Microsemi Announces New Switchtec PAX Advanced Fabric PCIe Switch to Accelerate Evolution of Hyperconverged Systems to Composable/Disaggregated Infrastructures

Hyperconverged systems are evolving towards composable/disaggregated infrastructures (C/DI) such as rack scale architecture to meet the rapidly changing demands on resources and storage capacity of next-generation applications. PAX advanced fabric PCIe switches provide a scalable, low latency and cost-effective solution to the disaggregation of computing, networking, graphics processing units (GPUs) and storage resources.  These PAX PCIe switches, which are flexibly interconnected with configurable high-speed fabric links, virtualize PCIe domains and SR-IOV endpoints. System development is simplified through a fabric application programming interface (API) and the ability to utilize off-the-shelf NVMe host drivers, significantly reducing time-to-market for complex multi-host systems. 

"As we work closely with industry leaders, it became clear there's demand for Microsemi to expand our PCIe switch portfolio to support next-generation disaggregated architectures," said Derek Dicker, vice president and business unit manager for performance storage at Microsemi. "Our PAX advanced fabric PCIe switch is pin-compatible to our PSX storage and PFX fanout PCIe switches, providing our customers a simple upgrade path to building SR-IOV-enabled and composable disaggregated systems while supporting our ability to gain market share."

According to market research firm IDC's February report titled, "Composable/Disaggregated Infrastructure (C/DI)—Addressable Market Opportunity," the total worldwide addressable opportunity for vendors with C/DI is $34.5 billion in 2017. The firm also expects this opportunity will grow at a modest compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.4 percent and reach $45 billion in 2020. Microsemi's Switchtec PAX advanced fabric PCIe switch is well-aligned to these growth trends, as it enables customers to leverage the device for the development of next-generation C/DIs.

Microsemi's Switchtec PAX family comprises switches from 96 lanes to 24 lanes, providing:

• High-performance PCIe fabric connectivity overcoming the limitations of the PCIe Specification for rack scale multi-host systems
• Multi-host sharing of SR-IOV and multifunction endpoints
• Virtualization of PCIe domains and SR-IOV NVMe solid state drives (SSDs)
• Software development kit (SDK) for virtualization of other SR-IOV endpoints, and for enclosure management
• The most flexible port bifurcation in the industry, from x2 to x16 lanes per port
• The highest port density, with up to 48 ports
• Advanced error reporting
• Error containment for surprise-plug and unplug to prevent system crashes
• Advanced diagnostics and debug features to identify, diagnose and fix problems
• Separate Refclk Independent SSC (SRIS) for cabled PCIe and lower cost system designs

Product Availability
Microsemi's Switchtec PAX advanced fabric PCIe switches are sampling now to lead customers. For more information, visit https://www.microsemi.com/products/storage/switchtec-pcie-storage-switches/switchtec-pcie-advanced-fabric-switches or contact [email protected].

About Microsemi's PCI Express Product Portfolio
Microsemi is a premier supplier of high value-add PCIe products including the scalable, low power, high-reliability PFX family of PCIe Gen3 fanout switches, the programmable PSX family of PCIe Gen3 storage switches, and the low power, multi-protocol, adaptive EQNOX™ family of signal conditioners with FlexEQ™ equalization technology supporting PCIe Gen3 and PCIe Gen2. Microsemi's PCIe family is key to building low power and high-reliability data center, communications, defense and industrial servers; workstations; switches; routers; cellular infrastructure and test equipment. For more information about Microsemi's PCIe portfolio, visit http://www.microsemi.com/products/drivers-interfaces-and-pcie-switches/pcie-switches/pcie-switches.         

About Microsemi's Product Portfolio for Data Center
Microsemi is a premier supplier of innovative semiconductor, board, system, software and services for enterprise and hyperscale data centers, enabling high performance, secure, low power and reliable infrastructure for scalable deployments. Microsemi technologies drive innovation in applications including storage systems, server storage, NVMe solutions, Ethernet switching, rack scale architecture, data center interconnect, board management, network timing and power subsystems. Building on a track record of technology leadership, Microsemi's data center infrastructure portfolio is transforming networks that connect, store and move big data, while lowering the total cost of ownership of deploying next generation services. 

The portfolio includes high performance NVMe storage controllers, NVRAM drives, SAS/SATA host bus adapters and RAID controllers enabling high capacity storage architectures, high density PCIe switching and firmware for rack scale architectures, PCIe re-drivers, and Ethernet PHYs for intra-rack connectivity. Microsemi's product portfolio also includes clock and power management, IEEE1588 integrated circuits (ICs) and NTP servers for synchronization across the data center, as well as field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and system-on-chip (SoC) FPGAs to perform secure system management of servers and storage. For more information, visit http://www.microsemi.com/applications/data-center.

About Microsemi
Microsemi Corporation (Nasdaq: MSCC) offers a comprehensive portfolio of semiconductor and system solutions for aerospace & defense, communications, data center and industrial markets. Products include high-performance and radiation-hardened analog mixed-signal integrated circuits, FPGAs, SoCs and ASICs; power management products; timing and synchronization devices and precise time solutions, setting the world's standard for time; voice processing devices; RF solutions; discrete components; enterprise storage and communication solutions, security technologies and scalable anti-tamper products; Ethernet solutions; Power-over-Ethernet ICs and midspans; as well as custom design capabilities and services. Microsemi is headquartered in Aliso Viejo, California, and has approximately 4,800 employees globally. Learn more at www.microsemi.com.

Microsemi and the Microsemi logo are registered trademarks or service marks of Microsemi Corporation and/or its affiliates. Third-party trademarks and service marks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Any statements set forth in this news release that are not entirely historical and factual in nature, including without limitation statements related to the availability of its Switchtec PAX advanced fabric Gen3 PCIe switch providing high-performance fabric connectivity for scalable, multi-host systems and JBOFs supporting SR-IOV, NVMe and multi-function endpoints, and its potential effects on future business, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. The potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, such factors as rapidly changing technology and product obsolescence, potential cost increases, variations in customer order preferences, weakness or competitive pricing environment of the marketplace, uncertain demand for and acceptance of the company's products, adverse circumstances in any of our end markets, results of in-process or planned development or marketing and promotional campaigns, difficulties foreseeing future demand, potential non-realization of expected orders or non-realization of backlog, product returns, product liability, and other potential unexpected business and economic conditions or adverse changes in current or expected industry conditions, difficulties and costs of protecting patents and other proprietary rights, inventory obsolescence and difficulties regarding customer qualification of products. In addition to these factors and any other factors mentioned elsewhere in this news release, the reader should refer as well to the factors, uncertainties or risks identified in the company's most recent Form 10-K and all subsequent Form 10-Q reports filed by Microsemi with the SEC. Additional risk factors may be identified from time to time in Microsemi's future filings. The forward-looking statements included in this release speak only as of the date hereof, and Microsemi does not undertake any obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

SOURCE Microsemi Corporation

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