The MAX5960L evaluation kit (EV kit) is a fully assembled and tested surface-mount quad hot-plug controller printed-circuit board (PCB) with four PCI Express® hot-plug slots. The circuit uses a MAX5960L IC in an 80-pin TQFP package. The EV kit provides independent power control for the 12V, 3.3V, and 3.3V auxiliary outputs at four PCI Express x16 connectors. The EV kit demonstrates the MAX5960L IC's inrush current control, output overcurrent/short-circuit protection, and input undervoltage monitoring features.

The MAX5960L IC controls two separate external n-channel MOSFETs for the 12V and 3.3V outputs of each channel, respectively. Additionally, the MAX5960L has internal MOSFETs that control the 3.3V auxiliary outputs of channels A, B, C, and D. Switches are provided to independently enable/disable each channels' main (12V, 3.3V) and auxiliary supply (3.3V).

The MAX5960L EV kit can be reconfigured for evaluating a x1, x4, or x8 PCI Express quad hot-plug design. Alternatively, the EV kit can also be used to demonstrate the MAX5960L hot-plug features without using the PCI Express x16 connectors.

The EV kit includes three MAX7313 I/O expanders that enable communication through an SMBus™ interface for the MAX5960L signals and some of the PCI Express channel signals. A CMAXQUSB interface board can be used to enable PC communication through the SMBus interface. Simple Windows® 98SE/2000/XP-compatible software is provided to access each MAX7313 I/O expander register at the bit level. The MAX5960L EV kit can also be used in local control, without any software.

Order the MAX5960LEVCMAXQU for a complete PC-based evaluation of the MAX5960L. Order the MAX5960LEVKIT if you already have a CMAXQUSB interface board or do not require PC-based evaluation of the MAX5960L.