1 Features

• 8-lane (16-channel) protocol-aware PCI-express

retimer supporting 16.0, 8.0, 5.0, and 2.5 GT/s

interfaces

• Inter-chip communication (ICC) enable dual chip

link width scaling to form 16-lane Gen-4 retimer

• Supports common clock, separate reference clock

with no spread spectrum clocking (SSC), and

separate reference clock with SSC

• Supports 2x4 bifurcation

• Adaptive receive CTLE and DFE supporting

maximum PCIe Gen-4 channel loss

• Supports equalization training

• Low-latency architecture

• On-chip eye opening monitor (EOM) and PCIe

receive margining capability

• Small 8.50-mm × 13.40-mm BGA package

• Flow-through pinout enables signal breakout in two

signal layers

• Compatible with standard 1.00-mm BGA PCB

manufacturing

• Dual power supply: 1.17 V and 1.8 V

• I2C configuration (up to 1 MHz) through the

external EEPROM or I2C controller

• Industrial temperature range: −40°C to 85°C

2 Applications

• Rack server

• Microserver and tower server

• High performance computing

• Hardware accelerator

3 Description

The DS160PT801 is a high-performance eight-lane

(16-channel) PCI-Express protocol-aware retimer

supporting all standard PCIe data rates up to 16

GT/s. It is used to extend the reach and robustness

of high-speed PCIe serial links, from chip-to-chip

motherboard links to more complex multi-connector

system topologies.

The DS160PT801 supports both common-clock and

independent reference clock architectures, with and

without spread-spectrum clocking. This allows for

maximum flexibility in defining the system clock

architecture.

Multi-

( pulldown,

The eight lanes in the DS160PT801 can be

bifurcated into two x4 links to support different system

topologies.

A compact yet easy-to-manufacture BGA package

provides excellent thermal performance while

enabling optimal placement in space-constrained

applications like 1RU riser cards. This feature reduces

overall solution size, PCB routing complexity, and

BOM cost.

Diagnostic capabilities include in-band receiver

margining, out-of-band non-destructive horizontal

or vertical eye margin monitor, receiver loopback,

encoding error detection, and on die temperature

sensor. These features help gauge link margin and

can be used to monitor system health over time.

The DS160PT801 is configurable through SMBus

interface. The Initial configuration can be

automatically loaded from external EEPROM.