Aries PCIe®/CXL® Smart Cable Modules™

Multi-rack GPU clustering for AI
over copper cables

Download Portfolio Brief

Unleash GPU-to-GPU Clustering Across Racks

  • Extends PCIe® 6.0, 5.0, PCIe 4.0, and CXL® signal reach across dense AI racks using Active Electrical Cables
  • Built on the proven track record of our widely deployed and field-tested Aries PCIe/CXL Smart DSP Retimers
  • Supports multiple form factors and configurations to accommodate diverse AI system topologies
  • COSMOS suite for performance optimization and seamless fleet management across dense AI platforms

Aries SCM Highlights

Enabling reliable PCIe/CXL for rack-to-rack connectivity

Robust Signal
Integrity

Over copper cables with flexible link bifurcation

Extended Cable
Reach By

Compared to passive DAC solutions

Enhanced Diagnostics
& Telemetry

Advanced capabilities through in-band and out-of-band management

Why Use Aries Smart Cable Modules?

Aries SCMs enable robust, easy-to-design PCIe and CXL cabling while also offering COSMOS suite of built-in advanced fleet management, security, and deep diagnostic capabilities critical to ensuring high reliability and up-time.

Robustness

  • Supported Data Rates

    64 GT/s, 32 GT/s, 16 GT/s, 8 GT/s, 5 GT/s, and 2.5 GT/s Data Rates with Automatic Link Equalization

  • Power Efficient

    Low power CMOS process and L1.0 Low-Power Mode minimizes rack power/thermal density

  • Low Latency

    Less than 10ns

  • Security

    Advanced security features help prevent malicious attacks of unauthorized firmware loading, module diagnostics access, and configurations

Ease-of-use

  • Thin Cable Gauge

    Offering thin cables in various lengths for flexible bend radius

  • Extended Reach

    Up to 7m for long reach inter-rack PCIe 5.0 connectivity and up to 6m for PCIe 6.x connectivity

  • Flexible Supply Chain

    Aries SCMs are compatible with multiple cable vendors for ease of second sourcing of active cable assemblies and accelerated time to market

  • Interop Testing

    Rigorous system testing with 50+ Endpoints and all major Root Complex

Fleet Management

  • Quick Debug

    Built-in protocol analyzer with Link state history and timestamps, full non-destructive eye scan for RX Lane margining, self-test features to minimize link downtime and accelerate fault isolation

  • Deep Diagnostics

    Firmware-driven link health monitoring to alert BMC of any possible link performance issues

Use Cases

Memory Disaggregation

Expand, pool and share memory between multiple servers to increase memory bandwidth and capacity while providing the option to reclaim stranded or under-utilized…

Resources

Ordering Information

Part NumberDocumentsPCIe Gen PCIe LanesOrderingProduction Status
PM30-6XXPortfolio BriefPCIe 6.xVariousContact Us Pre-Production
PM20-5XXPortfolio BriefPCIe 5.0VariousContact UsProduction

Breaking the 100 GB/s Barrier: Astera Labs and Micron Demonstrate Production-Ready PCIe 6 Storage Performance at FMS 2025

The future of AI infrastructure arrived at the Future of Memory and Storage (FMS) 2025 conference, where Astera Labs and Micron achieved a groundbreaking milestone: over 100 GB/s of sustained throughput using production-ready PCIe 6 technology. This industry-first demonstration represents a transformative advancement in AI storage performance, featuring four Micron 9650 PCIe Gen6 SSDs and…

Read more

Astera Labs at FMS 2025: Accelerating Storage and Memory Innovation in the AI Infrastructure 2.0 Era

As AI models push computational boundaries with breakthrough reasoning capabilities, storage and memory must also evolve to optimize AI Infrastructure 2.0. From training massive models to enabling real-time inference, every part of the AI workflow relies on seamless connectivity between diverse storage and memory technologies.Join Astera Labs at the Future of Memory and Storage Summit…

Read more

Astera Labs at OCP APAC Summit: Advancing Open AI Infrastructure 2.0 Through Rack-Scale Connectivity

As AI training clusters scale to 200,000+ GPUs, traditional server architectures require a fundamental paradigm shift to handle this unprecedented scale. Join Astera Labs at the OCP APAC Summit, August 5-6 in Taipei, as we put a spotlight on the transition to AI Infrastructure 2.0—where the rack is replacing the server as the new unit of compute.This transformation isn’t just evolutionary—it’s…

Read more

Astera Labs Announces Financial Results for the Second Quarter of Fiscal Year 2025

Record quarterly revenue of $191.9 million, up 20% QoQ and 150% YoY, and record operating cash flow generation of $135.4 millionIndustry leading PCIe 6 connectivity portfolio ramping in volume on customized rack-scale AI systemsScorpio Fabric Switch design wins expand across multiple new customers and applicationsSAN JOSE, CA, U.S. – August 5, 2025 – Astera Labs, Inc. (Nasdaq:…

Read more

Astera Labs Opens New Global Headquarters in San Jose to Accelerate AI Infrastructure Innovation

900-employee campus powers Astera Labs’ mission to usher in the rack-scale computing eraSAN JOSE, Calif.– July 18, 2025 – Astera Labs, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALAB), a provider of semiconductor connectivity solutions for AI and cloud infrastructure, today announced the opening of its new corporate headquarters in San Jose, California. Designed to accommodate up to 900 employees, the new…

Read more

Astera Labs Announces Conference Call to Review Second Quarter 2025 Financial Results

SAN JOSE, Calif., July 08, 2025 — Astera Labs, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALAB), a global leader in semiconductor-based connectivity solutions for AI and cloud infrastructure, today announced that it will release its financial results for the second quarter 2025 after the close of market on Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025. Astera Labs will host a corresponding conference call at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time, 4:30…

Read more

Astera Labs and Alchip Announce Strategic Partnership to Advance Silicon Ecosystem for AI Rack-Scale Connectivity

Hyperscalers benefit from seamless integration of purpose-built compute and connectivity solutions to rapidly deploy AI infrastructure at scale– SANTA CLARA, Calif. and TAIPEI, Taiwan – June 16, 2025 – Astera Labs, a leading provider of purpose-built connectivity solutions for AI and cloud infrastructure, and Alchip Technologies, the high-performance ASIC leader, today announced a…

Read more

Accelerate AI with Real-World CXL Platforms

We’ve collaborated with SMART Modular Technologies to showcase our Leo CXL Smart Memory Controller in a real-world setup that delivers up to 2TB of additional CXL memory using SMART Modular CXL cards.In the demo, we ran a series of Large Language Model inferencing tasks with FlexGen. Using CXL, the demo achieved 5.5x higher throughput and 90% GPU utilization. The demo also showcased COSMOS…

Read more

Boost AI with 100+ GB/s PCIe 6

Building on our successful DesignCon 2025 demonstration with Micron that achieved 54 GB/s with two SSDs, we’ve now scaled to four Micron 9650 PCIe Gen6 SSDs with three Scorpio P-Series Fabric Switches to achieve over 100 GB/s aggregate performance. This marks another step in expanding PCIe 6 adoption as Astera Labs continues to validate interoperability across an increasing range of endpoints,…

Read more

Demo: COSMOS Developer Kit Diagnostics Tools

Astera Labs’ COSMOS Developer Kit provides user-friendly test and debug capabilities that accelerate validation workflows. The Developer Kit supports device, discovery, configuration, security attestation, firmware updates, scripting, and automation, making it a versatile solution for system designers and integration.

Read more