Skyworks’ Si5332 Clock Family Supports PCIe 6.0

22 January, 2023

“PCIe 6.0 is the future of the data center.” According to PCI-SIG, new applications including AI, Machine Learning and Edge Computing are driving the need for higher performance and increased bandwidth

Above: The Si53301/4-EVB development kit

Skyworks Solutions announced the evolution of its Si5332 family of high-performance clock generators, supporting the industry transition to PCI Express Generation 6 (PCIe 6.0). According to PCI-SIG, new applications including Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Edge Computing are driving the need for higher performance and increased bandwidth interconnects for compute, switching and storage platforms in data centers.

The Si5332 product family supports PCIe 6.0 while maintaining backwards compatibility with older PCIe standards. “PCIe 6.0 is the future of the data center,” said James Wilson, VP and general manager of timing products at Skyworks. “We have qualified our Si5332 family to provide reference timing for the newest PCIe 6.0 applications.”

PCIe 6.0 increases data rates to 64GT/s and enables bandwidths as high as 256Gbps, effectively doubling the performance of PCIe 5.0. This latest upgrade to the PCIe standard ensures the high-speed interconnects used in data center applications do not become a bottleneck and complements the industry’s transition to 400G and 800G Ethernet.

Eye-diagrams for PAM4

Unlike prior generations of the PCIe standard, PCIe 6.0 uses PAM4 modulation to combine two bits into a single symbol with four amplitude levels. This approach doubles the transfer speed but degrades the eye diagram by replacing a single, large data eye with three smaller data eyes. Using a low jitter PCIe reference clock maximizes the PAM4 data eye opening and minimizes bit-error rate, which is necessary for faster transfer speeds.

The Si5332 is ideally suited to replace fixed function oscillators, clocks and buffers with a single IC. The device features Skyworks proprietary MultiSynth fractional divider technology, for better jitter performance. The Si5332 is available in 6, 8 and 12-output options, with support for integrated format/level translation, LVPECL, LVDS, HCSL and LVCMOS, and 1.8-3.3V VDDO operation.

When combined with support for PCIe 6.0, the Si5332 is well suited to operate as a data center clock-tree-on-a-chip, replacing multiple timing components with a highly integrated, high-performance solution. In addition to this Si5332 product announcement, Skyworks announced PCIe 6.0 support in its PCIe Jitter Tool – widely used for measuring PCIe clocks and evaluating compliance to PCIe jitter specs.

             

 

Skyworks is represented and supported in Israel by Elina Electronic Engineering Group.

For more information contact Eng. Silvio, tel: +972-54-7559692

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Posted in: News , Semiconductors , Technology

Posted in tags: Elina , Skyworks

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