PCI Express (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express) is a high-speed computer expansion bus standard used to connect computer components such as graphics cards, network adapters, and storage devices to the motherboard of a computer. The development of PCI Express began in 1999, and the first version of the standard, PCI Express 1.0, was released in 2003.
PCI Express 1.0
The first version of
PCI Express, also known as PCIe 1.0, was designed to replace the aging PCI
(Peripheral Component Interconnect) and AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port)
standards. PCIe 1.0 had a single lane with a data transfer rate of 2.5 Gbps
(Gigabits per second) in each direction, providing a total bandwidth of 2 GB/s
(Gigabytes per second). PCIe 1.0 also introduced several new features, such as
packet-based communication, hot-plugging, and power management.
PCI Express 2.0
PCI Express 2.0 was
released in 2007 and doubled the data transfer rate of PCIe 1.0 to 5 Gbps per
lane, providing a total bandwidth of 4 GB/s per lane. PCIe 2.0 also introduced
new features such as link retraining and dynamic link-width control, which
allowed the link width to be changed dynamically without interrupting the
communication between devices.
PCI Express 3.0
PCI Express 3.0 was released in 2010 and increased the data transfer rate of PCIe 2.0 to 8 Gbps per lane, providing a total bandwidth of 8 GB/s per lane. PCIe 3.0 also introduced new features such as improved power management, data integrity, and enhanced error reporting.
PCI Express 4.0
PCI Express 4.0 was released in 2017 and doubled the data transfer rate of PCIe 3.0 to 16 Gbps per lane, providing a total bandwidth of 16 GB/s per lane. PCIe 4.0 also introduced new features such as lane margining, which allows the system to test and adjust the signal quality of each lane, and backward compatibility with PCIe 3.0 and PCIe 2.0 devices.
PCI Express 5.0
PCI Express 5.0 was released in 2019 and doubled the data transfer rate of PCIe 4.0 to 32 Gbps per lane, providing a total bandwidth of 32 GB/s per lane. PCIe 5.0 also introduced new features such as equalization techniques, which compensate for signal distortion and noise, and Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) protection, which improves data integrity.
PCI Express 6.0
PCI Express 6.0 is the
next version of the standard and is expected to be released in 2023. PCIe 6.0
will double the data transfer rate of PCIe 5.0 to 64 Gbps per lane, providing a
total bandwidth of 64 GB/s per lane. PCIe 6.0 will also introduce new features
such as PAM-4 signaling, which uses four-level pulse amplitude modulation to
increase data transfer rates, and Forward Error Correction (FEC), which corrects
errors in the transmission of data.
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| (courtesy, Wikipedia.org, 2021) |
Conclusion
The history of PCI Express has seen a continuous increase in data transfer rates and bandwidth, allowing for faster and more efficient communication between computer components. The latest version of the standard, PCIe 6.0, is expected to further improve data transfer rates and introduce new features that will enhance data integrity and signal quality. As technology continues to evolve, PCI Express will continue to play a crucial role in the development of high-performance computing systems.
