Broadcom has tested an end-to-end PCIe Gen 6 setup with a Micron SSD and Teledyne LeCroy protocol analyzing equipment.
The multi-lane PCIe (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express) bus is used to interconnect high-speed peripheral devices to a host server’s motherboard with its memory and processor. PCIe Gen 6 (64 Gbps) is twice as fast as PCIe Gen 5 (32 Gbps) and four times faster than PCIe Gen 4 (16 Gbps). The Computer Express Link (CXL) v3.0 scheme to interconnect high-speed devices with pooled memory and multi-level switching relies on PCIe Gen 6. Broadcom is focusing on direct SSD-to-AI host system speed, rather than CXL, with its PCIe Gen 6 product and testing initiatives.
Spokesperson Jas Tremblay, VP and GM of its Data Center Solutions Group, said: “The transition from PCIe Gen 5 to Gen 6 has been monumental given the accelerated need for trusted and reliable building blocks in next-gen AI systems.”
Broadcom is developing a PEX 90144 PCIe Gen 6 switch and two retimers: the BCM85668 8-lane and BCM85667 16-lane products. Retimers are PCIe bus relay stations, receiving a signal, cleaning it up, fixing any degradation, and sending it onward. They enable the bus to operate over longer distances than otherwise. It “retimes” the signal’s data by aligning it with a fresh clock pulse and removing jitter (timing noise) and distortion.
The company has not disclosed the number of ports in the PEX90144 switch. Broadcom’s PEX naming conventions typically designate the switch port count using the last two or three digits in the product name. The PEX89072 (PCIe Gen 5) offers up to 72 configurable ports and the earlier PEX88096 (PCIe Gen4) has up to 98 ports. This suggests the PEX90144 will have up to 144 ports.
Micron and Teledyne LeCroy are Broadcom’s PCIe Gen 6 ecosystem partners. Joe Mendolia, VP of Marketing, Protocol Solutions Group at Teledyne LeCroy, said: “Our early collaboration with Broadcom, leveraging our Summit M616 and M64 Protocol Analyzers and Exercisers and Broadcom’s PCIe switch portfolio, has led to the industry’s first PCIe 6.x interoperability and compliance testing development.”
Micron’s storage business SVP and GM, Jeremy Werner, played the AI card, saying: “Combined with Broadcom’s high-port switch, our SSDs serve as a critical building block for PCIe Gen 6 AI storage. Our successful interoperability testing with Broadcom and Teledyne LeCroy is evidence of the industry’s rapid transition toward a robust end-to-end PCIe Gen 6 portfolio capable of taking AI performance to the next level.”
Broadcom also says it has a PCIe Gen 6 Interop Development Platform (IDP) with telemetry and diagnostics capabilities. It is offering its PCIe Gen 6 portfolio – IDP + switch + retimers – to early access customers.
Astera Labs announced its Scorpio PCIe Gen 6 switch in October last year. Its PF60641L product has 64 lanes.
