This book offers an introduction to the new I/O technology, PCI Express*, designed to allow increasing levels of computer system performance. The book details how PCI Express technology allows designers to overcome the practical performance limits of existing multi-drop, parallel bus technology. It explains how to increase performance and add new capabilities for a broad range of computing and communications platforms. Relevant technical considerations are presented that both hardware and software developers need to comprehend in order to employ PCI Express technology in next generation systems.