Previously releasedMultiple revisionsLater, PCI-SIG finally announced the launch of the official PCIe 7.0 specification, claiming that it can meet the bandwidth requirements of current artificial intelligence computing with a 128.0 GT/s transmission specification. In addition, PCI-SIG also announced that the application of optical fiber will be included in the PCIe 6.4 and PCIe 7.0 design specifications to correspond to higher data transmission performance, and also make the application of optical fiber a design standard.
PCIe 8.0 specification is being planned, but no specific specification details have been released yet
At the same time, PCI-SIG has announced that it has begun exploring the PCIe 8.0 specification, but it is still in a very early planning stage and has not yet announced specific specification details.
PCIe 7.0 design supports up to 512 GB/s bidirectional transfer rates
In the PCIe 7.0 design that has become an official standard this time, its data transmission rate is advertised to be able to reach 128.0 GT/s, and it can achieve a bidirectional transmission rate of up to 16 GB/s in an x512 configuration. It is mainly prepared for artificial intelligence/machine learning, 800G Ethernet, cloud computing and the expected popularization of quantum computing in the future.
In addition, the PCIe 7.0 design also uses PAM4 (four-level pulse amplitude modulation) signaling and Flit (flow control unit)-based encoding design to further improve energy efficiency and ensure compatibility with previous generations of PCIe design specifications.
PCI-SIG President and Chairman Al Yanes said that as AI applications continue to expand rapidly, the next generation of PCIe technology will meet the bandwidth needs of data-intensive markets for deploying AI, including hyperscale data centers, high-performance computing (HPC), automotive, and military/aerospace applications. At the same time, Ian Cutress, chief analyst and CEO of market analysis firm More Than Moore, also pointed out that most data centers are now ready to deploy network architectures based on PCIe 7.0 technology.
Fiber optic application becomes one of the design specifications for PCIe 6.4 and PCIe 7.0
PCI-SIG also announced the revision of the new optical interconnect specification and added PCIe 6.4 and PCIe 7.0 design specifications, including a new design based on PCIe retimer, so that fiber optic applications can become a standardized specification of PCIe technology.
Under this standard, PCIe 6.4 and PCIe 7.0 design specifications will seamlessly support various optical connection technologies, realizing the optical interconnection requirements between existing switches, root complex devices and endpoint chip designs that comply with the PCIe 6.4 and PCIe 7.0 specifications. At the same time, optical connection technology can be used to expand the connection range across racks and pod combinations, and the requirements for multiplexing and data mapping across electrical and optical domains can be added. At the same time, a more compact chip design can be achieved than a copper cable design.
