Silicon Photonics

The PCI-Express interconnect standard may be going through some major changes in the coming years, based on a new announcement from the group responsible for the standard. The PCI-SIG is announcing this morning the formation of a PCIe Optical Workgroup, whose remit will be to work on enabling PCIe over optical interfaces. And while the group is still in its earliest of stages, the ramifications for the traditionally copper-bound standard could prove significant, as optical technology would bypass some increasingly stubborn limitations of copper signaling that traditional PCIe is soon approaching. First released in the year 2000, PCI-Express was initially developed around the use of high-density edge connectors, which are still in use to this day. The PCIe Card Electromechanical specification (CEM) defines the PCIe...