Cadence recently displayed its optical connectivity solution for PCIe 7.0 at the PCI-SIG DevCon 2024, showcasing the first-ever demonstration of 128 GT/s PCIe 7.0 over optics. While the PCIe 7.0 specification is still in progress, Cadence’s technical expertise was evident in this proof-of-concept. The optical solution achieved a pre-FEC BER of ~3E-8, meeting PCIe requirements. The decision to explore optical connectivity is important as PCIe interconnections grow longer in applications like AI and HPC servers. Even though various vendors offer proprietary external PCIe solutions, PCI-SIG aims to develop a unified standard for PCIe over fiber optics, supporting diverse optical technologies.
https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/optical-pcie-70-connection-hits-a-blazing-128-gts