Computer

New PCI Express data for disaggregated chips: the UCIe

Due to the increase in costs brought with the new chip manufacturing technologies, it is necessary to separate a chip into several different ones. This allows cheaper manufacturing to be used in certain parts of the processor. However, these interfaces have to communicate with each other and until relatively recently there was no standard for this. A few weeks ago, the UCIe or Universal Chiplet Interconnect Express was presented for this. This will allow several different chips to exist in the same package. Well, Intel has dropped new information about the standard.

The UCIe is a standard that was presented last March. It is an interface to intercommunicate what we call chiplets with each other and that has the support of companies such as Intel, TSMC, ARM, Qualcomm, Samsung and Microsoft. So we are facing a standard that we will see in many systems in the future. Well, we have been able to know new details of it

What is the ICU?

To understand what this interface means, we have to think that it is very similar to PCI Express. In the case at hand, the difference is that in this case it is not to connect graphics cards, ifdo not chips each other on top of the same substrate or interposer. Thus allowing different chips with different functions and nature to be under the same package. Until now, the only processor of this nature was AMD’s Ryzen, which uses the Infinity Fabric interface. Which, although it is a version with support for HyperTransport memory coherence, is still proprietary to AMD. Therefore, a standard was needed that would allow chiplets with technologies from several brands and not just one.

Well, Intel has given new information about the first generation of this standard. Which will have the ability to transmit between 12 and 16 gigabits per second of information per contact pin. So we’re talking for now about bandwidths equivalent to PCI Express 4.0. However, with the use of much shorter wiring. What a significant reduction in energy consumption, between 10 and 20 times. However, this is not the main advantage of the new UCIe standard.

The other advantage is that it will be possible to place under the same common substrate different brand chips. Such as an Intel processor and NVIDIA graphics. To have everything under the same package. Although it will not be the norm, it does open up the capacity for custom processors for certain specific solutions. Furthermore, the UCIe is not a solution focused on a single chip manufacturer. Since it is compatible with solutions from Intel EMIB Y TSMC CoWoS.

Support for consistent memory mechanisms

In addition, the UCIe will have Compute Express Link support and the Coherent Hub Interface. Which will allow the creation of heterogeneous systems, but totally coherent in terms of memory. This is crucial, as it will allow the use of a single pool of RAM memory for the entire system. Which is prevalent in today’s embedded systems and especially in low cost, low power solutions where the different components share the same memory pool.

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