Astera Labs Expands Interoperability to Propel Next-Gen PCIe 6.x Ecosystem

Astera Labs, Inc. announced the expansion of its Cloud-Scale Interop Lab to accelerate time-to-market of PCIe 6.x AI platforms powered by Scorpio Smart Fabric Switches.

Rigorous interoperability and performance testing of Scorpio P-Series Fabric Switches with a wide-range of PCIe 6.x exercisers, analyzers, GPUs, CPUs, NICs, SSDs, and switches across multiple PCIe generations and topologies enables customers to design with confidence, minimize interoperation risk, and reduce overall development time and costs.

Chris Petersen, fellow, technology and ecosystems, Astera Labs, said, “Beyond base level interoperability, Astera Labs’ Cloud-Scale Interop Lab embodies our cloud-native philosophy — leveraging our early ecosystem engagement, system validation boards, advanced diagnostics, and performance and system testing with real-world applications. This expansion of our interoperability leadership empowers customers to optimize performance, increase reliability, and accelerate deployment of their next-generation PCIe 6.x systems.”

Higher bandwidth PCIe 6.x technology is essential to maximize GPU, CPU, and AI accelerator performance for AI workloads in hyperscale systems, but its adoption introduces new connectivity challenges with increased speed, mixed generation complexity, and scale. To address these challenges, Scorpio P-Series Fabric Switches and Aries 6 PCIe/CXL Smart DSP Retimers undergo rigorous PCIe link, RAS, and system testing in complex PCIe topologies over varying channel insertion loss budgets. Unlike interop programs that are one-dimensional, Scorpio and Aries are tested running real-world applications on production-ready systems with leading root complexes, endpoints, and operating systems.

This development extends Astera Labs’ leadership in system interoperability and builds upon recent ecosystem milestones, including the company’s first public demonstration of end-to-end PCIe 6.x interoperability between Scorpio P-Series Fabric Switches and Micron’s PCIe 6.x SSD using GPU-Direct Storage at DesignCon 2025.

Customers can request custom interop reports featuring Scorpio Smart Fabric Switches and a broad range of PCIe 6.x/PCIe 5.x devices at the company’s website. (registration required)

Industry support :
Raghu Nambiar, corporate VP, data center ecosystems and solutions, AMD (Advanced Micro Devices Inc.) said, “AMD and Astera Labs are committed to PCIe technologies to enable next-generation cloud and AI infrastructure solutions. Astera Labs plays a critical role in ensuring robust interoperability with next-generation AMD processors, driving platform developments to ensure performance for emerging workloads, including AI.”

Dr. Joachim Peerlings, VP, network and data center solutions, Keysight Technologies, Inc., said, “Astera Labs’ fabric switch solution with support for PCIe 6.x technology is an important milestone for the ecosystem. Keysight looks forward to collaborating with Astera Labs testing efforts in their Cloud-Scale Interop Lab to enable compliant, interoperable PCIe 6.x-based platforms that advance next generation AI and cloud infrastructure.”

Alvaro Toledo, VP and GM, data center storage, Micron Technology, Inc., said, “Micron is excited to advance the PCIe Gen6 ecosystem through our collaboration with Astera Labs. Our joint demonstration of end-to-end interoperability at the highest performance levels is a significant milestone. As the industry leader in developing PCIe Gen6 SSDs, Micron is pushing technological boundaries and setting the stage for this technology to become the storage standard for future data centers.”

Leno Park, VP, NAND product planning, Samsung Electronics, said, “Our collaboration with Astera Labs ensures that Samsung’s cutting-edge PCIe storage solutions are rigorously validated in the Cloud-Scale Interop Lab, helping customers achieve seamless interoperability and maximize performance of their advanced PCIe-based platforms. This cooperation is vital to enabling the emerging PCIe ecosystem, delivering faster, more reliable storage solutions that power next-generation data centers for AI applications.”

Joe Mendolia, VP, marketing, protocol solutions group, Teledyne Lecroy, Inc., said, “As a leader in PCI Express 6.x protocol and physical layer testing with our innovative analysis tools, we value our close partnerships with other ecosystem leaders who are at the forefront of bleeding edge interconnect developments. Teledyne Lecroy welcomes the opportunity to partner with Astera Labs in the Cloud-Scale Interop Lab, helping to ensure PCIe 6.x platforms achieve seamless interoperability through our integrated and automated compliance testing system. We’re excited that our collaboration with companies such as Astera Labs can help drive and ensure the future of advanced technologies such as AI.”

Robert Lin, president, enterprise and networking business group, Wistron Corp., said, “As AI workloads drive demand for higher performance and scalability in hyperscale data centers, robust connectivity becomes paramount. Our close collaboration with Astera Labs enables us to accelerate time-to-market of our latest AI platforms through comprehensive design validation and pre-production testing.” 

Resources:
Webpage: Cloud-Scale Interop Lab   
Video: How We Test – Scorpio    
Collateral: Request Interop Report (registration required)