Express9

9-slot PCIe backplane (eight x4 slots plus one x8) with a PICMG 1.3 host slot, fitting standard 4U industrial chassis. For custom system builds, OEM integration and video wall expansion.

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.