ADLINK PXES-2596 Gen3 Chassis Installation and Maintenance Guide

ADLINK PXES-2596 Gen3 Nine Slot PXIe Chassis Deployment and Operation

In bandwidth intensive application scenarios such as high-speed data acquisition, RF testing, and semiconductor verification, the system throughput of the PXI Express platform often becomes a bottleneck that restricts system performance. ADLINK PXES-2596 is a 9-slot PXI Express fully hybrid chassis based on PCIe Gen3 technology, providing 1 system slot and 8 hybrid peripheral slots. The total system bandwidth is up to 16 GB/s, and each peripheral slot independently supports PCIe x4 Gen3 links (single slot bandwidth of 4 GB/s), achieving doubled performance compared to the previous generation Gen2 chassis. In addition, the series also offers a 12 slot version of PXES-2596E, with an additional 3 PXI Express peripheral slots to increase slot density while maintaining high bandwidth. The chassis adopts an industrial grade 500W ATX power supply, which does not require a separate power board, simplifying system integration and maintenance. The intelligent monitoring system provides real-time reports on fan speed, voltage rail, and internal temperature through ChassisWatch, combined with a multi-level fixed temperature control fan strategy, providing a maximum heat dissipation capacity of 58 W per slot (40 ° C ambient temperature) at ambient temperatures ranging from 0 ° C to 50 ° C. 

Product positioning and core features

The PXES-2596 series is a high bandwidth, high-density chassis platform launched by ADLINK to meet the testing needs of the next generation PXI Express. It complies with the PXI-5 Rev. 1.0 specification and is compatible with CompactPCI, PXI, CompactPCI Express, and hybrid slot compatible PXI-1 modules. The core design highlights include:

Dual Link Gen3 Switching Architecture: The system slot (Slot 1) provides PCIe 2-link x8 x8 Gen3 uplink, and all peripheral slots (8 hybrid slots or 3 additional peripheral slots) independently support PCIe x4 Gen3. The system bandwidth reaches 16 GB/s, and each peripheral slot has a bandwidth of 4 GB/s, ensuring that multi-channel high-speed data acquisition cards, vector signal transceivers, and other modules run simultaneously without bandwidth contention.

ATX power supply design: Built in 500W industrial grade ATX power supply, no independent power board, simplifies internal wiring of the chassis, reduces failure points, and facilitates user replacement or upgrade of power modules (standard ATX size).

Full mixing slot: In the 9-slot version, except for the system slot, the other 8 slots are all mixing slots, which can flexibly install any type of 3U module; The 12 slot version (2596E) adds 3 dedicated PXI Express peripheral slots in addition to the system slots and 8 hybrid slots, providing additional slots specifically for pure PCIe modules.

Intelligent fan and monitoring: Rear dual fans (total air volume 420.76 CFM) combined with multi-level fixed temperature control strategy, no need for users to set target temperature, automatically adapting to load changes. The front panel's three color LED (power blue, fan green, temperature amber) visually indicates the system status.

Extended clock synchronization: Provides internal SMA connectors for 10 MHz reference clock input/output, supports external high-precision clock source synchronization, and meets the requirements of multiple chassis cascading or phase coherence with external instruments.

Detailed specifications and environmental adaptability

2.1 Power parameters

Communication input: 115-240 VAC (wide range), 47-63 Hz, maximum input current 8 A @ 115 VAC/4 A @ 230 VAC.

DC output (total power 500W, including system controller):

Voltage rail maximum current load adjustment rate Ripple noise

+5V 40 A ±5% 60 mV

+12V 32 A ±5% 120 mV

-12V to+12V conversion ± 5% 120 mV

+3.3V 30 A ±5% 60 mV

5Vsb 2 A ±5% 60 mV

Total power budget: The total power consumption of the system controller and peripheral modules shall not exceed 500W, and it is recommended to reserve a margin of 10% to 20% during actual deployment.

2.2 Reference Clock

10 MHz system reference clock: inter slot skew ≤ 300 ps, built-in accuracy ± 25 ppm; External input requires 10 MHz ± 100 PPM, amplitude of 100 mVpp~5 Vpp (square wave or sine wave), and input impedance of 50 Ω± 5 Ω.

100 MHz differential clock (PXIE_CK100): inter slot skew ≤ 100 ps, accuracy ± 25 ppm.

Clock input/output: Provides a 10 MHz signal interface through an internal SMA connector (inside the chassis), with an output amplitude of 1 Vpk pk (50 Ω load) or 2 Vpk pk (no-load), and an output impedance of 50 Ω± 5 Ω.

2.3 Cooling and Physical Specifications

Fan: 2 sets totaling 210.38 CFM (420.76 CFM in total), with rear exhaust and bottom intake.

Cooling capacity per slot: 58 W (40 ° C ambient temperature verification), 38 W (50 ° C ambient temperature verification).

Size (9 slots): 302.16 mm (width) x 177.8 mm (height) x 457 mm (depth); Backboard size 287.88 mm × 165.45 mm; weight 11 kg.

Environment: Working temperature of 0-50 ° C, storage of -20~70 ° C, humidity of 10%~90%, no condensation; Anti impact 30G half sine, vibration working 0.3 Grms, non working 2.46 Grms.