SerialTek Debuts PCIe Gen5 X4 Protocol Analysis With Enhanced NVMe Capabilities

SerialTek LLC announced the availability of a PCIe Gen5 x4 analysis system with a range of feature-cost editions for its Kodiak protocol analysis system.

PCIe Gen5 U2 U3 Interposer

In addition, it announced the release of its Real-Time Protocol Processor technology for PCIe Gen5 NVMe analysis and several calibration-free modular POD interposers.

Gen5 x4 analyzer editions include advanced architectural capabilities
Three tiered editions (standard, professional, and enterprise), designed to meet the requirements of a range of developers, are available with the Kodiak Gen5 x4 Analysis system. Based on the Kodiak PCIe Gen5 x16 Analysis system, the Kodiak PCIe Gen5 x4 Analyzer uses an embedded hardware architecture that delivers substantial and unparallel, advancements in capture, search, and processing acceleration for PCIe analysis. Like all Kodiak PCIe analyzers, interface responsiveness is markedly advanced, searches involving massive amounts of data are fast, and hardware filtering is flexible and powerful. The Kodiak Gen5x4 Analyzer Editions also leverages company‘s new web browser based BusXpert trace application, REST API, JSON data interchange format, and advanced probing technology, providing at powerful and efficient PCIe protocol system.

Kodiak Gen5 x4 Analysis system

“SerialTek has long been a leader in he storage marketplace, so we understand the significant analysis requirements and differences between the wide PCIe x16 memory bus and the storage bus. By creating a x4 (and 2×2) specific Kodiak PCIe/NVMe analyzer and multi-form factor POD interposer, we not only solve the problem of having to take boot traces for proper decoding, but now support every current form factor (8) with a single premium POD interposer and can easily add new form factors in the future,” said Paul Mutschler, CEO.

The system features deep trace capture memory and multiple storage options. Trace files can be saved directly to internal storage (up to 4TB), attached storage (USB3.2 or PCIe OCuLink), or downloaded via 2x10GbE (SFP+) ports or 1x1GbE (RJ-45) network connection.

The Standard, Pro, and Enterprise editions are all field upgradable.

NVMe and PCIe capabilities enhanced with real-time protocol processor capabilities
Enabled with the company’s Real-Time Protocol Processor, users save setup and test time with important capabilities not available from other PCIe analyzers, including:

• Automatic capture and display of configuration space, controller registers, and NVMe queue, even if the analyzer is not recording.

• Boot trace is not required to correctly decode PCIe and NVMe.

• Native NVMe triggering and filtering

SI-Fi PCIe Gen5 Interposers AIC-Interposer

PCIe Gen5 x4 SI-Fi interposers provide advanced capabilities and convenience
In conjunction with the release of the Kodiak PCIe Gen5 x4 Analysis system, the firm has released the advanced PCIe Gen5 x4 interposers, supporting 1×4 and 2×2 configurations. Form factors include EDSFF (E1.S/E1.L/E3.S), U.2, U.3, M.2, MCIO, and slimline devices. These interposers, with the company‘s SI-Fi technology, expand coverage to enable testing in critical areas, including the Link Training and Status State Machine (LTSSM), power management, hot plug, reset, and other cases where the physical lane characteristics may change.

“Our team at SANBlaze found the SerialTek Kodiak PCIe Analyzer to be an invaluable tool as we developed our SBExpress-RM4 NVMe Gen4 test system,” said Vince Asbridge, CEO, SANBlaze Technology Inc. “The analyzer’s ability to recover seamlessly after NVMe reset tests was a critical success factor for us. In addition, the ease-of-use of the analyzer and intuitive nature of the interface compelled us to feature it in our Triggering a PCIe Analyzer from your SBExpress system white paper.“

To realize these advanced interposer capabilities, a custom Gen5 IC was created. This IC was designed to provide accurate electrical properties, along with ease of use for the end customer. The result is that tuning (calibration) is not required, and host and endpoint signals pass through the interposer to allow for real-world PCIe link training and easy setup. Competing PCIe analyzers and interposers require time-consuming and signal-impairing tuning, which can lead to reliability issues, as modern PCIe link training sequences occur dynamically. With SI-Fi technology and Kodiak’s adaptive EQ capabilities, users can save hours in setup time. If link characteristics change (e.g., hot plug or NSSR), Kodiak can follow those changes dynamically, ultimately saving the user’s test.