The PCI Special Interests Group defines new standard for tunable I/O

Dec 13, 2013 15:43 GMT  ·  By

The Peripheral Component Interconnect Special Interest Group has published the latest draft of its PCI Express industry-standard input/output (I/O) technology.

First there was the PCI Express card, then the PCI Express Mini Card, then the PCI Express Half Mini Card.

Now, we are looking at the M.2 form factor, which involves scalable connectors that support both single- and double-sided module cards.

Soldered-down forms are available too, but the connectorized forms allow single-sided modules for low profile solutions.

Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, SSD and WWAN cards can all be designed in PCIe M.2 form. Soon enough, video add-in boards should join that list.

Ultrathin laptops and tablets will benefit from this advancement the most.

"As users switch from legacy PCs to compact mobile devices, their demand for robust and power-efficient computing platforms endures," said Al Yanes, PCI-SIG chairman and president. "The M.2 form factor offers tunable I/O technology, allowing developers to create the optimal balance of power and performance in their platform implementations."