Microchip Technology and Micron demonstrated a PCIe Gen 6 storage architecture combining Microchip's Switchtec switches

Microchip Technology announced a demonstration of an end-to-end PCIe Gen 6 storage architecture at the 2026 Future of Memory and Storage Conference, showcasing its Switchtec PCIe Gen 6 switches paired with high-performance Micron 9650 NVMe solid state drives. The architecture allows these drives to operate at full PCIe Gen 6 speeds, supporting composable and disaggregated system designs that enable data center architects to scale storage resources efficiently while maintaining predictable performance.

Brian McCarson, corporate vice president and general manager of Microchip's data center solutions business unit, stated that advancing data center performance requires a cohesive ecosystem approach. "We're bringing together complementary strengths in switching and storage to demonstrate how a well-aligned ecosystem can enable scalable, high-bandwidth architectures for next-generation AI and cloud platforms," McCarson said.

PCIe 6.0 addresses the challenge of moving increasingly large data volumes across compute, memory and storage as AI models grow in complexity. The new standard doubles PCIe 5.0 bandwidth to 64 giga transfers per second per lane, delivering the sustained throughput required for demanding AI workloads.

The Switchtec Gen 6 PCIe switches are built on 3 nanometer process technology and support high lane counts, advanced error containment, comprehensive diagnostics and multicast functionality for efficient one-to-many data distribution. They enable high-speed connectivity between CPUs, GPUs, SoCs, AI accelerators and storage devices while optimizing power consumption. Security features include hardware root of trust and secure boot architecture supported by post-quantum-safe cryptographic algorithms meeting CNSA 2.0 standards.

Larry Hart, senior director of solutions marketing for Micron's Core Data Center Business Unit, noted that the Micron 9650 SSD is the industry's first mass-produced PCIe Gen 6 SSD. "Together, the Micron 9650 SSD and Microchip's Switchtec PCIe Gen 6 switching technology demonstrate how a scalable storage architecture can help data centers achieve higher throughput, lower latency and more efficient data movement for next-generation AI, HPC and cloud workloads," Hart said.

The Micron 9650 PCIe Gen 6 NVMe SSDs are designed to deliver exceptional throughput, IOPS and latency characteristics for data-intensive workloads such as AI training, real-time analytics and large-scale databases.