The CXL Consortium, an industry standard body advancing coherent connectivity, announces the release of its Compute Express Link (CXL) 3.2 Specification. The 3.2 Specification optimizes CXL Memory Device monitoring and management, enhances functionality of CXL Memory Devices for OS and Applications, and extends security with the Trusted Security Protocol (TSP).

"We are excited to announce the release of the CXL 3.2 Specification to advance the CXL ecosystem by providing enhancements to security, compliance, and functionality of CXL Memory Devices," said Larrie Carr, CXL Consortium President. "The Consortium continues to develop an open, coherent interconnect and enable an interoperable ecosystem for heterogeneous memory and computing solutions."

Kioxia Corporation, a world leader in memory solutions, today announced that it has been adopted by Japan's national research and development agency, New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), for its groundbreaking proposal on the Development of Manufacturing Technology for Innovative Memory to enhance the post-5G information and communication system infrastructure.

In the post-5G information and communication era, AI is estimated to generate an unprecedented volume of data. This surge will likely escalate the data processing demands of data centers and increase power consumption. To address this, it is crucial that the next-generation memories facilitate rapid data transfer with high-performance processors while increasing capacity and reducing power consumption.

Credo Technology Group Holding Ltd (Credo), an innovator in providing secure, high-speed connectivity solutions that deliver improved energy efficiency as data rates and corresponding bandwidth requirements increase throughout the data infrastructure market, is excited to announce the company's first Toucan PCI Express (PCIe) 6, Compute Express Link (CXL) 3.x and Magpie PCIe 7, CXL 4.x retimers and OSFP-XD 16x 64GT/s (1 Tb) PCIe 6/CXL HiWire AECs. Credo will demonstrate the Toucan PCIe 6 retimers and HiWire AECs at the upcoming Open Compute Project (OCP) Summit October 15-17 in Booth 31 and the OCP Innovation Center.

Building on Credo's renowned Serializer/Deserializer (SerDes) technology, the new PCIe 6 and PCIe 7 retimers deliver industry-leading performance and power efficiency while being built on lower cost, more mature process nodes than competing devices. Credo will also include enhanced diagnostic tools, including an embedded logic analyzer and advanced SerDes tools driven by a new GUI designed to enable rapid bring up and debug of customer systems.

Advantech, a global leader in embedded computing, is excited to announce the release of the SQRAM CXL 2.0 Type 3 Memory Module. Compute Express Link (CXL) 2.0 is the next evolution in memory technology, providing memory expansion with a high-speed, low-latency interconnect designed to meet the demands of large AI Training and HPC clusters. CXL 2.0 builds on the foundation of the original CXL specification, introducing advanced features such as memory sharing, and expansion, enabling more efficient utilization of resources across heterogeneous computing environments.

Memory Expansion via E3.S 2T Form Factor
Traditional memory architectures are often limited by fixed allocations, which can result in underutilized resources and bottlenecks in data-intensive workloads. With the E3.S form factor, based on the EDSFF standard, the CXL 2.0 Memory Module overcomes these limitations, allowing for dynamic resource management. This not only improves performance but reduces costs by maximizing existing resources.

In the past 13 years, global data production has surged, increasing an estimated 74 times. (1) Looking forward, McKinsey projects AI to spur 35% annual growth in enterprise SSD capacity demand, from 181 Exabytes (EB) in 2024 to 1,078EB in 2030. (2) To address this growing demand, ScaleFlux, a leader in data storage and memory technology, is announcing a significant expansion of its product portfolio. The company is introducing cutting-edge controllers for both NVMe SSDs and Compute Express Link (CXL) modules, reinforcing its leadership in innovative technology for the data pipeline. "With the release of three new ASIC controllers and key updates to its existing lineup, ScaleFlux continues to push the boundaries of SSD and memory performance, power efficiency, and data integrity," points out Hao Zhong, CEO and Co-Founder of the company.

