In the CXL Forum Theater at SC23 hosted by MemVerge, The CXL Consortium presented an update on the CXL specifications and organization

1. CXL and Composable Systems
Presented by
Kurtis Bowman

2. The System Memory Problem
Compute Express Link™ and CXL™ are trademarks of the Compute Express Link Consortium. 2
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• The number of performance of
CPU cores continues to increase
generation over generation
• Memory capacity per core has
decreased some across
generations
• Memory bandwidth per core
experienced a more significant
drop

3. CXL ENABLES COMPOSABLE MEMORY
Compute Express Link™ and CXL™ are trademarks of the Compute Express Link Consortium. 3
CPU
4CXLlinks
4CXLmemory cards
Each CXL link adds 128GB/s of
memory bandwidth

4. CXL ENABLES COMPOSABLE MEMORY
Compute Express Link™ and CXL™ are trademarks of the Compute Express Link Consortium. 4
CPU
4CXLlinks
4CXLmemory cards
Each CXL link adds 128GB/s of
memory bandwidth
CXL Switch(es)
D1 D2 D3 D4 D#
H#
H4
H3
H2
H1

5. REUSE OLDER MEMORY TECHNOLOGIES
Compute Express Link™ and CXL™ are trademarks of the Compute Express Link Consortium.
CXLTo
Memory
Bridge
• CXL decouples the memory type from the CPU generation
• A CXL card or memory expansionunit allows DDR4 memory to be used in systems with today’s CPUs that
require DDR5 DIMMs

6. COMPOSABILITY FIXES THE MEMORY PROBLEM
Compute Express Link™ and CXL™ are trademarks of the Compute Express Link Consortium. 6
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• Grow memory capacity
• Grow memory bandwidth
• Grow these at a system level
or on demand

7. Compute Express Link™ and CXL™ are trademarks of the Compute Express Link Consortium.
• To join the CXL Consortium, visit www.computeexpresslink.org/join
• Download an evaluation copy of the CXL 3.1 specification
• Engage with us on social media
@ComputeExLink www.linkedin.com/company/cxl-consortium/ CXL Consortium Channel
Call to Action
www.ComputeExpressLink.org

8. Thank You

9. CXL ENABLES COMPOSABLE MEMORY
Compute Express Link™ and CXL™ are trademarks of the Compute Express Link Consortium. 9
CXL Switch(es)
D1 D2 D3 D4 D#
H#
H4
H3
H2
H1
CPU
4CXL links
4CXLmemory cards
Each CXL link adds 128GB/s of
memory bandwidth