Press Releases

CATALYST DEBUTS NEW AUTOMATED COMPLIANCE TEST SUITE

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Sept. 29, 2004 - TCatalyst Enterprises, Inc., a leading manufacturer of development tools for a broad range of serial and parallel bus technologies, today announced the SpekChek Compliance Test Suite, a collection of automated compliance verification tests for Catalyst’s widely deployed SPX Analyzer/Exerciser hardware. The SpekChek Compliance Test Suite for Endpoints, developed to confirm endpoint compliance to the PCI Express* specification, provides active stimulus/response testing across up to four lanes (and up to 16 lanes in subsequent versions). An upcoming addition to SpekChek will provide automated compliance testing for root complex devices.

The SpekChek Compliance Test Suite for Endpoints is based on the Endpoint Compliance Checklist, a document produced by PCI-SIG*, the special-interest group chartered to develop and manage standards for PCI Express, conventional PCI, and PCIX*. Developed to be used by designers of PCI Express products, such as silicon, embedded systems and add-in boards, it is offered as an optional add-on to the Catalyst SPX Analyzer/Exerciser system as well as an option for an initial SPX purchase.

The SpekChek Compliance Test Suite for Endpoints is available free, until January 2005, as a part of Catalyst’s application programming interface (API) option, and to existing customers who own the API option.

“Among the wide range of the PCI-SIG’s efforts in PCI Express technology is an emphasis on compliance and interoperability among the systems, boards and test equipment designed to employ this rapidly growing interconnect technology,” said Rich Baek, executive director of the PCI-SIG. “PCI-SIG appreciates Catalyst Enterprises’ continued commitment to advancing the PCI Express technology by bringing to market a system that adheres to the Endpoint Compliance Checklist and helps assure compliance over a range of products based on PCI Express architecture.”

“Before we introduced SpekChek, there were no real benchmark standards for verifying an endpoint’s adherence to the PCI Express specification,” said Chuck Trefts, Catalyst product manager. “For PCI Express to maintain the success it’s been seeing, compliance is essential; not only must devices comply with the protocol requirements defined by the specification, but there must be a high degree of interoperability between diverse PCI Express systems and devices. SpekChek was developed to identify potentially costly interoperability problems early in the design phase, and remedy them before a product ships.”

Closed-Loop Architecture Handles x4 Link Widths

The SpekChek Compliance Test Suite for Endpoints provides designers with a set of efficient compliance-verifying tools that leverage existing SPX Analyzer/Exerciser hardware and software. SpekChek features a closed-loop stimulus/response architecture. As tests are completed, the user is presented with a report that identifies test cases that did not meet criteria for compliance. Additionally, SpekChek enables users to inspect captures of each individual test result in order to fully understand how any particular test was executed, including exerciser setup and stimulus as well as the response of the device under test. The results of each test can be viewed in the standard Catalyst format, which shows the full protocol details of each test. Furthermore, each individual test project can also be fully edited, giving designers the ability to run corner-case testing.

Availability & Pricing

The SpekChek software add-on package is available now, free as part of the API option, through January 2005. Following that date, SpekChek will be sold separately as an add-on package to the SPX Series of Analyzers/Exercisers. Please contact Catalyst directly at 408.365.3846 for specific pricing or additional information.

About Catalyst Enterprises

Founded in 1992 in San Jose, Calif., Catalyst Enterprises manufactures data bus analysis and emulation tools for PCI, PCI-X, USB 2.0, PCI Express, SAS, SATA, and other communications protocols. Catalyst’s development tools incorporate a reconfigurable hardware core architecture that can be updated in the field, keeping the tool current with the latest standards and updated feature sets. These flexible hardware tools are powered by protocol-specific software applications, which are made available to customers for the lifetime of the product. Catalyst products are used by companies in the telecommunications, semiconductor, software, consumer electronics, defense and other industries. For more information, visit the company Web site at www.getcatalyst.com or phone 408.365.3846.

*SpekChek is a trademark of Catalyst Enterprises, which may be registered in some jurisdictions. All other trademarks or registered trademarks mentioned in this release are the intellectual property of their respective owners.

Editorial Contacts

Jerry Steach
CommonGround Communications
jerry@getcatalyst.com
415.222.9996

Chuck Trefts
Catalyst Enterprises
chuck@getcatalyst.com
408.365.3846, ext. 116