PC links to move on the double
An industry group says it is working on a new PCI connection standard that will double the speed of data transfer between PC components such as network cards.
The PCI Special Interest Group (PCI-SIG), an industry consortium that includes representatives from Intel, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard and other PC giants, said it has begun initial work to develop specifications for PCI-X 1066, the successor to the recent PCI-X 266 and PCI-X 533 specifications.
The newest standard will allow PC components to exchange data at bandwidths of up to 8.5 gigabytes per second, compared with less than 1 gigabyte per second for current versions.
PCI-X is expected to be the last stand for the PCI standard that has governed how PC components, such as network cards, communicate with the rest of the computer.
Chip giant Intel won a behind-the-scenes battle last year to determine the successor to PCI. Intel's 3GIO is now overseen by the PCI-SIG and is expected to begin appearing in servers and PC components late next year.
Intel rival Advanced Micro Devices has supported another connection standard, HyperTransport.
The new version of PCI-X will help serve as bridge during the phase-in of successor technologies, the PCI-SIG said in a statement.
"We believe that it is possible to extend PCI-X's parallel architecture to yet another speed grade that once again doubles the bandwidth," said Alan Goodrum, chairman of the PCI-SIG's PCI-X Workgroup. "The benefit of extending PCI-X technology to a new generation is to ensure a solid road map for the design community that cares about backward compatibility and investment protection."