Gennum's Snowbush PCI Express (PCIe) Switch and SATA/PCIe Host Bus Adapter IP Added to PCI-SIG Integrators List

Configurable 9-port PCIe 2.0 Compliant Switch and Multi-port SATA 6GT/s PCIe Compliant Host Bus Adapter Pass PCI-SIG Compliance Tests

BURLINGTON, Ontario, December 6, 2010 – Gennum Corporation’s Snowbush IP group (TSX: GND) today announced that two of its digital IP cores have achieved PCISIG ® compliance with three new entries added to the PCI-SIG Integrators List. The Snowbush PCI Express® (PCIe®) 2.0 configurable digital switch IP has been added to the switches and add-in cards categories, and the Snowbush multi-port PCIe technology to SATA 6 GT/s host bus adapter IP has been added to the add-in card category. The IP will facilitate the development of embedded switch and storage products based on the pervasive PCIe 2.0 standard.

“Our digital IP enables designers to easily add highly complex interconnect functions to their SOCs, and rapidly migrate to higher bandwidth standards,” said Kevin Walsh, Marketing Director for Gennum’s Snowbush IP group. “Robust, standards-compliant IP helps drive down the cost and time-to-market associated with PCIe 2.0 product development.”

Products on the Integrators List must meet all PCI-SIG testing guidelines set forth at the PCI-SIG Compliance Workshop, including protocol, electrical, and configuration tests. A complete and satisfactory PCI Compliance Checklist must also be submitted to the PCISIG. “Our testing guidelines ensure maximum product interoperability,” said Al Yanes, President and Chairman, PCI-SIG. “By meeting these compliance and interoperability requirements with subsystem level IP, the Gennum Snowbush IP group gives the market an additional solution for deploying PCIe 2.0 compliant products.”

Snowbush PCIe 2.0 Digital Switch IP for Add-in Cards, Systems

Having been certified compliant with the PCIe Base specification revision 2.0, the Snowbush PCIe switch IP has now passed the PCI-SIG Compliance and Interoperability Test for add-in cards and systems. The Snowbush IP core is a configurable, nine-port switch that supports one upstream, and up to eight downstream, ports. Each port can be configured as x1, x2 or x4. The IP supports maximum payload-only bandwidth of 11.0 gigabits per second (Gbps) in a x4 configuration with low latency. Embedded endpoints are supported as downstream ports.

The Snowbush PCIe Switch IP was validated and tested using the Dini Group’s DNMEG_V5T_PCIE daughter card, an FPGA-based emulation platform. Gennum’s Snowbush IP group uses several of Dini Group’s platforms to validate its complex digital IPs.

"The combination of this robust IP with Dini Group’s knowledgeable support staff and leading-edge, FPGA-based hardware emulation platforms gives the market an attractive solution for rapidly deploying systems and add-in cards based on the PCIe 2.0 standard, ” said Mike Dini, President for the Dini Group. "Working together with Snowbush IP ultimately saves cost for our mutual customers, who are developing multi-million gate SoCs.”

About the PCIe 2.0 Technology to SATA 6GT/s Host Bus Adapter Digital IP

The Snowbush PCIe 2.0 technology-to-SATA 6GT/s host bus adapter IP provides SATA host functionality through a PCIe bus connection to a system’s main processor. The IP enables up to 8 SATA ports to be connected to a system’s PCIe bus through a PCIe endpoint, and can be configured as either x1, x2, x4 or x8. Compliant to the Intel AHCI specification 1.3 and SATA Specification 3.0, this IP is also ideal for high-performance SoC applications where the processor bus must be limited to control-only traffic, and in applications requiring Direct Memory Access (DMA) functions to reduce processor load and latency.

Availability

The Snowbush PCIe 2.0 9-port switch and PCIe 2.0 technology to SATA 6 GT/s host bus adapter IP are available immediately for licensing, and are technology-independent. For more information on licensing terms and pricing, please contact sales@snowbush.com.

About PCI-SIG

PCI-SIG is the Special Interest Group that owns and manages PCI specifications as open industry standards. The organization defines and implements new industry standard I/O (Input/Output) specifications as the industry's local I/O needs evolve. The PCI Special Interest Group was formed in 1992 and became a nonprofit corporation, named “PCISIG,” in the year 2000. Currently, more than 820 industry-leading companies are active PCI-SIG members worldwide. PCI-SIG’s current directors are employed by the following PCI-SIG member companies: Agilent, AMD, Dell, HP, IBM, Intel, LSI, NVIDIA and Oracle. For more information about the PCI-SIG, and its membership benefits, visit the PCI-SIG website at http://www.pcisig.com or contact (503) 619-0569 (within the United States).

About the Gennum Snowbush IP Group

The Gennum Snowbush IP group offers a team of interconnect specialist to design and deliver silicon-proven, high-speed serial interface IP. Comprising one of the industry’s most robust, widely-deployed, production-tested and customizable family of IP cores, the Snowbush IP portfolio satisfies the needs of today’s most demanding high-speed serial communication protocols and applications. The offering includes complete, integrated, PHY and controller solutions for standards like USB, PCI Express® and Serial ATA (SATA), and single and multi-standard SerDes for applications with data rates from 1 Gb/s to over 10 Gb/s. Gennum’s Snowbush IP group is committed to supporting customers with diverse foundry and process requirements, offering IP cores for TSMC, UMC, Common Platform, and Fujitsu processes. For more information, visit www.snowbush.com.

About Gennum

Gennum Corporation (TSX: GND) designs innovative semiconductor solutions and intellectual property (IP) cores to serve the rising global demand for high-speed data transmission products in the broadcast, networking, storage and telecommunications markets. Gennum offers proven optical, analog and mixed-signal solutions with uncompromising signal integrity to support standards such as high-definition (HD) video, Fibre Channel, InfiniBand®, Ethernet, SONET and PCI Express®. The company is headquartered in Burlington, Canada, and has global design, research and development and sales offices in Canada, Mexico, Japan, Taiwan, Germany, United States, India and the United Kingdom. www.gennum.com.