UCIe Consortium intros 3.0 spec with 64 GT/s performance and enhanced manageability

Universal Chiplet Interconnect Express (UCIe) Consortium, the open standard for interconnects between chiplets within a package, announced the release of the UCIe 3.0 specification, marking the next stage in the evolution of its open chiplet standard. 

The new specification delivers significant performance enhancements, most notably support for 48 GT/s and 64 GT/s data rates, alongside incremental architectural updates to meet growing industry demand for high-speed, interoperable chiplet solutions.

The UCIe 3.0 specification also introduces enhancements such as runtime recalibration for improve power efficiency and extended sideband reach that supports more flexible multi-chip configurations. Additional, manageability features like early firmware download and priority sideband packets increase system responsiveness and reliability. 

The specification’s optional manageability features give companies the flexibility to implement only what they need, enabling broad adoption, while allowing design customization without unnecessary silicon.

These advancements reflect the Consortium’s commitment to driving innovation in the chiplet ecosystem by improving bandwidth density, power efficiency, and system-level manageability, key enablers for scalable multi-chip System-in-Package (SiP) designs. As a result, the 3.0 specification enables greater scalability, flexibility, and interoperability to accelerate innovation in modular semiconductor design.

“UCIe 3.0 represents a critical step forward for the chiplet industry, delivering the speed, efficiency, and manageability needed to scale multi-chip designs,” said Cheolmin Park, UCIe Consortium President and Corporate VP, Samsung Electro-Mechanics.

“With increased data rates and extended manageability capabilities, the next generation of UCIe technology will empower developers to build more flexible, interoperable, and high-performance SiP solutions as we all work together to build a truly open and interoperable chiplet ecosystem.”

UCIe 3.0 specification highlights:
• Support for 48 GT/s and 64 GT/s data rates, doubling the bandwidth of UCIe 2.0 (32 GT/s) to meet high-performance chiplet demands
• Runtime recalibration enhancements enable power-efficient link tuning during operation by reusing initialization states
• Extended sideband channel reaching up to 100mm supports more flexible SiP topologies
• Support for continuous transmission protocols through mappings, enabling uninterrupted data flow in Raw Mode for new applications such as connectivity between SoC and DSP chiplets
• Early firmware download standardization using Management Transport Protocol (MTP) for streamlined initialization
• Priority sideband packets allow deterministic, low-latency signaling for time-sensitive system events
• Fast throttle and emergency shutdown mechanisms provide immediate system-wide notifications via open-drain I/O
• Fully backward compatible with all previous UCIe specifications for seamless integration and adoption.