PLX and Avago to prove PCI Express over fiber optics at 64Gbps

SUNNYVALE, USA: PLX Technology Inc. and Avago Technologies announced a collaboration using optics to demonstrate PCI Express (PCIe) extending beyond its dominant role within the box to a cabled box-to-box solution.

This higher-performance alternative is paving the road for next-generation data center applications where lower latency, lower cost, extended cabling distances, and I/O conversion minimization create simpler architectures for cleaner PCIe end-to-end environments.

The demonstration from this collaboration features PLX PEX8748 PCIe Gen3 (8Gbps per lane) switches, along with Avago high-density MiniPOD parallel fiber optic modules, both of which are setup in a x8 configuration, showcasing external box-to-box high-performance connectivity at 64Gbps. PCI Express as an interconnect for data centers using parallel optics will enable a wide variety of applications including storage, servers and GPU clustering.

“With PCI Express now native virtually everywhere, including Intel platforms and SSD storage modules, the market is hungry for reliable and harmonious solutions,” said Reggie Conley, senior director, hardware applications, PLX. “As the market drives down the cost of optical solutions, today’s cumbersome and costly conversion of PCI Express to Ethernet or InfiniBand will be replaced by clean system architectures enjoying the fruits of PCIe and optical connectivity’s premium performance.”

“PCI Express is a natural fit for our MiniPOD embedded parallel optics, which deliver the speed and overall performance necessary to enable box-to-box connections,” said Victor Krutul, director of marketing for fiber optic products at Avago. “Our work with PLX provides another example of Avago serving as the technology partner of choice to develop innovative fiber optic solutions for new applications.”