PCI-SIG Previews 32GT/s PCIe 5.0 Spec, Releases PCI Express 4.0 Spec At 16GT/s
Starting with the former, PCIe 4.0 supports 16 gigatransfers per second (GT/s). With 16Gb/s of link bandwidth, PCIe 4.0 offers peak bandwidth of 64GB/s per 16-lane slot, effectively doubling the bandwidth of PCIe 3.0 while also maintaining backwards compatibility. In addition, the updated spec introduces flexible lane width configurations and lower power operation.
"I’m pleased to say that the PCIe 4.0 specification is feature complete and going through final IP review," said Al Yanes, PCI-SIG Chairman and President. "We extended the original timeline to adhere to our meticulous specification review process that has made PCIe technology so successful. We are confident that the PCIe architecture is sound for the foreseeable future and ready for the next generation of high-performance bandwidth."
And on the topic of looking to the future, PCIe 5.0 will again double the theoretical maximum performance of the spec with PCI-SIG formally announcing 32GT/s as the next progression in speed. The massive increase in speed will be a boon for high performance applications such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, visual computing, storage, networking, and of course gaming at increasingly higher resolutions.
"In our 25-year history, PCI-SIG has maintained its commitment to our rigorous specification development process, while delivering specifications that are in lock-step with industry requirements for high-performance I/O," said Al Yanes, PCI-SIG Chairman and President. "PCIe 5.0 technology is the next evolution that will set the standard for speed, and we are confident that its 32GT/s bandwidth will surpass industry needs."
The future spec will be especially beneficial for high end networking. For solutions such as 400Gb Ethernet and dual 200Gb/s InfiniBand, the PCIe 5.0 architecture will operate at full duplex and provide up to a whopping 128GB/s in bandwidth.