company blog about Supply Microchip Switchtec PFX Fanout PCIe Switches:PFX Gen 5,PFX Gen 4,PFX/PFX-I Gen 3

Supply Microchip Switchtec PFX Fanout PCIe Switches:PFX Gen 5,PFX Gen 4,PFX/PFX-I Gen 3

Shenzhen Mingjiada Electronics Co., Ltd. is a renowned distributor of electronic components. Adhering to the principle of ‘serving and benefiting our customers’, we offer a comprehensive range of high-quality electronic components.

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Stock on hand: Over 2 million SKUs in stock, covering niche, scarce and discontinued components.

Comprehensive coverage: 5G chips, new energy ICs, IoT ICs, Bluetooth ICs, in-vehicle infotainment ICs, automotive-grade ICs, communications ICs, AI chips, memory ICs, sensor ICs, microcontroller ICs, transceiver ICs, Ethernet ICs, Wi-Fi chips, wireless communication modules, connectors, and more.

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Global Logistics Network: Leveraging our dual-warehouse system in Hong Kong and Shenzhen, along with international logistics channels, we support direct global shipping and provide efficient customs clearance and cross-border delivery services.

The Microchip Switchtec PFX series comprises highly reliable fan-out PCIe switches designed for high-performance computing, AI acceleration, and data centre storage and networking, covering Gen 5, Gen 4, Gen 3 standards, and offers both commercial (PFX) and industrial-grade (PFX-I) versions. With a non-blocking architecture, extensive virtualisation and security features, and comprehensive diagnostic capabilities, it serves as the core interconnect solution for multi-host interconnection, resource pooling, and high-reliability systems.

I. Series Overview: Three Standards, Dual Product Lines

PFX (Fanout): Standard commercial-grade, designed for data centres, enterprise servers, GPU workstations and NVMe storage arrays, emphasising high performance, low latency and high integration.

PFX-I (Industrial): Available only in Gen 3, fully compatible with PFX, supporting a wide temperature range of -40°C to 105°C, designed for industrial servers, defence, automotive, telecommunications base stations and industrial automation.

II. Switchtec PFX Gen 5 (PM50/PM51 Series)

1. Core Positioning

Targeting large AI models, supercomputing, NVMe-oF, 400G/800G networks and high-density GPU clusters, it offers industry-leading single-chip bandwidth and lane counts, supporting the full range of PCIe 5.0 features.

2. Key Specifications

Lane Configuration: 28/36/52/68/84/100 lanes; ports support flexible branching at x1/x2/x4/x8/x16.

Non-blocking Architecture: 100 lanes of full-line-rate forwarding; peak switching capacity of 3.2 Tbps.

Virtualisation and Multi-Host Support:

26 Virtual Switch Partitions (VSFs) for hardware-level isolation of multiple hosts/tenants.

48 Non-Transparent Bridges (NTBs) supporting cross-domain interconnection, 1+1/N+1 redundancy, and resource sharing across multiple hosts.

Support for SR-IOV, multicast, and DMA controllers.

High Reliability and Security:

Hot-swap/accidental removal per port, AER/DPC error isolation, end-to-end data integrity, RAM ECC.

Secure boot, firmware signature authentication, hardware root of trust.

Advanced Diagnostics (ChipLink): Built-in PCIe protocol analyser/generator, real-time eye diagrams, loopback, per-port performance counters.

3. Representative Models

PM50028B1-FEI: 28-channel Gen 5, compact high-density solution.

PM50036B1-FEI: 36-channel, mainstream AI accelerator card / storage expansion.

PM51100B1-FEI: 100-channel flagship, hyperscale data centres, multi-GPU/CPU interconnect.

III. Switchtec PFX Gen 4 (PM40 Series)

1. Core Positioning

The mature choice for mainstream data centres, hybrid cloud, high-performance storage and 5G core networks, balancing performance, power consumption and cost, and compatible with existing CPU/GPU platforms.