Three New SoC Controllers to Transform Data Center Storage
ScaleFlux is proud to unveil three new SoC controllers designed to enhance data center, AI and enterprise infrastructure:

JEDEC Solid State Technology Association, the global leader in standards development for the microelectronics industry, today announced the publication of two new standards supporting Compute Express Link (CXL ) technology. These additions complete a comprehensive family of four standards that provide the industry with unparalleled flexibility to develop a wide range of CXL memory products. All four standards are available for free download from the JEDEC website.

JESD319: JEDEC Memory Controller Standard - for Compute Express Link (CXL ) defines the overall specifications, interface parameters, signaling protocols, and features for a CXL Memory Controller ASIC. Key aspects include pinout reference information and a functional description that includes CXL interface, memory controller, memory RAS, metadata, clocking, reset, performance, and controller configuration requirements. JESD319 focuses on the CXL 3.1 based direct attached memory expansion application, providing a baseline of standardized functionality while allowing for additional innovations and customizations.

SK hynix Inc. announced today that the key features of its Heterogeneous Memory Software Development Kit (HMSDK) are now available on Linux, the world's largest open source operating system. HMSDK is SK hynix's proprietary software for optimizing the operation of Compute Express Link (CXL), which is gaining attention as a next-generation AI memory technology along with High Bandwidth Memory (HBM). Having received global recognition for HMSDK's performance, SK hynix is now integrating it with Linux. This accomplishment marks a significant milestone for the company as it highlights the company's competitiveness in software, adding to the recognition for its high-performance memory hardware such as HBM.

In the future, developers around the world working on Linux will be able to use SK hynix's technology as the industry standard for CXL memory, putting the company in an advantageous position for global collaboration on next-generation memory. SK hynix's HMSDK enhances memory package's bandwidth by over 30% without modifying existing applications. It achieves this by selectively allocating memory based on the bandwidth between existing memory and expanded CXL memory. Additionally, the software improves performance by more than 12% over conventional systems through optimization based on access frequency, a feature which relocates frequently accessed data to faster memory.

Innodisk, a leading global AI solution provider, continues to push the boundaries of innovation with the launch of its cutting-edge Compute Express Link (CXL) Memory Module, which is designed to meet the rapid growth demands of AI servers and cloud data centers. As one of the few module manufacturers offering this technology, Innodisk is at the forefront of AI and high-performance computing.

The demand for AI servers is rising quickly, with these systems expected to account for approximately 65% of the server market by 2024, according to Trendforce (2024). This growth has created an urgent need for greater memory bandwidth and capacity, as AI servers now require at least 1.2 TB of memory to operate effectively. Traditional DDR memory solutions are increasingly struggling to meet these demands, especially as the number of CPU cores continues to multiply, leading to challenges such as underutilized CPU resources and increasing latency between different protocols.

Demonstrating the depth and breadth of its technologies at Hot Chips 2024, Intel showcased advancements across AI use cases - from the data center, cloud and network to the edge and PC - while covering the industry's most advanced and first-ever fully integrated optical compute interconnect (OCI) chiplet for high-speed AI data processing. The company also unveiled new details about the Intel Xeon 6 SoC (code-named Granite Rapids-D), scheduled to launch during the first half of 2025.

"Across consumer and enterprise AI usages, Intel continuously delivers the platforms, systems and technologies necessary to redefine what's possible. As AI workloads intensify, Intel's broad industry experience enables us to understand what our customers need to drive innovation, creativity and ideal business outcomes. While more performant silicon and increased platform bandwidth are essential, Intel also knows that every workload has unique challenges: A system designed for the data center can no longer simply be repurposed for the edge. With proven expertise in systems architecture across the compute continuum, Intel is well-positioned to power the next generation of AI innovation." -Pere Monclus, chief technology officer, Network and Edge Group at Intel.

