Microchip Introduces Switchtec Gen 6 PCIe Switches for High-Performance Compute, Cloud Computing, and Hyperscale Data Centers

As artificial intelligence (AI) workloads and high-performance computing (HPC) applications continue to drive unprecedented demand for faster data movement and lower latency, Microchip Technology has introduced its next generation of Switchtec Gen 6 PCIe switches. The industry's first PCIe Gen 6 switches manufactured using a 3 nm process, the Switchtec Gen 6 family is designed to deliver lower power consumption and support up to 160 lanes for high-density AI system connectivity. Advanced security features include a hardware root of trust and secure boot, utilizing post-quantum safe cryptography compliant with the Commercial National Security Algorithm Suite (CNSA) 2.0.

Key Takeaways:

• The Switchtec Gen 6 PCIe switches are designed to deliver extra bandwidth, low latency, and advanced security for high-performance compute, cloud computing, and hyperscale data centers.
• The switches support up to 160 lanes and are manufactured using a 3 nm process, reducing power consumption and enabling high-density AI system connectivity.
• Advanced security features include a hardware root of trust and secure boot, utilizing post-quantum safe cryptography compliant with the CNSA 2.0.
• The switches enable high-speed connectivity between CPUs, GPUs, SoCs, AI accelerators, and storage devices, and are designed to help data center architects scale to the potential of next generation AI and cloud infrastructure.
• The PCIe 6.0 standard introduces Flow Control Unit (FLIT) mode, a lightweight Forward Error Correction (FEC) system, and dynamic resource allocation, making data transfer more efficient and reliable.
• The Switchtec Gen 6 PCIe switches feature 20 ports and 10 stacks, with each port featuring hot- and surprise-plug controllers.
• The switches support NTB (Non-Transparent Bridging) to connect and isolate multiple host domains and multicast for one-to-many data distribution within a single domain.

Statistics:

• The Switchtec Gen 6 PCIe switches support up to 160 lanes.
• The switches are manufactured using a 3 nm process.
• The PCIe 6.0 standard doubles the bandwidth of PCIe 5.0 to 64 GT/s (giga transfers per second) per lane.
• The Switchtec Gen 6 PCIe switches support 20 ports and 10 stacks.
• The switches feature hot- and surprise-plug controllers on each port.

Sources:

• Microchip Technology press release, "Microchip Introduces Switchtec Gen 6 PCIe Switches for High-Performance Compute, Cloud Computing, and Hyperscale Data Centers"
• Brian McCarson, Corporate VP of Microchip's data center solutions business unit, quoted in the press release.