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9-slot PCIe backplane chassis
The EMS Express9 backplanes use advanced PCI Express switches to create a high-bandwidth fabric connecting up to nine PCIe plug-in cards to a host system. The host can be a Single Board Computer (SBC) connecting directly into the PICMG 1.3 slot, creating a standalone 9-slot PC — or a remote host connected via EMS's HLink-G3 and SLink-G3 products, transforming the Express9 into a 9-slot expansion backplane. Multiple Express9 backplanes in expansion mode allow construction of systems up to 41 slots.
The standard Express9 uses PCIe 2.0 (Gen2) switching for 4GB/s peak bandwidth from the PICMG and slot 1, and 2GB/s from slots two to nine. The Express9-G3 variant uses PCIe 3.0 (Gen3) switches, boosting bandwidth to 4GB/s and 8GB/s respectively — even with Gen1/Gen2-rated plug-in cards, the extra bandwidth provides a peak bidirectional link of 8GB/s between backplanes (via HLink-G3/SLink-G3), eliminating the bottleneck between capture cards in one chassis and display cards in another. As a guide, 8GB/s can handle roughly 14 full HD streams at 60Hz/32bpp in either direction.
Express9 suits integrators building a custom VSN-based system from the ground up, or standardising on a smaller 9-slot footprint per chassis across a multi-room deployment — rather than one large 11-slot system, several Express9 units can be daisy-chained to reach the same total slot count with more physical placement flexibility (e.g. splitting capture and display hardware between rooms).
Choose the standard Gen2 Express9 for cost-sensitive builds using older Gen1/Gen2-rated capture cards; choose the Express9-G3 where future-proofing or multi-chassis genlocking bandwidth matters, since the extra headroom is used automatically even before you add Gen3 cards.
| Max Power (without SBC) | 5W (Express9) / 8W (Express9-G3) |
|---|---|
| Form Factor | ATX & PICMG mount compatible |
| Card Slots | PICMG1.3 host SBC + 1x PCIe(x8) + 8x PCIe(x4) |
| PSU Connections | 4x 24-pin ATX (Express9) / 2x 24-pin ATX (Express9-G3), plus 8-pin 12V AUX |
| I/O Connections | 2x SATA2, 2x USB2.0 (via PICMG), 3x 4-pin temp-controlled fan headers |
| Operating Temperature | 0 to 35°C / 32 to 95°F |
| Storage Temperature | -20 to 70°C / -4 to 158°F |
| Relative Humidity | 5% to 90% non-condensing |
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