Today SiFive, Inc., the gold standard for RISC-V computing, announced its new SiFive Performance P870-D datacenter processor to meet customer requirements for highly parallelizable infrastructure workloads including video streaming, storage, and web appliances. When used in combination with products from the SiFive Intelligence product family, datacenter architects can also build an extremely high-performance, energy efficient compute subsystem for AI-powered applications.

Building on the success of the P870, the P870-D supports the open AMBA CHI protocol so customers have more flexibility to scale the number of clusters. This scalability allows customers to boost performance while minimizing power consumption. By harnessing a standard CHI bus, the P870-D enables SiFive's customers to scale up to 256 cores while harnessing industry-standard protocols, including Compute Express Link (CXL) and CHI chip to chip (C2C), to enable coherent high core count heterogeneous SoCs and chiplet configurations.

MSI, a leading global server provider, is showcasing its new CXL (Compute Express Link)-based server platform powered by 4th Gen AMD EPYC processors at The Future of Memory and Storage 2024, at the Samsung booth (#407) and MemVerge booth (#1251) in the Santa Clara Convention Center from August 6-8. The CXL memory expansion server is designed to enhance In-Memory Database, Electronic Design Automation (EDA), and High Performance Computing (HPC) application performance.

"By adopting innovative CXL technology to expand memory capacity and bandwidth, MSI's CXL memory expansion server integrates cutting-edge technology from AMD EPYC processors, CXL memory devices, and advanced management software," said Danny Hsu, General Manager of Enterprise Platform Solutions. "In collaboration with key players in the CXL ecosystem, including AMD, Samsung, and MemVerge, MSI and its partners are driving CXL technology to meet the demands of high-performance data center computing."

Marvell Technology, Inc., a leader in data infrastructure semiconductor solutions, today launched the Marvell Structera product line of Compute Express Link (CXL) devices that enable cloud data center operators to overcome memory performance and scaling challenges in general-purpose servers.

To address memory-intensive applications, data center operators add extra servers to get higher memory bandwidth and higher memory capacity. The compute capabilities from the added processors are typically not utilized for these applications, making the servers inefficient from cost and power perspectives. The CXL industry standard addresses this challenge by enabling new architectures that can efficiently add memory to general-purpose servers.

Samsung Electronics Co. is putting a lot of effort into securing its involvement in next-generation memory technology, CXL (Compute Express Link). In a media briefing on Thursday, Jangseok Choi, vice president of Samsung's new business planning team, announced plans to mass-produce 256 GB DRAM supporting CXL 2.0 by the end of this year. CXL technology promises to significantly enhance the efficiency of high-performance server systems by providing a unified interface for accelerators, DRAM, and storage devices used with CPUs and GPUs.

The company projects that CXL technology will increase memory capacity per server by eight to ten times, marking a significant leap in computing power. Samsung's long investment in CXL development is now in the final stages with the company currently testing products with partners for performance verification, Samsung recently established the industry's first CXL infrastructure certified by Red Hat. "We expect the CXL market to start blooming in the second half and explosively grow from 2028," Choi stated, highlighting the technology's potential to expand memory capacity and bandwidth far beyond current limitations.

South Korean startup Panmnesia has unveiled an interesting solution to address the memory limitations of modern GPUs. The company has developed a low-latency Compute Express Link (CXL) IP that could help expand GPU memory with external add-in card. Current GPU-accelerated applications in AI and HPC are constrained by the set amount of memory built into GPUs. With data sizes growing by 3x yearly, GPU networks must keep getting larger just to fit the application in the local memory, benefiting latency and token generation. Panmnesia's proposed approach to fix this leverages the CXL protocol to expand GPU memory capacity using PCIe-connected DRAM or even SSDs. The company has overcome significant technical hurdles, including the absence of CXL logic fabric in GPUs and the limitations of existing unified virtual memory (UVM) systems.

