The “Meet the PCI-SIG® Members” blog series is a way to highlight our diverse global membership that makes PCI-SIG what it is today. PCI-SIG members help to advance and promote PCI Express® (PCIe®) technology innovation in the industry, while receiving a variety of benefits. If you are interested in joining PCI-SIG, learn more about becoming a member on our website.

In this edition, Aanchal Sharma, Senior Product Manager, Astera Labs, discusses why Astera Labs joined PCI-SIG, the benefits of membership, and how they contribute to the development and expansion of PCIe technology.  

1. Can you provide a brief overview of your company?

Astera Labs is a global leader in connectivity solutions that unleash the full potential of AI and cloud infrastructure. We deliver an Intelligent Connectivity Platform that consists of purpose-built PCIe semiconductor-based ICs, modules, and boards, and our suite of embedded software and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), to provide a software-defined connectivity architecture that is both scalable and customizable.

Inspired by trusted relationships with hyperscalers and the data center ecosystem, we are an innovation leader of products that are customizable and interoperable. We are headquartered in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley, with R&D centers and offices in Austin, Taiwan, China, Vancouver and Toronto, Canada, and Haifa, Israel. Visit www.asteralabs.com for more information. 

2. Why did your company join PCI-SIG?

Astera Labs joined PCI-SIG to actively contribute to the development of PCIe specifications and foster open industry efforts to drive a robust and interoperable ecosystem. Early on, we recognized the importance of PCIe technology in high performance artificial intelligence applications, and we are committed to keeping pace with increasing PCIe data rates and addressing signal integrity challenges with our connectivity solutions.

By joining PCI-SIG, we align with our partners and customers on a shared objective, leading the way in developing the next generation of high-speed interconnect technologies.

3. What is the biggest advantage of PCI-SIG membership?

PCI-SIG membership allows technology leaders such as Astera Labs to work together in open, technical work groups to identify, innovate, and solve future connectivity challenges. By partnering with industry leaders, we contribute towards a common solution and specification that can scale and meet the growing needs of emerging technologies such as Generative AI.

4. How does your company participate in PCI-SIG?

Astera Labs actively contributes to PCI-SIG through various technical work groups and the Marketing Work Group. We play a vital role in driving specification development that ensures PCIe technology continues to evolve to meet the needs of the industry. We regularly present at PCI-SIG DevCon events, and contribute content in the form of articles, educational webinars, and videos, providing in-depth knowledge and sharing our expertise and insights with the community.   

5. What expertise does your company bring to PCI-SIG?

Our award-winning team has proven expertise in industry standard protocols such as PCIe technology, specifically for semiconductor-based connectivity products that overcome performance bottlenecks in complex, data-centric systems. We have deep relationships with our customers including hyperscalers, cloud service providers and server OEMs, and we can articulate their requirements into the specification development process.

We also have significant expertise in interoperability testing. We established our Interop Lab for PCIe solutions, to rigorously test our Retimer portfolio for interoperability with all major root complexes and endpoint devices.

6. What does your company see as PCI-SIG’s impact within the industry?

Astera Labs acknowledges PCI-SIG as vital to maintaining and driving forward PCIe technology. By facilitating collaboration and knowledge sharing among industry leaders, PCI-SIG creates an environment that breaks down barriers and fosters collective innovation. Its efforts drive the advancement of PCIe technology to support higher data rates, improved signal integrity and superior performance. PCI-SIG’s educational initiatives equip engineers and developers with the necessary knowledge to effectively leverage the capabilities of PCIe technology.  

7. Which market segments benefit the most from PCIe technology?

PCIe technology is extensively utilized across a range of applications, including Generative AI, general purpose compute, networking and storage. In heterogeneous compute systems running data-intensive applications like Generative AI, PCIe serves as the backbone interconnect between powerful GPUs, AI-specific accelerators, SmartNICs and CPUs. PCIe technology’s high bandwidth and low latency help optimize AI server performance, facilitating faster data processing, model training, and real-time AI inference capabilities.

In storage applications, PCIe offers notable advantages over traditional interfaces, with PCIe-based SSDs delivering exceptional data transfer rates, reduced latency and overall storage performance enhancements. Additionally, PCIe technology enables networking applications, while PCIe Network Interface Cards (NICs) and cabling solutions enable high-speed network connectivity, resulting in improved data transfer rates and network performance.

8. Which future applications of PCIe technology is your company most looking forward to?

As the application space for AI/ML and Large Language Models (LLMs) expands further, we see the need for larger compute systems and disaggregated architectures that will drive demand for solutions that extend PCIe signal reach over greater distances.
 

Interested in participating in a future “Meet the PCI-SIG Members” blog? Reach out to pr@pcisig.com for additional details.