PCI-SIG Compliance Workshops include one-on-one private 45 minute test sessions between an Add-in Card vendor and a System vendor. System vendors and Add-in Card vendors will test their products in as many combinations as time and capabilities permit. The results of these test sessions are recorded and will be used as one of the elements in determining PCI-SIG compliance.

The one-on-one test sessions are held in hotel suites as reserved by the System/Systemboard/BIOS vendors (Add-in Card vendors travel to the system vendor suites). The privacy of these sessions promotes willingness to test products that may not be fully “market ready.” Additionally, vendors are able to establish contacts which enable a strong PCI Engineering community and encourage future cooperation for debugging and development.

How to Register:
The five categories for registration are:

1. Attendee Only – Attendee Only registrants assist colleagues from the same company who are registered to test equipment. 
2. Add-in Card Vendor – Add-in Card Vendors are scheduled to visit each compatible System/Systemboard/BIOS room. One Add-in Card attendee will be required for each product registered. Please note that due to time constraints, two Add-in Cards will not be allowed on one schedule.There is no limit to the number of cards that may be registered per company; however, you will need an additional engineer to accommodate the separate schedule. 
   1. SFF-8639/U.2 Products:
      
      1. Please note that an Add-in Card attendee can register 1-2 CEM based Add-in Cards OR 1-2 SFF-8639/U.2 Add-in Cards for testing. However, one person cannot register both types of cards. If you plan to register both types of cards, more than one staff person will be required to escort each card type on two separate schedules.
      2. If your SFF-8639/U.2 card supports Dual Link, you may only register one dual link card per person.
   2. M.2 Preliminary FYI Products:
      
      1. Preliminary FYI Testing does *NOT* qualify a device for placement on the Integrators List. In order to perform both FYI testing and official testing for placement on the Integrators List, please ensure that you register *TWO* instances of your device – one for the M.2 testing, and one for the CEM form factor (bringing your own adapter for CEM). M.2 Cards must be registered separately from CEM based and U.2 Cards. Please note that one person cannot escort M.2, SFF-8639/U.2 Cards or CEM based cards, you will need to register additional attendee(s) to manage the additional testing schedule(s).
3. System/Systemboard/BIOS Vendor – Referred to as System Vendors, these products remain stationary in a hotel room while Add-in Card Vendors visit at their scheduled time. Please note that in order to test with the PCI-SIG Gold Suites, you’ll need to be mobile and travel to these suites. Each System attendee can register up to two systems per system test suite. A second system may only be tested if there are two engineers to support each system for the roaming Gold Suite testing. You must contact compliance@pcisig.com in order to take advantage of this opportunity.
   
   1. Test equipment vendors who register as system vendors are REQUIRED to bring a PCI Express system which can be utilized for interoperability testing in addition to testing you may do with your test equipment.
      1. SFF-8639/U.2 Products:
         
         1. SFF-8639/U.2 Official Testing is now offered. 
      2. M.2 Preliminary FYI Products:
         
         1. Preliminary FYI Testing does *NOT* qualify a device for placement on the Integrators List. In order to perform both FYI testing and official testing for placement on the Integrators List, please ensure that you register *TWO* instances of your device – one for the M.2 testing, and one for the CEM form factor (bringing your own adapter for CEM).
4. Bridge/Switch Vendor – BRIDGE OR SWITCH EVALUATION BOARDS MUST REGISTER AS AN ADD-IN CARD AND AS A SYSTEM (requires two people, and two copies of the bridge or switch). The upstream port of a bridge or switch must be registered and tested as an Add-in Card (see item 2 above). A downstream port of a bridge or switch must be registered and tested as a System slot (see item 3 above). The testing as an Add-in Card and as a System slot must be performed at the same workshop (not two different workshops).
5. Repeater Vendor – A REPEATER TYPE PRODUCT MUST REGISTER AS AN ADD-IN CARD AND MUST INCLUDE AN ACTUAL ADD-IN CARD CONNECTED TO THE REPEATER, WHICH WILL THEN BE TESTED AS A TWO CARD COMBINATION. The testing will be performed at the Repeater Card PCIe connector tab. In order to perform testing the card combination must be able to plug into the systems and compliance test platforms at the workshop. If the two-card combination (Repeater + Add-in Card) passes all of the testing requirements, then the repeater can be added to the Integrators List as an Add-in Card. Note that the Add-in Card to be used in combination with the repeater card must be provided by the Repeater vendor (the PCIe Add-in Card and repeater must be of the same PCIe revision level that you will be testing to).

