Alphawave Semi and Keysight Collaborate for Cutting-Edge PCIe 6.0 Subsystem Solution

Alphawave Semi, a global leader in high-speed connectivity for technology infrastructure, has announced a successful collaboration with Keysight Technologies, a market-leading provider of design, emulation, and test solutions. This collaboration showcased the interoperability between Alphawave Semi’s PCIe 6.0 64 GT/s Subsystem (PHY and Controller) Device and Keysight’s PCIe 6.0 64 GT/s Protocol Exerciser, achieving a link to the maximum PCIe 6.0 data rate.

Alphawave Semi’s cutting-edge silicon implementation of the new PCIe 6.0 64 GT/s Flow Control Unit (FLIT)-based protocol enables higher data rates for hyperscale and data infrastructure applications. In addition to this achievement, Keysight and Alphawave Semi successfully established a CXL 2.0 link, setting the stage for future cache coherency in data centers.

Letizia Giuliano, Vice President of IP Product Marketing at Alphawave Semi, emphasized the significance of test and measurement in enabling interoperability and speeding up product development. This collaboration with Keysight utilizing their state-of-the-art PCIe 6.0 protocol validation solution instills confidence in Alphawave Semi’s ability to provide connectivity solutions that accelerate AI processing in high-performance computing and data infrastructure.

Dr. Joachim Peerlings, Vice President of Network and Data Center Solutions at Keysight, highlighted the importance of PCIe in scaling AI and connecting compute resources efficiently to handle workloads. The collaboration with Alphawave Semi demonstrates both companies’ commitment to the development of the PCIe 6.0 standard, anticipating the demands of high-performance computing driven by advancements in AI and ML.

PCIe 6.0 represents a significant evolution of the technology, transitioning from two-level NRZ to four-level PAM4 signaling. While this transition introduces signal integrity and new protocol challenges, it enhances futureproofing through the implementation of Forward Error Correction (FEC) via FLIT. FEC allows for a higher bit error rate tolerance while maintaining acceptable packet loss.

The successful collaboration between Alphawave Semi and Keysight resulted in the demonstration of FLIT-mode transactions on the silicon implementation of the PCIe 6.0 64 GT/s subsystem. Alphawave Semi’s PCIe subsystem is known for its power efficiency, low Latency, and reliability, making it an ideal interface IP for AI and high-performance computing systems.

Looking ahead, the Alphawave Semi PCIe 6.0 Subsystem has the potential to support CXL 3.0 with a PCIe and CXL Controller, enabling memory coherency at the data center level. This further enhances its capabilities in AI and HPC systems where memory performance is crucial.

Alphawave Semi’s IP portfolio includes their PCI-Express and CXL Solution, while Keysight offers a streamlined form factor PCIe 6.0 protocol analysis solution that improves testing and signal integrity.

Overall, this collaboration between Alphawave Semi and Keysight Technologies signifies their dedication to advancing connectivity solutions for the evolving demands of high-speed technology infrastructure.

Technology Explained

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Latency: Technology latency is the time it takes for a computer system to respond to a request. It is an important factor in the performance of computer systems, as it affects the speed and efficiency of data processing. In the computer industry, latency is a major factor in the performance of computer networks, storage systems, and other computer systems. Low latency is essential for applications that require fast response times, such as online gaming, streaming media, and real-time data processing. High latency can cause delays in data processing, resulting in slow response times and poor performance. To reduce latency, computer systems use various techniques such as caching, load balancing, and parallel processing. By reducing latency, computer systems can provide faster response times and improved performance.

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PCIe: PCIe (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express) is a high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard for connecting components such as graphics cards, sound cards, and network cards to a motherboard. It is the most widely used interface in the computer industry today, and is used in both desktop and laptop computers. PCIe is capable of providing up to 16 times the bandwidth of the older PCI standard, allowing for faster data transfer speeds and improved performance. It is also used in a variety of other applications, such as storage, networking, and communications. PCIe is an essential component of modern computing, and its applications are only expected to grow in the future.