For eight-lane PCIe multiplexing applications, a topology is illustrated where two DS160PR412 and two DS160PR421 devices are used. There are system use cases where the PCIe link loss is low enough (< 28 db) that a signal conditioner such as linear redrivers are not needed. In such use cases, system engineers can consider passive multiplexers to achieve the same lane multiplexing topology. The four-channel passive multiplexer or demultiplexer TMUXHS4412 is pin-to-pin (p2p) compatible with the DS160PR412 and DS160PR421. This p2p component availability provides great flexibility for system implementation engineers where the need for a redriver is not completely clear. Figure 2-2 illustrates p2p passive MUX vs redriver option to implement PCIe lane switching.

Figure 2-2 Pin-to-Pin Passive vs Redriver Option for PCIe Lane Switching