PCI-SIG Announces PCIe 8.0 Specification to Reach 256.0GT/s

PCI-SIG announced the PCI Express (PCIe) 8.0 specification will double the data of the PCIe 7.0 specification to 256.0GT/s and is planned for release to members by 2028.

PCI-SIG technical workgroups will be developing PCIe 8.0 specification with following feature objectives:

Delivering 256.0GT/s raw bit rate and up to 1TB/s bi-directionally via x16 configuration
Reviewing new connector technology
Confirming latency and FEC targets will be achieved
Ensuring reliability targets are met
Maintaining backwards compatibility with previous generations of PCIe technology
Developing protocol enhancements to improve bandwidth
Continuing to emphasize techniques to reduce power

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“Following this year’s release of the PCIe 7.0 specification, PCI-SIG is excited to announce that the PCIe 8.0 specification will double the data rate to 256GT/s, maintaining our tradition of doubling bandwidth every three years to support next-generation applications,” said Al Yanes, president and chairperson, PCI-SIG. “With the increasing data throughput required in AI and other applications, there remains a strong demand for high performance. PCIe technology will continue to deliver a cost-effective, high-bandwidth, and low-latency I/O interconnect to meet industry needs.”

“As artificial intelligence and other data-intensive applications continue to scale rapidly, PCIe technology demand will be sustained in the long run due to its high bandwidth, scalability and power efficiency,” said Reece Hayden, principal analyst, ABI Research. “Data center networks are already preparing to implement PCIe 6.0 technology and are showing great interest in the PCIe 7.0 specification. The introduction of the PCIe 8.0 specification further ensures that the industry’s bandwidth requirements will be supported well into the future.”

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The PCIe 8.0 specification is aimed at supporting emerging applications like AI/ML, high-speed networking, edge computing and quantum computing; and data-intensive markets like automotive, hyperscale data centers, HPC, and military/aerospace.