PCI Express to get Thunderbolt-like interconnect

The PCI Special Interest Group has started a plan to develop a variant on PCI Express 3.0 that would challenge the Thunderbolt format from Apple and Intel. Its as yet unnamed format would be more than three times faster at 32Gbps, and eight billion transfers per second, with the same peak four lanes of data at distances of up to 10 feet. It too would carry power on copper wires, up to as much as 20W, and would have a flatter cable than the small but round Thunderbolt wire.

A four-year roadmap would see both optical and upgraded copper connections. When complete, it could double the transfers to 16 billion per second and work on PCIe 4.0. Work was only just beginning and could see the spec completed only nine to 18 months from when work starts in July. Shipping products would ideally be ready before June 2013.

Members at the SIG intend the format primarily as an interconnect and an external port for regular computers but also see it as a future option for tablets that might need very fast external drives. The group has declined to address concerns about Thunderbolt competition directly but see the new version of PCIe 3.0 as another option.

Intel isn't expected to remain still with Thunderbolt and has already promised speeds as high as 100Gbps in the next few years. It may feel pressure from PCI Express since the faster interconnect would let computer builders avoid restrictions on Thunderbolt's use. Intel currently requires that Thunderbolt use its own controller chip and is likely keen to hurt AMD and ARM.

By Electronista Staff