The first tests are already underway, trying to prepare everything for its official launch, which will be done first in server and data center environments, and then on home computers on a regular basis.
¿PCIe 6.0 in 2024?
Alphawave, a silicon IP service provider and contract chip designer, has reportedly partnered with Keysight, a manufacturer of test and verification equipment. All this in order to check the speed at which the controller would reach PCIe 6.0seeking to reach those 64 GT/s What the new version promises.
You have to remember that each version doubles the speed of the previous one, these being the ones we have had since 2004:
- PCIE 1.0 (2004) – 2 GB/s
- PCIE 2.0 (2007) – 4 GB/s
- PCIE 3.0 (2010) – 8 GB/s
- PCIE 4.0 (2017) – 16 GB/s
- PCIE 5.0 (2019) – 32 GB/s
- PCIE 6.0 (¿2024?) – 64 GB/s
It is true that this interface was expected much earlier, even in 2021, but it would have been a little delayed, to the point that it will only be in 2024, hopefully, that we will see it in operation.
And we say 2024 because yes, Alphawave would have passed the speed tests and would be ready to manufacture chips with a PCIe 6.0 interface during the next year, joining the other companies that are waiting for the release of this version with the first devices that will see us in operation.
Since 2021, Synopsys, an IP service provider, has offered a PCIe 6.0 IP package containing the controller and physical interface (PHY), which already demonstrated its success earlier this year with a test chip from Intel.
Likewise, Alphawave has more news, since it would not only work with Keysight’s Protocol Exerciser with PAM4, but it would also support the CXL 2.0 protocol, thus being the first to do so and already waiting for a future update updated to CXL 3.0.
All of this is good news that brings us closer to this interface, pointing all of this towards 2024 where we will start to see it, although these types of changes are very slow and it will only be a few years later that we will take in version form standardized.
From interface 3.0 to 4.0, it has never taken us this long to have an update, and technology is advancing more and more, but for the same reason it is becoming more and more complicated to create advancements so quickly, especially when we talk about doubling speeds.
But it looks like everything is coming and we will have this PCIe 6.0 IP from Alphawave with CXL 2.0 support ready for the year 2024, which only has a few days left to start.
And you, what are you waiting for next year? Do you like this news? Are you waiting for more interesting news? 2024 is busy and it will be a year of many changes, hopefully calmer than 2023 and that everything will eventually come true. We will start at the beginning of January with CES in Las Vegas, which brings many new features and a good summary of what we will see in the coming months.
