As AI workloads and high-performance computing (HPC) applications push the limits of data center performance, Microchip Technology (Nasdaq: MCHP) has unveiled its Switchtec™ Gen 6 PCIe® Switches, the industry’s first PCIe Gen 6 switches manufactured using a 3 nm process. Designed for high-density AI system connectivity, the switches deliver up to 160 lanes, lower power consumption, and advanced security features—including a hardware root of trust and post-quantum safe cryptography compliant with CNSA 2.0.
Breaking Bandwidth Bottlenecks
Previous PCIe generations often throttled data flow between CPUs, GPUs, memory, and storage, leaving powerful accelerators underutilized. PCIe 6.0 doubles bandwidth over PCIe 5.0, reaching 64 GT/s per lane, and Switchtec Gen 6 enables data centers to fully leverage next-generation AI accelerators and cloud infrastructure.
“Rapid innovation in the AI era is prompting data center architectures to shift toward pooled resources,” said Brian McCarson, corporate VP of Microchip’s data center solutions unit. “By expanding Switchtec to PCIe 6.0, we’re enabling direct communication between critical compute resources while delivering our most energy-efficient, high-performance switch yet.”
Designed for AI Fabrics
Switchtec Gen 6 switches allow direct GPU-to-GPU and CPU-to-accelerator interfaces within server racks, minimizing signal loss and maintaining low latency critical for AI workloads. Key technical highlights include:
- Flow Control Unit (FLIT) mode and lightweight Forward Error Correction (FEC) for reliable data transfer
- Dynamic resource allocation for higher throughput and efficient small-packet handling
- 20 ports and 10 stacks, with hot- and surprise-plug controllers
- NTB (Non-Transparent Bridging) for multi-host isolation and multicast support
- Integrated MIPS processor with bifurcation options at x8/x16
- Advanced error containment, diagnostics, and debug capabilities
Switchtec Gen 6 also supports multiple I/O interfaces, with reference clocks per stack for precision timing.
Development Tools and Evaluation Kits
To streamline adoption, Microchip offers ChipLink diagnostic tools, enabling in-band PCIe or sideband monitoring via UART, TWI, and EJTAG. Designers can configure, debug, and analyze Switchtec systems through an intuitive GUI. The platform is further supported by the PM61160-KIT Switchtec Gen 6 PCIe Switch Evaluation Kit, offering multiple interface options for testing and integration.
With the Switchtec Gen 6 family, Microchip is positioning itself as a critical enabler for next-generation AI and HPC infrastructure, providing high-bandwidth, low-latency interconnects for increasingly complex, compute-intensive workloads.
