Microsoft has joined a group of tech giants to create a universal standard for processors. Joining the Redmond company as Arm, AMD, Advanced Semiconductor Engineer, Google, Intel, Meta, Qualcomm, Samsung, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC).
Together, the group has created a consortium that develops the standard known as UCIe 1.0. This is short for Universal Chiplet Interconnect Express 1.0.
It is direct alternative to PCIe, USB, and NVMe, but while those are universal standards, the chiplets are not. Instead companies use their own interconnects which means there is often compatibility issues with cross-brand components.
So, at the moment it is not possible to simply plug and use. Creating a universal chiplets standard will bring more uniformity for developers, manufacturers, and consumers.
In the announcement, chip giant Intel says creating UCIe 1.0 will help streamline costs and provide better performance.
“Integrating multiple chiplets in a package to deliver product innovation across market segments is the future of the semiconductor industry and a pillar of Intel’s IDM 2.0 strategy,” says Executive Vice President and General Manager at Intel Sandra Rivera.
Coming Soon
At the moment, the consortium of tech giants has not given a timeline for when it plans to roll out its UCIe standard. However, the general feeling from the press release is it will likely arrive in the near future.
“Upon incorporation of the new UCIe industry organization this year, member companies will begin work on the next generation of UCIe technology, including defining the chiplet form factor, management, enhanced security, and other essential protocols,” adds the release.
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