Specifications

90 Chapter 4: Matrox Solios hardware reference
PCIe/PCI/PCI-X interface
Matrox Solios uses PCI-X technology to communicate on-board. PCI-X is a
high-performance backwards-compatible enhancement to the conventional PCI
bus specification. To communicate with the Host, Matrox Solios XCL and XA
can transfer data using either the Host’s PCI or PCI-X bus, depending on the slot
used by the board. Matrox Solios eCL and eA can transfer data using the Host’s
PCIe bus.
On Matrox Solios XCL and XA, a standard PCI-X to PCI-X bridge handles the
PCI/PCI-X connection. On Matrox Solios eCL and eA, a PCI-X to PCIe bridge
handles the PCIe connection.
Using the Host PCIe/PCI/PCI-X bus, Matrox Solios can copy data between its
acquisition memory, the Host, and any other memory mapped onto the
PCIe/PCI/PCI-X bus. The PCIe/PCI/PCI-X bus connects all Matrox Solios
components to the Host, and to peripherals such as a display board.
Under optimum conditions, Matrox Solios can exchange data with the Host at a
peak transfer rate of up to 1 Gbyte/sec. For Matrox Solios eCL and eA, these
conditions include using the board in a x4 or x8 PCIe slot with at least 4 active
lanes. For Matrox Solios eCL-B and eA Single, these conditions include using the
board in a x1 PCIe slot. For Matrox Solios XCL and XA, these conditions include
using the board in a 133 MHz PCI-X slot. If Matrox Solios XCL and XA are used
with a conventional 3.3 or 5V PCI slot, the maximum transfer rate is reduced
(132 Mbytes/sec for a 32-bit PCI slot, 266 Mbytes/sec for a 66 MHz 32-bit PCI
slot, and 532 Mbytes/sec for a 66 MHz 64-bit PCI slot).
Using the PCIe/PCI/PCI-X bus, Matrox Solios can also access Host physically
contiguous, non-paged memory. An advantage of this memory is that a bus
mastering device (such as Matrox Solios) can access this memory without the help
of the Host CPU.