2. Key Specifications

Channel configuration: 28/36/52/68/84/100 channels, port branching x1/x2/x4/x8/x16.

Performance: 16 GT/s, non-blocking architecture, 1.6 Tbps peak switching capacity at 100 channels.

Virtualisation: 26 virtual partitions, 48 NTBs, SR-IOV, multi-host failover.

Reliability and Security: Gen 5-level error isolation, hot-swap capability, ECC, secure boot.

I/O and Management: Integrated MIPS processor, supports I2C/SPI/UART/Ethernet and GPIO management.

3. Representative Models

PM40028B1-F3EI: 28 channels, edge computing, high-density storage enclosures.

PM40052B1-F3EI: 52 channels, general-purpose server expansion, JBOF arrays.

PM40100B1-FEI: 100 channels, large multi-host systems, HPC clusters.

IV. Switchtec PFX / PFX-I Gen 3 (PM853x / PM857x Series)

1. Core Positioning

Mature and stable, offering excellent value for money, covering traditional data centres, industrial control, video broadcasting, telecommunications access, medical and test equipment.

2. PFX (Commercial) vs PFX-I (Industrial)

Features: Identical; both support 96 channels, 48 ports, 24 virtual partitions, 48 NTBs, hot-swap capability and fault isolation.

Temperature:

PFX: 0°C to 85°C (commercial).

PFX-I: -40°C to 105°C (wide-temperature industrial).

Applications: PFX-I is used in automotive, rail transport, outdoor base stations and industrial servers.

3. Key Specifications

Channel Configuration: 24/32/48/64/80/96 channels, port splitting x1/x2/x4/x8/x16.

Performance: 8 GT/s, 96-channel peak switching capacity of 768 Gbps.

Features: NTB multi-host interconnect, SR-IOV, multicast, ChipLink diagnostics.

4. Representative Models

PM8531B-F3EI (PFX 24xG3): 24 channels, embedded / small-scale systems.

PM8536B-FEI (PFX 96xG3): 96 channels, traditional data centres, large-scale storage.

PM8576B-FEI (PFX-I 96xG3): 96-port, wide-temperature range, for industrial, defence and telecommunications applications.

V. Core Technical Advantages (Common to the Entire Series)

1. Non-blocking, low-latency architecture

Full-bandwidth cross-connect matrix, line-rate forwarding and zero congestion, optimised for AI and supercomputing applications involving small-batch, high-frequency data transmission.

2. Multi-Host and Virtualisation (NTB+VSF)

NTB: Cross-host domain isolation and communication, supporting multi-host clustering, resource pooling and fault redundancy.

Virtual Partitioning: Hardware-level isolation, enabling a single chip to function as multiple switches, reducing cost and complexity.

3. High-Reliability Design

Hot-swap/accidental disconnection per port, AER/DPC error isolation, ECC, and end-to-end verification.

Supports 1+1 active-standby and N+1 redundancy, with non-disruptive system upgrades and maintenance.

4. ChipLink Advanced Diagnostics

Built-in protocol analyser, eye diagram monitoring, loopback, and error statistics to shorten debugging cycles and reduce operational costs.

5. Security Features (Gen 5/4)

Secure boot, firmware signature verification, hardware root of trust; defends against firmware tampering and side-channel attacks.

VI. Typical Application Scenarios

AI and HPC: High-speed interconnect for multiple GPUs/CPUs/TPUs, low-latency clusters, large-scale model training.

Data Centre Storage: NVMe SSD arrays, JBOF, Storage Area Networks (SAN), distributed storage.

Servers and Cloud Computing: Multi-host systems, I/O resource pooling, hybrid cloud, high-density blade servers.

Industrial and Telecommunications: PFX-I wide-temperature variants for industrial servers, 5G base stations, core networks, and automotive/rail transport.

Video and Broadcasting: 4K/8K real-time processing, media servers, non-linear editing workstations.