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, Andy Norrie, Operations Director, Quarch Technology, discusses why Quarch 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?

Quarch was founded in 2006, with the aim of increasing and automating test coverage for data storage systems.  We design, manufacture and support entirely in-house from our head office in Scotland.

While we now work in multiple industries, PCIe architecture is by far our largest market, and our customers include almost every major player in the data storage industry.  From physical layer fault injection to power analysis, our tools are a common sight in research and development (R&D) labs.

2. Why did your company join PCI-SIG?

A new generation of PCIe technology can take years to become available to customers, but test equipment is required for the very first prototypes.  It is important for Quarch to access early standards to ensure we are ready when our customers have their first devices ready to test.

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

Other than access to the specifications, the PCI-SIG events such as the recent PCI-SIG Developer Conference are great.  They allow us to meet with other engineers and find out more about the general direction of the industry.

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

Being part of the PCI-SIG is fairly new to us; we’ve been to a couple of events and spent many hours reading through specifications though!  We have not contributed much yet, but robust testing mechanisms are key to a stable interface.  As speeds get faster, new ways will be needed to ensure test equipment can still be placed in the signal path. We hope to be able to help here.

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

We work with every part of the PCIe technology ecosystem, from companies designing early switch integrated circuits (ICs) to device manufacturers and system integrators.  We see many of the challenges that exist as complex systems are designed and tested.

On the technical side, we have many years of experience in testing and faulting PCIe links at a low level.  We are also specialists in power analysis and sideband capture, providing a simple insight into what a PCIe device is doing. 

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

Maintaining and driving new standards is essential to the progress of the industry.  Without clear standards, integration of complex products to work together would be almost impossible and much of the technology we have today simply would not exist.

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

In the storage market segment, the move in data storage from Serial AT Attachment (SATA) and SAS to PCIe devices has been a huge change. In the early days, it brought about a whole host of new applications and start-up companies and was a very exciting time for the storage industry.

The quality of life for PC and console gamers and similar users that need fast solid-state drive (SSD) access is huge. Even a Raspberry Pi can now take PCIe peripherals!

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

We are looking forward to a new cycle in our product development to the PCIe 6.0 specification and the need for new test equipment. The addition of Forward Error Correction (FEC) to the PCIe 6.0 specification should help with signal integrity, and we are excited to test a wide range of designs.

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