Report: PCIe 6.X Preliminary FYI Workshop, San Francisco, October 2025
BitifEye’s R&D engineer shares takeaways from the Workshop, highlighting Back-Channel Optimization and receiver testing updates.
From Wolfgang Koebele, R&D Engineer at BitifEye
At the end of October, BitifEye participated in the PCIe 6.0 Preliminary FYI Workshop, where various test solution providers (TSPs) compared their setups across a broad range of devices. The main goal of this event was to evaluate the correlation between different test systems – a key milestone on the way to the official FYI phase.
For the first time, Keysight provided two receiver test suites in parallel: one using the Keysight M8040A BERT and the other using the M8050A BERT. BitifEye, serving as the solution integrator and development partner for receiver testing, worked with Keysight engineers to execute calibrations and measurements in accordance with the latest draft of the PCIe 6.0 CEM test specification. Key updates since the previous event in March included adjustments to the calibration flow and the LFPR method used for preset determination in LEQ transmitter testing.
The Keysight/BitifEye test setup – controlled via the ValiFrame® test automation software platform for PCIe (N5991P) – performed all required calibrations as well as Rx and Tx LEQ testing. By automating both BERTs along with a UXR real-time oscilloscope, we were able to gather a large volume of data across many device types over the course of the week.
A special highlight was the new Back-Channel Optimization feature included in the PCI Express Setup Preparation software (N5991PD0E). It demonstrated strong performance by successfully optimizing all tested devices across various back-channel lengths, significantly improving testing time compared to earlier events.
The collected test data will now be reviewed by PCI-SIG working groups to evaluate cross-platform consistency. The insights and software enhancements resulting from this workshop will be included in the upcoming PCI Express 6.0 CEM Specification Receiver Test Software release (N5991PC6A, ValiFrame v5.4), expected by the end of this year.
Additional Reference:
For an explanation of the Back-Channel Optimization procedure and its integration into the PCIe Rx calibration workflow, refer to our video tutorial in the ValiFrame software tutorial section of our knowledge center. View tutorial.