PCIe 6.0 Slowdown: Will Uncertified Components Flood the Market?

Recently, PCI-SIG, the organization responsible for setting PCI Express standards, held the 2024 Developers Conference, where they provided updates on PCIe 6.0 and PCIe 7.0. They noted that although progress is being made in developing these standards, it is slower than initially anticipated, which may lead to delays in the adoption of new technologies.

According to ComputerBase, PCI-SIG is delaying the launch of its compliance program. The preliminary compliance tests for PCIe 6.0, initially scheduled to begin in March of this year, have been postponed to the second quarter, which is already nearing its end. The first PCIe 6.0 platforms were intended to debut later this year, but the list of compliant product integrators will not be available until 2025. Consequently, some work on PCIe 6.0 platforms will have to rely on PCIe 5.0 hardware or use PCIe 6.0 components without PCI-SIG compliance assurance.

Compared to PCIe 6.0, the situation for PCIe 7.0 is even more challenging, with significant changes to the planned timeline. Conformance testing, initially announced for 2027, has been delayed to 2028. Currently, PCIe 7.0 development has reached the 0.5 draft stage, with the final 1.0 version expected to be released in 2025.

In August 2023, PCI-SIG formed a working group to solicit industry input on developing PCIe optical interconnects. This optical working group is agnostic to design and technology, accommodating various optical technologies while potentially creating specific form factors for PCIe solutions. These form factors may include pluggable optical transceivers, onboard optics, co-packaged optics, and optical I/O.

At the Developers Conference, PCI-SIG provided updates on its optical plans. The group is currently working on updating the logical and electrical layers of the PCIe 6.0 specification to integrate new optical standards. A significant update, known as the Engineering Change Request (ECN), is expected to be completed by December 2024, enhancing existing electrical standards without replacing them. Additionally, the working group has begun efforts to standardize optical PCIe for the PCIe 7.0 specification, with a tentative release date set for 2025.