Advanced design and validation solutions expert, Keysight Technologies, recently participated in the first PCI Express® (PCIe®) 5.0 Preliminary FYI Workshop sponsored by PCI-SIG®. At the workshop, Keysight showcased solutions that simulate, characterize and validate PCIe 5.0 devices enabling Keysight to drive consistency in test standards that will advance innovation in hyperscale data centers, 5G and cloud computing.
Keysight participated in the PCIe 5.0 Preliminary FYI Compliance Workshop held from February 22-26, 2021 in Beaverton, Oregon, U.S., with hardware and software solutions for receiver and transmitting testing, including the Infinium UXR oscilloscope, high-performance bit error ratio tester (BERT) and compliance test solutions. PCI-SIG, a consortium consisting of more than eight hundred companies, defines PCIe specifications and compliance tests. The PCIe 5.0 specification test event ensures interoperability between PCIe 5.0 devices, systems and add-in cards, by establishing standardized test procedures, test software tools and test fixtures.
“As an active member of PCI-SIG since 1992, and gold suite qualified vendor for PCIe 4.0 architecture testing, Keysight is pleased to work with the PCI-SIG to enable the industry to deliver PCIe 5.0 technology solutions,” said Joachim Peerlings, vice president of network and data center solutions at Keysight. “Early testing capability allows service providers, semiconductor vendors and developers of computing and communications platform technology to validate PCIe 5.0 technology designs according to the latest PCI-SIG specifications.”
PCIe 5.0 specification, the latest high-speed serial interface standard used in computer servers and graphics cards, supports greater data traffic and bandwidth requirements in data centers. By driving consistency in test results, vendors can confidently launch new PCIe 5.0 technology designs that interoperate as expected with other vendors’ products. This is critical in the deployment of systems based on PCIe 5.0 interfaces including 400 Gigabit Ethernet (GE), a high-capacity data transport technology. PCIe 5.0 architecture and 400GE will help advance hyperscale data centers, 5G, cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, gaming, visual computing, storage and networking.
"Keysight solutions enable PCI-SIG members to quickly deliver PCIe 5.0 devices that can support speeds of up to 32 gigatransfers per second (GT/s),” said Al Yanes, president and chairman of PCI-SIG. “Keysight’s contributions to the development of PCIe specifications related to the electrical, electromechanical, protocol and serial performance have supported a wide range of market applications that depend on reliable high-speed digital interfaces.”
Keysight’s integrated receiver test platform, M8040A BERT, approved by PCI-SIG for PCI Express 4.0 (PCIe Gen4) testing at 16 GT/s for physical layer characterization and compliance testing, supports both PCIe 5.0 architecture and next generation PAM4 interfaces.
