Catalyst Enterprises Delivers PCI Express™ Development Platform to Computer and Communications Industries
San Jose, Calif., October 6, 2003 - Catalyst Enterprises, a leading manufacturer of developmenttools for emerging serial and parallel bus technologies, today announced production shipment of itsPXP-100 PCI Express Development Platform, the latest in a series of tools for implementing andtesting PCI Express technologies.
PCI Express, a fast emerging interconnect technology, is being implemented in a multitude of nextgenerationcomputer and communications designs. As such, there is significant demand fordevelopment tools that expedite the compliance, debug, and validation of PCI Express signals.Complementing the currently shipping Catalyst PCI Express SPX Exerciser, the PXP-100 PCIExpress Development Platform is a passive backplane that connects a card under test to the SPXExerciser as an upstream device. It eliminates the need for a motherboard to connect to the cardand speeds the development of designs incorporating PCI Express buses.
“PCI Express is a new technology in the early stages of its design cycle, and Catalyst Enterprisesis pleased to provide the PXP-100 PCI Express Development Platform to assist companies in theimplementation and testing of their next-generation designs,” said Varin Singh, Sales & Marketing Director, Catalyst Enterprises. “Combined, the Catalyst PXP-100 Development Platform and SPXExerciser provide a mature and complete toolset unsurpassed by other PCI Express developmentoptions.”
The Catalyst PXP-100 PCI Express Development Platform contains the following features:
- Two x16 PCI Express slot connectors that accept various combinations of cards (any link widths: x1, x4, x8, x16)
- PCI Express Reference Clock generation
- Valid PERST# bus reset button
- Mid-bus probe pads for connection to additional bus monitoring equipment
- Self-contained, portable, and self-powered
- Power for +3.3V, +3.3Vaux, and +12V rails to DUT, as well as a power source for Catalyst SPX development tools
Initial recipients of Catalyst’s PXP-100 PCI Express Development Platform include major chipsetmanufacturers who are using Catalyst SPX development tools to characterize and verify their PCIExpress 1.0 and 1.0a designs. Other early PCI Express adopters include various server, graphics,and add-in card vendors who are using the high throughput and unique architecture of PCIExpress to increase the efficiency of their designs.
About Catalyst Enterprises
Founded in 1992 in San Jose, Calif., Catalyst Enterprises manufactures analyzer tools for PCIExpress, PCI, PCI-X, USB 2.0, Bluetooth, and other data communication protocols. Catalyst’sanalyzer architecture uses reconfigurable hardware cores that can be updated in the field withsoftware. These flexible hardware tools are powered by a unique, Dual-Mode GUI interface thatcombines an “Easy” mode with maximum automation for instant data capture and an “Advanced”mode that provides maximum customization for hard to find problems. The company providescomplimentary software updates and lifetime technical support for all its analyzer products.Catalyst’s goal is to assist its customers in their efforts to bring quality products to production asefficiently as possible.