SerialTek Introduces PCI Express 6.0-Ready OCP 3.0 NIC and EDSFF Interposer
LONGMONT, Colo., May 25, 2023 (Newswire.com) - SerialTek, a leading provider of protocol test and analysis products for the data center and storage industries, including solutions for PCI Express® (PCIe®), NVM Express® (NVMe®), and Compute Express Link™ (CXL), today announced the availability of a modular, calibration-free interposer supporting OCP 3.0 NIC and EDSFF form factors. The interposer is compatible with current-generation PCIe 5.0 and is designed to support PCIe 6.0 PAM4 modulation at 64 GT/s and SerialTek's future PCIe 6.0 protocol analyzers, allowing customers to invest in future-proofed solutions.
Importantly, the new interposer features the industry's first integrated power analysis functionality, powered by a compact module from Quarch Technology Ltd, a leading provider of automated test solutions for the data storage, networking, and telecom industries. The power analysis module provides very high-accuracy measurements of voltage, current, and power, eliminating the need for bulky current probes/oscilloscopes or DC power analyzers.
PCI Express interposers are complex devices designed to be inserted non-intrusively between PCI Express system components that can operate over a variety of connectivity standards, and to interface from that system to a PCI Express protocol analyzer. SerialTek interposers use SI-Fi™, a proprietary probing technology that eliminates the need for hours-long calibration sequences, preserves the original signal quality of the link, and enables real-world PCIe link training debug.
"SerialTek has long been a leader in the storage and networking marketplaces, so we understand the significant analysis requirements of our customers who are developing and deploying CXL devices based on OCP and EDSFF standards," said Paul Mutschler, SerialTek CEO. "This multi-form factor interposer with integrated power analysis provides a versatile, powerful solution for PCIe 5.0 and CXL analysis tasks today, and for tomorrow, built-in support for PCIe 6.0. Put simply, we are delivering performance and economy on multiple fronts: one tool, multiple form factors and multiple PCIe generations."
Integrated Power Analysis and Monitoring is a Critical Complement to Protocol Analysis
The integration of the Quarch power analysis and monitoring module provides tracking of bus and device electricals without the need to employ an added fixture, which can adversely impact signal integrity and affect link-up performance. This field-proven module is calibrated to 100 µA, provides an impressive 4 µsec sampling rate, and delivers exceptional accuracies. With voltage, current, and power measurements integrated with the SerialTek protocol trace, along with the capture of sideband assertions, users get comprehensive, clear, and critical visibility on power consumption versus data throughput characteristics and excellent tracking of always-important power management link states.
"Quarch power products have become the industry standard for testing storage devices and indeed our capabilities helped inform the development of the OCP power testing specifications," said Andy Norrie, Quarch Technology Operations Director. "The addition of our power analysis technology to SerialTek's Kodiak platform is very exciting to see and will be a great benefit to the engineers using it."
Improved and Expanded Testing Capabilities for CXL Engineers
SerialTek's innovative Kodiak Protocol Analysis System supports CXL, an industry-standard cache-coherent interconnect for processors, memory expansion, and accelerators that enables data-intensive applications such as artificial intelligence to access memory more efficiently and at lower latencies. The new OCP/EDSFF interposer is compatible with new and upcoming CPU platforms from Intel and AMD that support CXL, as well as future ARM CPUs.
Availability and Configurations
The new SerialTek interposer supports lane widths of x16 for OCP 3.0 NIC and x8 for EDSFF and is available direct from SerialTek and its authorized distributors.
These interposers can be purchased in the following configurations (requires QTL2312 Power Analysis Module from Quarch):
- PEI-G6-16-OCPQ (PCIe x16 OCP 3.0 NIC/EDSFF Interposer with Integrated Quarch Power Analysis)
- PEI-G6-08-EDSQ (PCIe x8 EDSFF E3 Interposer with Integrated Quarch Power Analysis)
For more information, please visit www.serialtek.com or contact sales@serialtek.com.
About SerialTek
SerialTek, a member of the Symbiosys Alliance, is a provider of innovative protocol test and analysis tools for the data center and storage industry. Leading manufacturers depend on SerialTek products to improve product quality and drive time-to-market requirements. SerialTek solutions support a variety of standards, including PCI Express (PCIe), Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe), Serial Attached SCSI (SAS), and Serial ATA (SATA).
About Quarch Technology Ltd
Quarch Technology Ltd, a member of the Symbiosys Alliance, is a leading supplier of award-winning power analysis and fault injection test solutions for the data storage, networking, data center and automotive industries. Quarch provides automated and scalable test systems to enable its customers to confidently address their markets with higher-performing, dependable, and efficient products and services.
SerialTek, the SerialTek logo, Kodiak, SI-Fi and BusXpert are trademarks of SerialTek, and may be registered in some jurisdictions. PCI Express® and PCIe® are registered trademarks of PCI-SIG® Corporation. Compute Express Link™ and CXL™ are registered trademarks of CXL Consortium. NVM Express®, NVMe™, and NVMe-oF™ are trademarks of NVM Express, Inc. Electron is the registered trademark of the OpenJS Foundation. Other trademarks and trade names are those of their respective owners.
Source: SerialTek, LLC
