers in the computer and semiconductor, data storage device, automotive and industrial, and military and aerospace markets. LeCroy’s 40-year heritage of technical innovation is the foundation for its recognized leadership in “WaveShape Analysis”—capturing, viewing, and measuring the high-speed signals that drive today's information and communications technologies. LeCroy is headquartered in Chestnut Ridge, New York. Company information is available at http://www.lecroy.com.