PCI-X 2.0: High Performance, Backward Compatible PCI for the Future

	Download the Specifications (Members only) PCI-X 2.0a Protocol Spec PCI-X 2.0a Protocol Spec with Change Bar PCI-X 2.0a Electrical & Mechanical Specification PCI-X 2.0a Electrical & Mechanical Specification Change Bar Current Errata & ECNs Archived PCI-X Specifications

Information about PCI-X 2.0

• PCI-X 2.0 Overview
• Supporting Documentation
• Additional Resources
• About the PCI-X 2.0 Partners Page
• About the PCI-X Review Zone
• About the PCI-X 2.0 Technical Library
• About the PCI-X 2.0 & PCI-SIG Press Releases and News  

PCI-X 2.0 Overview

PCI-X 2.0 is a new, higher speed version of the conventional PCI standard, which supported signaling speeds up to 533 megatransfers per second (MTS). Revision 1.0 of the PCI-X specification defined PCI-X 66 and PCI-X 133 devices that transferred data up to 133 MTS, or over 1Gbyte per second for a 64-bit device. The present revision adds two new speed grades: PCI-X 266 and PCI-X 533, offering up to 4.3 gigabytes per second of bandwidth, 32 times faster than the first generation of PCI. Another major feature of the PCI-X 2.0 specification is enhanced system reliability. ECC support has been added both for the header and payload, providing automatic single-bit error recovery and double-bit error detection. These new standards keep pace with upcoming advances in high-bandwidth business-critical applications such as Fibre Channel, RAID, networking, InfiniBand™ Architecture, SCSI, and iSCSI.

PCI-X 2.0 is built upon the same architecture, protocols, signals, and connector as traditional PCI. The reuse of many of the design elements from the conventional PCI and PCI-X1.0b standards eases design and implementation migration. Migration to PCI-X 266 and PCI-X 533 is further simplified by retaining hardware and software compatibility with previous generations of PCI and PCI-X. As a result, new designs can immediately connect with hundreds of PCI and PCI-X products that are currently available. The combination of backwards compatibility and ease of migration provides investment protection for customers, developers, and manufacturers of existing PCI and PCI-X technologies as they migrate to PCI-X 266 and PCI-X 533.

PCI-X 2.0 also includes new features that will enhance applications in the future. It defines a new 16-bit interface width specifically designed for those applications that are constrained by space, such as embedded RAID controllers, or portable applications. PCI-X 2.0 also expands the device configuration space for each device-function to 4Kbytes, and defines a new Device ID Message transaction to enable simplified peer-to-peer transactions for applications such as streaming-media.

For over ten years, the PCI-SIG has been developing the world’s most popular bus technology. The PCI-X 2.0 266 MHz and 533 MHz standards lay the groundwork for the next decade, and further backwards-compatible extensions are planned beyond 533 MHz.

Summary of PCI-X 2.0 Features

• Doubles and Quadruples PCI-X bandwidth.
• Full hardware and software backward compatibility to previous generations of PCI.
• Builds upon tens of man-centuries of development.
• Uses the same form factor, pin-outs, connector, bus widths, and protocols.
• Enables 10Gb Ethernet, 10Gb Fibre Channel, InfiniBand™ Architecture, and other IO technologies.
• Full RAS support including ECC.
• Performance 32 times higher than the first generation of PCI.

Supporting Documentation

      Errata:

• Errata against PCI-X Protocol Revision 2.0a -  Rev B.8
• Errata against PCI-X Electrical and Mechanical Revision 2.0a - Rev B.5

      Compliance Checklists:

• Download the PCI-X 2.0a PT Checklist
• Download the PCI-X 2.0a EM Checklist

      ECNs:

• PCI-X Protocol Revision 2.0 ECNs: 
  MSI-X for PCI-X (133kb PDF) 
  16-Bit PCI-X (132kb PDF) 
  DIM Interop (154kb PDF)
  Enhanced Configuration Access Mechanism Options (189k PDF) 
   
• PCI-X Electrical and Mechanical Revision 2.0 (none at this time)

      PCI-X 2.0 Electrical Report:
      The report from the PCI-X 2.0 Electrical Workgroup, describing the background       behind many of the Mode 2 electrical specification values and the comprehensive       simulation and PCB routing experiments that were used to validate those values.

• PCI-X 2.0 Electrical Report - Rev 1.1 (4.2MB PDF)
• PCI-X 2.0 Electrical Report - Rev 1.1 with Change Bars (4.2MB PDF)

      Additional detailed supporting data referenced by the Electrical Report:

• PCB routing study board file (3MB BRD)
• Simulation scripts (897K GZ)
• Simulation results--25 worst cases (60K TXT)

      Other simulation tools (also available from sources outside the PCI-SIG):

• Python numeric module (707K GZ)
• Python (8MB TGZ)

      PCI-X Marking Label:

• PCI-X card mark (416k EPS)
• PCI-X card mark (129k JPEG) 

Additional Resources

• PCI-X 2.0 Q&A (110k PDF)
• Download a Whitepaper on PCI-X 2.0 (47k PDF)
• Download a Presentation on PCI-X 2.0 (1.9MB PDF)
• Free PCI-X 2.0 Technical Support (Members Only)
• PCI-X & Conventional PCI Integrators List
• PCI-X 2.0 Momentum Collateral(171k PDF)
  Members can receive up to 100 free hard copies of the PCI-X 2.0 Momentum Collateral to hand out to clients! Email your request to administration@pcisig.com .

About the PCI-X 2.0 Partners Page

About the PCI-X 2.0 Partners Page is a central resource for the PCI-X 2.0 community. Companies with products and services that support the development and launch of PCI-X 2.0 can make themselves known here.

About the PCI-X Review Zone

PCI-X Review Zone contains the latest PCI-X material for member review.  PCI-SIG Member benefits include the ability to influence the direction of PCI I/O Technology, review draft specifications, and participate in the ECR/ECN process.  Be sure to check this page regularly for new material available for member review.

About the PCI-X 2.0 Technical Library

PCI-X 2.0 Technical Library contains links for more information on PCI-X 2.0, White Papers, and presentations from recent events, including the PCI-SIG Developers Conference.