At the heart of Panmnesia's solution is a CXL 3.1-compliant root complex with multiple root ports and a host bridge featuring a host-managed device memory (HDM) decoder. This sophisticated system effectively tricks the GPU's memory subsystem into treating PCIe-connected memory as native system memory. Extensive testing has demonstrated impressive results. Panmnesia's CXL solution, CXL-Opt, achieved two-digit nanosecond round-trip latency, significantly outperforming both UVM and earlier CXL prototypes. In GPU kernel execution tests, CXL-Opt showed execution times up to 3.22 times faster than UVM. Older CXL memory extenders recorded around 250 nanoseconds round trip latency, with CXL-Opt potentially achieving less than 80 nanoseconds. As with CXL, the problem is usually that the memory pools add up latency and performance degrades, while these CXL extenders tend to add to the cost model as well. However, the Panmnesia CXL-Opt could find a use case, and we are waiting to see if anyone adopts this in their infrastructure.Below are some benchmarks by Panmnesia, as well as the architecture of the CXL-Opt.

JEDEC Solid State Technology Association, the global leader in standards development for the microelectronics industry, today announced the publication of JESD405-1B JEDEC Memory Module Label - for Compute Express Link (CXL ) V1.1. JESD405-1B joins JESD317A JEDEC Memory Module Reference Base Standard - for Compute Express Link (CXL ) V1.0, first introduced in March 2023, in defining the function and configuration of memory modules that support CXL specifications, as well as the standardized content for labels for these modules. JESD405-1B and JESD317A were developed in coordination with the Compute Express Link standards organization. Both standards are available for free download from the JEDEC website.

JESD317A provides detailed guidelines for CXL memory modules including mechanical, electrical, pinout, power and thermal, and environmental guidelines for emerging CXL Memory Modules (CMMs). These modules conform to SNIA (Storage Networking Industry Association) EDSFF form factors E1.S and E3.S to provide end-user friendly hot pluggable assemblies for data centers and similar server applications.

MSI, a world leader in AI PC and AIoT solutions, is going to participate in COMPUTEX 2024 from 6/4 to 6/7. With cutting-edge skills, MSI's AIoT team has been focusing on product development and hardware-software integration for AI applications in recent years, achieving great results on application development in various fields. MSI will create an exclusive exhibition area for Smart City to introduce AIoT application scenarios which have five topics including AI & Datacenter, Automation, Industrial Solutions, Commercial Solutions, and Automotive Solutions.

The most iconic products this year are diverse GPU platforms for AI markets and a new CXL (Compute Express Link) memory expansion server which was developed by the cooperation of key players in the CXL technology field, including AMD, Samsung, and Micron. Besides, the latest Autonomous Mobile Robot (AMR) powered by NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin is also one of the major highlights. For new energy vehicles, we will first disclose the complete AC/DC chargers coupled with MSI E-Connect dashboard (EMS) and AI-powered car recognition applications to show the one-stop service of HW/SW integration.

Micron Technology, a leader in innovative data center solutions, today announced it has achieved its qualification sample milestone for the Micron CZ120 memory expansion modules using Compute Express Link (CXL). Micron is the first in the industry to achieve this milestone, which accelerates the adoption of CXL solutions within the data center to tackle the growing memory challenges stemming from existing data-intensive workloads and emerging artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) workloads.

Using a new and emerging CXL standard, the CZ120 required substantial hardware testing for reliability, quality and performance across CPU providers and OEMs, along with comprehensive software testing for compatibility and compliance with OS and hypervisor vendors. This achievement reflects the collaboration and commitment across the data center ecosystem to validate the advantages of CXL memory. By testing the combined products for interoperability and compatibility across hardware and software, the Micron CZ120 memory expansion modules satisfy the rigorous standards for reliability, quality and performance required by customers' data centers.

SK hynix participated in the first-ever Compute Express Link Consortium Developers Conference (CXL DevCon) held in Santa Clara, California from April 30-May 1. Organized by a group of more than 240 global semiconductor companies known as the CXL Consortium, CXL DevCon 2024 welcomed a majority of the consortium's members to showcase their latest technologies and research results.

