Microchip and Micron Debut PCIe Gen 6 Storage Architecture

Microchip Technology demonstrated a PCIe Gen 6 storage architecture at the 2026 Future of Memory and Storage Conference, utilizing its Switchtec PCIe Gen 6 switches paired with Micron 9650 NVMe solid state drives. The system employs a fanout switch to interconnect host processors with multiple SSDs, delivering a bandwidth of 64 GT/s per lane, which is double the capacity of PCIe 5.0.

Designed specifically for AI, cloud data centers, and high-performance computing, the architecture addresses the increasing scale and complexity of AI workloads. Microchip's switches are manufactured using 3 nm process technology and incorporate post-quantum-safe cryptographic algorithms. The Micron 9650 SSD is the first mass-produced PCIe Gen 6 SSD in the industry.