New SerialTek Solution Delivers Full Visibility Into Complex PCI Express® Networks

LONGMONT, Colo., April 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- SerialTek, a leading provider of protocol test solutions for PCI Express®, NVM Express®, Serial Attached SCSI, and Serial ATA, today introduced an advancement in the PCIe® test and analysis market with the release of BusXpert™ iTAP™, supporting Broadcom's PCIe Embedded Analyzer technology, a groundbreaking offering in Broadcom's new PEX89000 Gen5 PCIe switch platform. BusXpert iTAP is a convenient "tap" framework integrated with SerialTek's BusXpert analyzer software for the Kodiak™ PCIe Gen5 x16 Protocol Analysis System, providing PCIe developers the ability to set up, capture, decode, and view PCIe trace data captured on-chip by Broadcom's PCIe Embedded Analyzer technology. When used in conjunction with the Kodiak protocol analysis system, PCIe developers can seamlessly transition between Kodiak's deep PCIe traces and iTAP embedded traces.

Deeper Analysis with BusXpert iTAP for Broadcom PCIe Embedded Analyzer Technology
With SerialTek's Kodiak PCIe Analyzers and BusXpert Protocol Analysis software, users can analyze and debug PCIe traffic with a rich feature set and high flexibility that customers and the industry have come to expect. However, with today's highly integrated systems where switches and many chip-to-chip interconnects exist, physical limitations to accessing all possible PCIe interconnects at their point of origin can prove challenging. BusXpert iTAP solves this problem by harnessing and directly connecting to each instance of Broadcom's PCIe Embedded Analyzer technology with no additional hardware required. 

"Broadcom had the foresight to know they needed a collaboration with a protocol analyzer company to make this embedded analyzer as effective and impactful as it could be," says Paul J. Mutschler, CEO of SerialTek, "With our history in protocol analysis and new advancements in modern WebUI interfaces, we were an obvious choice for this new Broadcom tool." Broadcom integrated this technology into its PCIe Gen5 PEX89000 switches and supports the following robust feature set:

• BusXpert iTAP - Integrated with BusXpert for common PCIe trace analyzer software
• Embedded Analyzer - No external hardware required, eliminating probe insertion challenges
• Advanced Trigger Capabilities, Programmable filtering, Data compression - Fully capable embedded solution
• Parallel Analysis - Embedded analyzers capable of triggering other instances to allow for synchronized parallel analysis. 
• In-band (PCIe) and out-of-band connectivity (JTAG)

"Broadcom is committed to fulfilling the demands of the market for ML/AI applications, providing advanced solutions to capture data traffic internal to a chip such as our new PCIe Embedded Analyzer technology available on the next-generation of Broadcom PEX89000 series switches," said Jas Tremblay, vice president and general manager of the Data Center Solutions Group at Broadcom. "Collaborating with SerialTek to unveil this new PCIe diagnostic capability allows us to further progress the ability to collect first data capture and telemetry data, as well as augment the rich analysis tools currently available to the market."

Kodiak Platform with an Advanced Processing Architecture
The Kodiak platform introduces major performance-oriented innovations made possible by an embedded architecture that breaks free from legacy data upload practices in favor of advanced, optimized embedded data processing, fully reimagined by SerialTek engineering from the ground up to handle latest- and future-generation PCIe technologies. Interface responsiveness is markedly advanced, searches involving massive amounts of data are fast, and hardware filtering is flexible and powerful. For more information on the Kodiak platform, please visit www.serialtek.com.

Availability, Product Photos, and Information
For more information, including software downloads, contact [email protected] or visit www.serialtek.com.

About SerialTek
SerialTek, an Ellisys company, is a provider of innovative protocol test and analysis tools for the datacenter and storage industry. Leading manufacturers depend on our products to improve product quality and drive time-to-market requirements. SerialTek solutions support a variety of standards, including PCI Express (PCIe), Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe), Serial Attached SCSI (SAS), and Serial ATA (SATA).

SerialTek, the SerialTek logo, Kodiak, SI-Fi, BusXpert and iTAP are trademarks of SerialTek, and may be registered in some jurisdictions. Atlas and PEA are trademarks of Broadcom and may be registered in some jurisdictions PCI Express® and PCIe® are registered trademarks of PCI-SIG® Corporation. NVM Express®, NVMe™, and NVMe-oF™ are trademarks of NVM Express, Inc. Other trademarks and trade names are those of their respective owners.

SerialTek Contact:    
Simon Thomas, Sr. Director of Sales and Marketing
Phone: +1-720-204-2140
Email: [email protected]
Address: 1551 S. Sunset St., Suite A, Longmont, CO 80501

Related Files
SerialTek-BusXpert ITAP PR FINAL.pdf

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SOURCE SerialTek, LLC