SNIA Spec Gets Data Moving in CXL Environment
SDXI addresses limitations of proprietary Direct Memory Access devices.
By Gary Hilson, EETimes (January 5, 2023)
The Compute Express Link (CXL) spec is arguably one of the fastest-maturing interfaces in the semiconductor industry. Its widespread buy-in has meant many vendors have designed products to build out the ecosystem, with the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) being the latest to put its hat in the ring to help further improve data movement.
On Nov. 28, SNIA introduced the Smart Data Accelerator Interface (SDXI) specification. Similar to CXL, the SDXI spec prioritizes efficient data movement; specifically, SDXI is a standard for a memory-to-memory data mover and acceleration interface. The genesis of the specification dates to September 2020, when a SNIA technical working group (TWG) set out to realize the concept of a Direct Memory Access (DMA) data-mover device and addressed common limitations.
The role of a DMA is to offload software-based copy loops to free up CPU execution cycles. Although the concept is well known, DMA adoption is often limited to specific privileged software and I/O use cases employing device-specific interfaces that aren’t forward-compatible. These limitations mean user-mode application usage is difficult in a non-virtualized environment and almost impossible in a multi-tenant virtualized environment.
![]() |
E-mail This Article | ![]() |
![]() |
Printer-Friendly Page |
Related News
- CXL Spec Grows, Absorbs Others to Collate Ecosystem
- IntelliProp First to Market with Memory Fabric Based on CXL; Driving Most Disruptive Technology to Hit Data Centers in Decades
- CXL Product Pipeline Gets Flowing
- Rambus Advances New Era of Data Center Architecture with CXL Memory Interconnect Initiative
- CXL gathers speed with 2.0 spec
Breaking News
- IAR Systems fully supports the brand-new Industrial-Grade PX5 RTOS
- Axiomise Accelerates Formal Verification Adoption Across the Industry
- Fluent.ai Offers Embedded Voice Recognition for Cadence Tensilica HiFi 5 DSP-Based True Wireless Stereo Products
- intoPIX to feature TicoXS FIP technology for premium 4K & 8K AVoIP wireless AV at ISE 2023
- Sevya joins TSMC Design Center Alliance
Most Popular
- Weebit Nano nears productisation, negotiating initial customer agreements
- Cadence Quantus FS Solution, a 3D Field Solver, Achieves Certification for Samsung Foundry's SF4, SF3E and SF3 Process Technologies
- Sevya joins TSMC Design Center Alliance
- Avery Design Systems and CoMira Announce Partnership To Enable UCIe-Compliant Chiplet Design
- Open Compute Project Foundation and JEDEC Announce a New Collaboration