EDN Selects PLX Technology PCI Express Gen 2 Switch as Finalist in Innovation Awards Competition

Venerable Technology Magazine Cites PLX PEX 8696 Switch for Flexibility, High Performance, Unmatched Lane and Port Counts

SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- March 2, 2010 -- PLX Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLXT), a leading global supplier of software-enriched silicon for the enterprise and consumer markets, today announced its ExpressLane™ PEX 8696 PCI Express® 2.0 (PCIe® Gen 2) switch has been selected as a finalist in the 20th Annual EDN Innovation Awards competition. The awards honor outstanding engineering professionals and products.

EDN -- the acclaimed technology publication read by design engineers worldwide for more than half a century -- named the PLX® PEX 8696 switch as a finalist, based on the switch's unprecedented blend of flexibility, performance (up to 5GT/s) and number of lanes (96) and ports (24). The magazine's editors also cited the PEX 8696's speed-enhancing multiroot feature, enabling up to eight virtual switches; multicast support; non-transparent bridging; and ease with which designers of advanced systems such as communications, enterprise storage, embedded systems, and servers can configure and program the switch.

This is the third time ExpressLane switches have achieved finalist status in the EDN Innovation Awards; devices from PLX's Gen 1 and Gen 2 PCIe switch lines were nominated in previous years. Additionally, PLX's PCIe Gen 2 line was named one of EDN's "Hot 100" products for 2007 (see www.edn.com/article/CA6512870.html?text="pex+8600").

"Being recognized by such a highly respected and widely read industry publication as EDN is both an honor and testament to PLX's engineering prowess in PCI Express technology," said Vijay Meduri, vice president of engineering, switches, at PLX. "The PEX 8696 certainly meets the high standards of innovation the magazine set for the products it selects for the awards."

To vote for the PEX 8696, please go to www.edn.com/survey.asp?layout=survey&survey_id=1490001549 and see category #23 ("PCs AND PERIPHERALS").
Industry's Largest PCIe Switch

The PEX 8696 switch is the industry's first, and only, PCIe switch with unmatched 96 PCIe Gen 2 lanes and 24 flexible ports. The switch conforms to the PCI Express Base Specification, rev 2.0 standard. Its high lane and port counts enable users to add scalable, high-bandwidth, non-blocking interconnection to a wide variety of applications, such as servers, communications, storage, blade servers, and embedded systems.

The entire ExpressLane switch family features an industry-leading array of PCIe Gen 1 and Gen 2 switches, ranging from five to 96 lanes and three to 24 ports. PLX's PCIe Gen 2 switch line, introduced in 2007, now includes 22 high-performance devices with unparalleled flexibility, power efficiency and space conservation, enabling enhanced designs in the enterprise and consumer markets. For more information, go to www.plxtech.com/pcie.