Industry first PCIe 6.x interoperability demo

Astera Labs, based in the US, has collaborated with Micron to showcase the first industry demonstration of interoperability utilizing the latest PCI Express PCIe 6.x technology. This milestone marks a significant advancement in the field of data processing and connectivity.

The groundbreaking public demonstration highlights the seamless interoperability between a PCIe 6.x Switch and a PCIe 6.x solid-state drive (SSD). The utilization of the Scorpio P-series switch from Astera enables impressive sequential read rates of up to 27GB/s, setting a new benchmark in data transfer speeds.

Hyperscale AI data centers are facing increasing pressure to meet the demanding processing requirements of modern AI workloads. To address these challenges, high-speed, scalable interconnect solutions with low latency connections to vast storage capacities are essential.

The latest iteration of the PCIe standard, PCIe 6.x, offers a substantial boost in performance by doubling the bandwidth of PCIe 5.0. With up to 256 GB/s of bidirectional throughput on each of the 16 lanes and a low-latency architecture, PCIe 6.x is poised to revolutionize data transfer efficiency. However, ensuring seamless compatibility among devices from various manufacturers, including CPUs, GPUs, and hard drive suppliers, remains a critical consideration.

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The Scorpio P-Series Fabric Switch is specifically designed to handle mixed traffic within an AI node, featuring 64 lanes and a 4-port architecture to facilitate connections between the CPU, GPU, storage, and other components. In the demonstration, a CPU host, an Nvidia H100 Hopper GPU, and two PCIe 6.x E3.S Micron SSDs were utilized. Leveraging Nvidia’s Magnum IO GPUDirect Storage (GDS) protocol, a direct data path was established between the GPU and the SSD, optimizing data transfer efficiency.

“Integrating Astera Labs’ COSMOS software suite, Scorpio delivers a smart, customizable connectivity backbone with unprecedented data center observability, enhanced security, and extensive fleet management capabilities,” stated Jeff Chang, Sr. Principal Product Manager at Astera Labs. “By combining COSMOS telemetry from Scorpio with telemetry from Aries PCIe/CXL Smart DSP Retimers, hyperscalers gain enhanced insights into low-level PCIe 6.x connectivity issues across their entire system.”