PCI Specification 3.0 released

Portland (OR) - The PCI Special Interest Group (PCI-SIG) has announced the third generation of the Conventional PCI standard, migrating the interface to 3.3V-only slots.

The Conventional PCI standard was updated in the shadow of the buzz about PCI Express. The latest revision 3.0 builds that builds upon version 2.3 and completes the migration of the PCI bus from the original 5.0V signaling to 3.3V-only slots. The new standard removes support for 5.0V-only keyed add-in cards.

Universal keyed add-in cards, cards that are keyed for both 5.0V and 3.3V slots, continue to be supported by the Conventional PCI 3.0 spec. Version 3.0 also incorporates the errata and ECNs (Engineering Change Notifications) to the specification version 2.3. The third generation spec supports PCI 66, PCI-X, Mini PCI, and Low Profile PCI.

"Conventional PCI is a mature technology that has been proven in real-life applications throughout the last decade. It has adapted to the latest market needs while preserving the backward compatibility and protecting investments that companies have made over the years," said Tony Pierce, PCI-SIG chairman and technical evangelist at Microsoft.

The PCI-SIG owns and manages PCI specifications as open industry standards. The organization also is reposible for the definition and implementation of new industry standard I/O specifications. The organization currently has about 800 members, including AMD, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Microsoft, and Texas Instruments.