Serial Cables Launches PCIe 6.0 CDFP x16 HHHL Host Card with Broadcom Atlas3 Switch

Industry’s first PCIe 6.0 CDFP Host Card with Atlas III Broadcom Switch Chip

Serial Cables' new half-height CDFP host card brings a full x16 PCIe 6.0 link over a single SFF-TA-1032 cable, with Broadcom Atlas3 switch and an on-board MCU.

ENGLEWOOD, CO, UNITED STATES, August 13, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Serial Cables, a provider of high performance interconnect and validation hardware for PCIe and CXL development, today announced the PCIe 6.0 CDFP HHHL Host Card (PCI6-AD-x16HE-CDFP-BG6), a half height, half length adapter that carries a full x16 PCIe 6.0 link over a single right angle CDFP (SFF-TA-1032) connector at 64 GT/s.

Built on the Broadcom Atlas3 (PEX90032) PCIe 6.0 switch and paired with an onboard management MCU, the card is designed for teams that need to attach PCIe 6.0 GPUs, accelerators, and expansion enclosures, or qualify PCIe 6.0 devices, over a clean, instrumented cabled connection rather than an open bench.

PCIe 6.0 devices are shipping while host platforms remain scarce, and new fabrics and form factors land before the fixtures that hold them exist. When engineers do get a link up, a conventional host card gives them lanes and little else: no port state, no per rail power, no thermal margin, no error counters. Every blind spot in that chain slows a program down and makes repeatable results harder to defend.

Serial Cables' CDFP host card closes that gap by presenting a stable, standards based x16 Gen6 interface on one side, and an onboard MCU with a full CLI on the other, so link status, voltages, fan speed, board power, and error counters are one command away.

ARCHITECTURE AND FORM FACTOR:
• Half height, half length (HHHL) card, 167 × 69 × 44 mm (heatsink included), for broad chassis compatibility
• Broadcom Atlas3 PCIe 6.0 switch (PEX90032): up to 32 lanes and up to 16 ports, in both unmanaged (no firmware) and managed (firmware) modes
• Highly flexible port configurations, ultra low latency with FLIT and FEC, nontransparent (NTB) port capability, integrated DMA channels, true peer to peer data transfer, and hot plug support
• Robust firmware update path for staged feature releases
• Active cooling with onboard fan; maximum board power of 42 W (Gen6 x32 links, fan included, excluding CDFP cable power); 0 °C to +40 °C operating range

HOST AND TARGET OPERATING MODES:
The card operates at both ends of a cabled PCIe 6.0 link, supporting two primary deployments:

1) Host to target expansion: Two cards form a pair: one in Host mode in the host motherboard, one in Target mode in a downstream chassis, joined by a single Gen6 CDFP x16 to x16 (SFF-TA-1032) cable (CDFP6-16X-16XM). This extends a full PCIe 6.0 x16 link out of the host and into a remote GPU or accelerator enclosure, whose PCIe switch fans the lanes out to the installed devices.

2) Host to AIC target: A single card in Host mode drives a companion Serial Cables CDFP card (PCI6-AD-x16AIC-CDFP) over a CDFP cable (DAC, ACC, AEC, or AOC, depending on the reach required). The target AIC terminates the link and presents a PCIe Gen6 x16 slot, placing a standard PCIe device remotely from the host.

Auxiliary 12 V supplied through the card's PCIe 6 pin connector powers active (AEC/AOC) cables for longer reach topologies.

CONNECTIVITY, POWER, AND CLOCKING:
• Right angle CDFP x16 (SFF-TA-1032) connector carrying the full 120 pin Gen6 x16 pinout
• Dual x16 PCIe 6.0 interfaces, 32 lanes total: x16 upstream to the host slot and x16 downstream over CDFP
• Auxiliary PCIe 6 pin (2×3) power connector supplying CDFP 12 V (Pin B29) for powering active optical and active electrical (AOC/AEC) cables
• Two USB Type-C ports for management: an Atlas3 I²C slave plus a switchable SDB (Serial Debug) / SMART UART path
• Selectable reference clock architecture: buffer mode (common clock forwarded from the host) or local generator mode, with software controlled spread spectrum (CFC, or SSC at −0.3 % / −0.5 %) and per connector clock output enable/disable

PART OF A BROADER SERIAL CABLES LAB ACCELERATION PORTFOLIO:
The CDFP host card joins Serial Cables' family of PCIe 6.0 host cards, which span both Microchip and Broadcom Atlas III silicon. The Atlas III B0 card offers four MCIO x8 connections over 80 lanes, while the Microchip-based card is offered with MCIO, CDFP, QSFP-DD, Ardent, and straddle mount x16 connectivity over 166 lanes.

AVAILABILITY
The PCIe 6.0 CDFP HHHL Host Card (SKU: PCI6-AD-x16HE-CDFP-BG6) is expected to be available in late Q3 / Q4 2026. For demo requests, datasheets, pricing, or early access program information, contact sales@serialcables.com.

Alongside the growing host card portfolio, Serial Cables' customers can also find Hydra Gen6 8-bay JBOFs, vertical and horizontal EDSFF adapters, Gen6/CXL 3.x retimers and redrivers, M.2 to E3 adapters, and validated Gen6 and Gen7 cabling, including a Gen6 x16 ACC CDFP cable at 64 GT/s PAM4 and CDFP/OSFP-XD AOCs for long-reach links. Serial Cables is also the exclusive Quarch reseller for the U.S. and Mexico.

ABOUT SERIAL CABLES: Serial Cables is a trusted provider of PCIe and CXL validation hardware. The company is known for early access innovation, responsive support, and purpose built tools for hyperscale, enterprise storage, and silicon validation environments. Serial Cables focuses on short lead times, collaborative engineering, and delivering proven hardware that accelerates time to market.

Paul J Mutschler
Serial Cables
+1 303-810-5110
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