IDT Introduces The Industry’s First PCI Express 3.0 Signal-conditioning Re-timers

The IDT re-timers are ideal for use in blade servers, enterprise storage and communication systems, and also play an important role in the transition of high-performance platforms to Cloud computing. Servers and storage systems for these distributed Cloud-based computing solutions will be among the first to deploy 8Gbps PCIe 3.0, and IDT re-timers will help ensure optimum performance with this new interface.

The IDT 89HT0808P and 89HT0816P re-timers are the latest members of the comprehensive IDT Signal Integrity Product family, which contains the broadest set of signal conditioning solutions for enterprise computing and communications applications. The new IDT re-timers are the first in the industry to be fully compliant to the new PCIe Automatic Link Equalization procedure, easing system design and enhancing reliability with any PCIe-compliant expansion card or host bus adapter.

“Once again, IDT re-affirms its position as the industry leader in PCI Express solutions for the computing market. These new IDT re-timers represent a major technical advancement and another step in providing customers with a complete PCIe portfolio of products,” said Mario Montana, vice president and general manager of the Enterprise Computing Division at IDT. “As the leader in PCI Express solutions, IDT offers a comprehensive portfolio of switches, bridges, timing products, repeaters, and now re-timers for next-generation PCIe-based designs.”

The IDT 8-channel 89HT0808P and 16-channel 89HT0816P re-timers support 8Gbps-per-channel communication over twice the distance of standard PCIe 3.0 devices and across typical system backplanes, improving system performance and reliability, and lowering bill of materials costs by reducing the overall design complexity.

“Signal re-timers provide a unique capability for linking large systems together with high-speed communications that conform to the new PCI Express 3.0 standard,” said Jim Pappas, director of initiative marketing at Intel. “Intel is encouraged that IDT is supporting PCIe 3.0 technology with this class of products.”

The IDT 89HT0808P and 89HT0816P re-timers include a high-performance analog front end, followed by a continuous time-linear equalizer (CTLE), 5-tap decision feedback equalizer (DFE), and clock and data recovery (CDR) unit. This highly sensitive input features dynamic optimization and can restore poor quality signals and eliminate random and deterministic jitter that exceeds the PCIe 3.0 specification.

“The IDT Signal Integrity Products have been key to extending the capabilities of our test instrument products. Our high-density application of 5Gbps PCI Express pushes the leading-edge of technology, and the IDT repeaters made the design easy and robust,” said HB Lin, vice president of Research and Development at Advantech. “The IDT repeaters provide Advantech with the capability to continue delivering products with a competitive edge and unique, value-added features.”

To facilitate quick in-system testing, the IDT re-timers also integrate on-die scope capabilities with a comprehensive suite of diagnostic loop-back features. An evaluation board is also available for the IDT 89HT0808P and 89HT0816P re-timers accompanied with a graphical user interface (GUI)-based software utility.

The comprehensive IDT Signal Integrity Product family contains solutions for common industry interfaces, such as PCIe Gen2 and Gen3, USB3, XAUI, SATA, SAS and Serial RapidIO®, and come in various channel densities and package sizes.