CXL is a technology that unifies the interfaces of different devices in a system such as semiconductor memory, storage, and logic chips. As it can increase system bandwidth and processing capacity, CXL is receiving attention as a key technology for the AI era in which high performance and capacity are essential. Under the slogan "Memory, The Power of AI," SK hynix showcased a range of CXL products at the conference that are set to strengthen the company's leadership in AI memory technology.

SMART Modular Technologies, Inc. ("SMART"), a division of SGH (Nasdaq: SGH) and a global leader in memory solutions, solid-state drives, and advanced memory, announces its new family of Add-In Cards (AICs) which implements the Compute Express Link (CXL) standard and also supports industry standard DDR5 DIMMs. These are the first in their class, high-density DIMM AICs to adopt the CXL protocol. The SMART 4-DIMM and 8-DIMM products enable server and data center architects to add up to 4 TB of memory in a familiar, easy-to-deploy form factor.

"The market for CXL memory components for data center applications is expected to grow rapidly. Initial production shipments are expected in late 2024 and will surpass the $2 billion mark by 2026. Ultimately, CXL attach rates in the server market will reach 30% including both expansion and pooling use cases," stated Mike Howard, vice president of DRAM and memory markets at TechInsights, an intelligence source to semiconductor innovation and related markets.

Samsung Electronics, a world leader in advanced semiconductor technology, unveiled the expansion of its Compute Express Link (CXL) memory module portfolio and showcased its latest HBM3E technology, reinforcing leadership in high-performance and high-capacity solutions for AI applications.

In a keynote address to a packed crowd at Santa Clara's Computer History Museum, Jin-Hyeok Choi, Corporate Executive Vice President, Device Solutions Research America - Memory at Samsung Electronics, along with SangJoon Hwang, Corporate Executive Vice President, Head of DRAM Product and Technology at Samsung Electronics, took the stage to introduce new memory solutions and discuss how Samsung is leading HBM and CXL innovations in the AI era. Joining Samsung on stage was Paul Turner, Vice President, Product Team, VCF Division at VMware by Broadcom and Gunnar Hellekson, Vice President and General Manager at Red Hat to discuss how their software solutions combined with Samsung's hardware technology is pushing the boundaries of memory innovation.

SK hynix is displaying its latest AI memory technologies at NVIDIA's GPU Technology Conference (GTC) 2024 held in San Jose from March 18-21. The annual AI developer conference is proceeding as an in-person event for the first time since the start of the pandemic, welcoming industry officials, tech decision makers, and business leaders. At the event, SK hynix is showcasing new memory solutions for AI and data centers alongside its established products.

Showcasing the Industry's Highest Standard of AI Memory
The AI revolution has continued to pick up pace as AI technologies spread their reach into various industries. In response, SK hynix is developing AI memory solutions capable of handling the vast amounts of data and processing power required by AI. At GTC 2024, the company is displaying some of these products, including its 12-layer HBM3E and Compute Express Link (CXL)1, under the slogan "Memory, The Power of AI". HBM3E, the fifth generation of HBM2, is the highest-specification DRAM for AI applications on the market. It offers the industry's highest capacity of 36 gigabytes (GB), a processing speed of 1.18 terabytes (TB) per second, and exceptional heat dissipation, making it particularly suitable for AI systems. On March 19, SK hynix announced it had become the first in the industry to mass-produce HBM3E.

Cadence's digital and custom/analog flows are certified on the Intel 18A process technology. Cadence design IP supports this node from Intel Foundry, and the corresponding process design kits (PDKs) are delivered to accelerate the development of a wide variety of low-power consumer, high-performance computing (HPC), AI and mobile computing designs. Customers can now begin using the production-ready Cadence design flows and design IP to achieve design goals and speed up time to market.

