The OXPCIe200 PCI Express
(PCIe) bridge links a 1x PCI Express host
to a pair of USB host interfaces or one USB
host interface and an SPI/SRAM interface
(see the figure). The bridge also provides
access to a serial port and eight generalpurpose
I/Os (GPIOs).
The bridge’s dual-USB mode provides
one high-speed and one full-speed USB
2.0 host interface. The high-speed interface
has a built-in physical layer (PHY).
The second requires an external PHY.
DMA support is available for all serial
interfaces.
A typical application includes a dual-
USB expansion card link to USB hard
drives. It can also provide access to a range
of interfaces that may not be included in
the host system. PLX Technology offers
bridges that have parallel ports and local
bus interfaces as well.
The 3.3-V OXPCIe200 comes in a 9- by
9-mm, 156-ball thin-array plastic package
(TAPP). A reference design kit comes on
a PC-style PCI Express x1 board. Windows
and Linux device drivers are available
for the serial port and serial peripheral
interfaces (SPIs). Native operating-system
(OS) drivers are used with the USB ports.
Chip pricing starts at $7.95.
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