Useful Tips for the PCI System Designer: Avoiding the Pitfalls of the Common P-P Bridge

This white paper is intended for engineers who are familiar with the PCI bus, yet may be perplexed by the broad range of PCI bridging devices available today. In this white paper we look at several PCI bridge applications, ranging from low-cost 32-bit 33 MHz transparent synchronous interfaces up through non-transparent asynchronous devices which bridge to high performance 133 MHz PCI-X. Looking at the array of bridges in the PLX product portfolio, it can be a daunting task to decide which bridge to use. This white paper uses some real-world examples to illustrate how key bridge features are utilized to solve a variety of problems in PCI systems.