"Intel Foundry is very excited to expand our partnership with Cadence to enable key markets for the leading-edge Intel 18A process technology," said Rahul Goyal, Vice President and General Manager, Product and Design Ecosystem, Intel Foundry. "We will leverage Cadence's world-class portfolio of IP, AI design technologies, and advanced packaging solutions to enable high-volume, high-performance, and power-efficient SoCs in Intel Foundry's most advanced process technology. Cadence is an indispensable partner supporting our IDM2.0 strategy and the Intel Foundry ecosystem."

Samsung Electronics, a world leader in advanced memory technology, today announced that for the first time in the industry, it has successfully verified Compute Express Link (CXL) memory operations in a real user environment with open-source software provider Red Hat, leading the expansion of its CXL ecosystem.

Due to the exponential growth of data throughput and memory requirements for emerging fields like generative AI, autonomous driving and in-memory databases (IMDBs), the demand for systems with greater memory bandwidth and capacity is also increasing. CXL is a unified interface standard that connects various processors, such as CPUs, GPUs and memory devices through a PCIe interface that can serve as a solution for limitations in existing systems in terms of speed, latency and expandability.

Thanks to the leaked slides obtained by @InstLatX64, we have more details and some performance estimates about Intel's upcoming 5th Generation Xeon "Emerald Rapids" CPUs, boasting a significant performance leap over its predecessors. Leading the Emerald Rapids family is the top-end SKU, the Xeon 8592+, which features 64 cores and 128 threads, backed by a massive 480 MB L3 cache pool. The upcoming lineup shifts from a 4-tile to a 2-tile design to minimize latency and improve performance. The design utilizes the P-Core architecture under the Raptor Cove ISA and promises up to 40% faster performance than the current 4th Generation "Sapphire Rapids" CPUs in AI applications utilizing Intel AMX engine. Each chiplet has 35 cores, three of which are disabled, and each tile has two DDR5-5600 MT/s memory controllers, which operate two memory channels each and translating that into eight-channel design. There are three PCIe controllers per die, making it six in total.

Newer protocols and AI accelerators also back the upcoming lineup. Now, the Emerald Rapids family supports the Compute Express Link (CXL) Types 1/2/3 in addition to up to 80 PCIe Gen 5 lanes and enhanced Intel Ultra Path Interconnect (UPI). There are four UPI controllers spread over two dies. Moreover, features like the four on-die Intel Accelerator Engines, optimized power mode, and up to 17% improvement in general-purpose workloads make it seem like a big step up from the current generation. Much of this technology is found on the existing Sapphire Rapids SKUs, with the new generation enhancing the AI processing capability further. You can see the die configuration below. The 5th Generation Emerald Rapids designs are supposed to be official on December 14th, just a few days away.

Intel Innovation 2023 -- Supermicro, Inc., a Total IT Solution Provider for Cloud, AI/ML, Storage, and 5G/Edge, is announcing future support for the upcoming 5th Gen Intel Xeon processors. In addition, Supermicro will soon offer early shipping and free remote early access testing of the new Systems via its JumpStart Program for qualified customers. To learn more, go to www.supermicro.com/x13 for details. The Supermicro 8x GPU optimized servers, the SuperBlade servers, and the Hyper Series will soon be ready for customers to test their workloads on the new CPU.

"Supermicro's range of Generative High-Performance AI systems, including recently launched GPUs, continues to lead the industry in AI offerings with its broad range of X13 family of servers designed for various workloads, from the edge to the cloud," said Charles Liang, president, and CEO, Supermicro. "Our support for the upcoming 5th Gen Intel Xeon processors, with more cores, an increased performance per watt, and the latest DDR5-5600 MHz memory, will allow our customers to realize even greater application performance and power efficiency for AI, Cloud, 5G Edge, and Enterprise workloads. These new features will help customers accelerate their business and maximize their competitive advantage."