Add-in Card Vendors | What to Bring:
Each product owner in a session is required to bring the equipment listed below:

• Add-in Card vendors may bring a “Thumb Drive” to the workshop to obtain a PDF soft copy of their test results, as PCI-SIG has switched to a secure private wireless method for test results submittal. Additionally, a URL will be provided along with login information where testers may view their test results and download a PDF soft copy after the event. Results from each workshop will be available online ONLY until the next scheduled workshop.
• In order to expedite testing within the allotted session, Add-in Card vendors must bring at least two (2) identical copies of the same Add-in Card for Single Function devices or three (3) identical copies for Multi-function devices, with a USB flash drive of appropriate drivers: Windows 7, Windows 10, Windows Server 2008, Linux, and Solaris. Note that Windows 7 and Windows 10 is the most common OS in use at a workshop, therefore including a Win 7 or Win 10 driver will maximize interop opportunities. If you happen to only support a Linux driver, then you should also bring a bootable copy of the version of Linux that is compatible with your Linux driver. 
• Hardware required for card operation. Examples: Portable server for LAN card or a device on the secondary side of a bridge. A hardfile power supply.
• A software application or utility (if needed) to demonstrate device functional operation during the one-on-one interoperability testing sessions. It is necessary to demonstrate functional operation of the product, via the ability to move data between the product and system memory.
• Switch vendors must bring their own endpoints for PCIECV and Link/Transaction testing. The endpoint needs to support 5GT/s or 8GT/s, and it needs to support the maximum link width supported by the switch device. Switch vendors must also bring their own system to plug into when testing the downstream ports of the switch as a system.
• Repeater vendors must bring their own endpoints for PCIECV and Link/Transaction testing. The endpoint needs to support 5GT/s or 8GT/s, and it needs to support the maximum link width supported by the repeater device. 

System Vendors | What to Bring:
Each product owner in the sessions is required to bring the equipment listed below:

• System vendors are required to bring a laptop to the workshops for use in their Interoperability test suites with a compatible browser (Chrome or FireFox) for wirelessly submitting Interoperability test results, as the PCI-SIG has switched to a secure private wireless method for test results submittal. The wireless application will provide a means for saving the test results to a soft copy PDF file.
• System with monitor, keyboard, mouse, an available USB port and at least one (prefer 2-3) of the following OS’s loaded:
  • Windows 7, Windows 10, Windows Server 2008, Linux, or Solaris. Note that Windows 7 and Windows 10 are the most common driver in use at a workshop, therefore including a Win 7 or Win 10 OS will maximize interop opportunities.
• System vendors are required to reserve their own testing suite(s). See page 2 for hotel reservation information.
• Test equipment vendors who register as System Vendors are REQUIRED to bring a PCI Express System which can be utilized for interoperability testing in addition to testing you may do with your test equipment.

BIOS Vendors | What to Bring:
Same as System/Systemboard Vendors Plus:

• All software needed to fix bugs and regenerate BIOS

Testing Schedules and Retesting:

• Attendees are only assured testing opportunities during their scheduled time-slots. Re-testing during any open time-slots may be offered at the discretion of the test suite operators if time and resources permit. 
• A test suite operator may agree to provide for a re-test following the last test session of a particular day, however test suite operators are not obligated to do so. 

It is important that everyone assist in maintaining the integrity of the testing schedules by showing up on time for each assigned test slots. Note that if you are more than 10 minutes late for a test session, your test time-slot may be reassigned to someone else.

Integrators List Requirements:
Products that pass 80% of one-on-one interoperability test sessions, pass all appropriate PCI-SIG compliance tests, and submit the Product Listing Request Form, may be listed on a PCI-SIG Integrators List. The Integrators List is used by a number of PCI-SIG companies to make product purchase decisions. When submitting the Product Listing Request Form, only one product will be listed per product tested at a PCI-SIG Compliance Workshop.

PCI Express 4.0 Only: PCI-SIG Integrators List testing for CEM devices is performed at the PCI Express connector, and AICs or System boards that pass can be added to the Integrators List.  Vendors that wish to place the corresponding component onto the Integrators List based on that passing result, must certify to PCI-SIG that the electrical interface exposed at the CEM connector is the electrical interface of that component.   Note that devices such as redrivers or retimers when present between the component and the CEM connector prevent the full electrical and functional testing of the component itself, and therefore while such an AIC or System board may achieve a passing result (and be placed on the Integrators List as an AIC or System), the component itself has not achieved a passing result and therefore cannot be placed on the Integrators List as a Component unless specifically tested.

Questions?
If you have any questions, please contact PCI-SIG at Tel. (503) 619-0569 or Fax (503) 644-6708 or e-mail PCI-SIG Administration at compliance@pcisig.com.