What Is A PCIE Interface?

First of all PCIe, when you break it down, stands for Peripheral Component Interconnect Express. Sometimes it is also seen as PCI Express, which means the same thing. Essentially it is an expansion card format capable of operating at extremely high speeds. It is what connects a computer to the peripherals attached to it.

PCIe interfaces are designed specifically for I/O, or input/output interfaces that go between the peripheral components within a given system. This is different from the two other interface types. Those are SATA, which is an acronym for Serial Advanced Technology Attachment, and SAS, which is an acronym for Serial Attached SCSI. SATA is limited to just 32 requests, is less scalable, but optimized for light workloads. One example of where they are useful is on desktop Personal Computers, as well as many other embedded applications. The SAS is typically idealized for enterprise storage, has a higher range than the SATA when it comes to requests, around 256, and is much more scalable.

The PCIe differs in that it requires a driver in order to function, and it also is an expansion interface rather than an interface meant for storage. PCIe's are the fastest of the three interfaces, and are usually located closest to the CPU, which makes them even more ideal for the Input/Output  acceleration application. They also have use as a caching solution.

There are older models of I/Os, such as PCI, PCI-X, as well as AGP, and the list of improvements that brought forth the PCIe is extensive. These improvements include but are not limited to increasing the maximum system throughput, a physically smaller frame, improved performance scaling, a lower Input/Output total pin count number, higher performing detection of errors, and AER, or Advanced Error Reporting. The most recent PCIes also have the ability to support software for Input/Output visualization. As PCIe's become more and more popular, technology improvements will increase their capabilities even more.

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