LeCroy Introduces Compact x8 Protocol Analyzer for PCI Express 3.0 Protocol

LeCroy Introduces Compact x8 Protocol Analyzer for PCI Express 3.0 Protocol

DesignCon, Santa Clara, CA, February 1, 2011 - LeCroy Corporation, a leading supplier of serial data test solutions, today introduced a new protocol analyzer for the highest transfer speeds currently supported by the PCI Express specification, the PCI Express 3.0 protocol at data rates of 8 GT/s. The Summit™ T3-8 Protocol Analyzer builds on the success of two previous generations of the Summit protocol analyzer product line, and provides the full, powerful feature set of the Summit T3-16 protocol analyzer but at close to half the physical size and at significantly lower cost. The Summit T3-8 protocol analyzer system can support lane widths up to x8 in a single configuration and also support up to x16 when combined together with another Summit T3-8 protocol analyzer.

The recently released PCIe 3.0 specification includes low-cost, high-performance I/O technology that supports a new 128b/130b encoding scheme and a data rate of 8 gigatransfers per second (GT/s), doubling the interconnect bandwidth compared with the previous PCIe 2.0 specification. This technology is rapidly becoming the I/O interconnect of choice for servers, workstations, desktop and mobile personal computers, embedded systems, peripheral devices and more.

"LeCroy maintains its leadership in protocol analysis by addressing our customers' most important issues in product development," said Joe Mendolia, Vice President of Marketing, LeCroy. "The new Summit T3-8 Protocol Analyzer has the right debugging features, application probing and platform cost to help developers complete their test projects."

Systems and devices based on the new protocol specification are facing difficult challenges such as correctly implementing dynamic equalization in order to bring up a link. The ability to visualize the actual process by using the LTSSM state machine featuring LeCroy's LTSSM/Substate view can be a key tool to solving problems and rapidly obtaining a robust implementation. Many new features in the PCIe 3.0 protocol occur at the physical layer and can be viewed with BitTracer™ where data and ordered set blocks, lane skew, scrambling can be viewed and measured.

"We are seeing a rapid increase in PCI Express 3.0 add-in card development activity. Most add-in cards will support x4 and x8 lane widths for high speed serial I/O," said John Wiedemeier, Product Marketing Manager for PCI Express Protocol Analysis, LeCroy. "The new Summit T3-8 protocol analyzer not only can address lower lane width applications, but when combined with another Summit T3-8 protocol analyzer can support x16 lane width applications as well."

The Summit T3-8 protocol analyzer is compatible with all previous PCI Express application specific probes and interposers. The Summit T3-8 protocol analyzer also includes the same powerful PETracer™ Software included on LeCroy's most advanced PCI Express protocol analysis systems. PETracer includes important data analysis views such as:

LTSSM/Substate View
Hierarchical Views
BitTracer Views
Data View
Flow Control Views
Configuration Space Views

LeCroy protocol analyzers have been at the forefront of PCI Express development tools. 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.

Availability

The Summit T3-8 protocol analyzer for PCIe 3.0 is now available to order. For additional information, contact LeCroy at 1-800-5LeCroy (1-800-553-2769) or visit LeCroy's web site at 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 45-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.