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Altera_Forum's avatar
Altera_Forum
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9 years ago

PCIe gen-3 backward compatibility

Hi, I am planning to use Arria-10 GX FPGA for my next design. This board has PCIe gen-3 hard IP. I want to know whether it is backward compatible to gen-1 and gen-2 motherboard slots. regards, ...
Altera_Forum's avatar
Altera_Forum
Icon for Honored Contributor rankHonored Contributor
9 years ago

Yes.

PCIe requires backwards compatibility. All Gen 3 devices first enumerate at Gen 1, then ask if they can step up to Gen 2. If allowed they increase the speed. Once at Gen 2, the again ask if they can step up to Gen 3.