PCIe adaptor for multiple mini-PCIe chips

[dsnet]

Hi, thank you for your work!

This might be a short-sighted request, but reflects current production conditions. At present, the only module in stock is the single TPU in mini-PCIe form.

With a passive adaptor like these, I was able to get them to connect to my server. However, this is highly wasteful occupying a multiple-lane PCIe slot with only a card that uses a single lane.

Would you be able to produce an adapter card that converts multiple PCIe lanes in a single slot to multiple mini-PCIe? Say, perhaps 4 mini-PCIe or any number that makes sense.

[magic-blue-smoke]

Hi @dsnet Developing adapter for two Dual Edge TPU E-key cards is the first priority. Having another options, like adapter for 4 B+M- or 4 A+E- or 4 miniPCIe is something I have in mind. Unsolved issue here is that today we have miniPCIe cards in stock, two weeks ago it was B+M- key and it's impossible to predict what's in stock next month. There are two options I can see:

• Expensive: manufacture all three types of the cards
• Ugly: manufacture base adapter card with PCIe switch and board-to-board connector and a set of passive... adapters for adapter

Also looking if there's a better idea

[dsnet]

Another option: Sell PCIe cards with X number of Edge TPUs on it.

The buyer specifies X, you sell a card that matches X, but don't guarantee whether:

• it's using directly soldered chips
• pre-installed with single-core or double-core modules (via whatever connector), or
• whatever.

At the end of the day, the buyer just wants EdgeTPUs in PCIe format. And so long as we can see all cores appear through lspci, then the buyer is happy. You have a flexibility of choose how to make it work based on market conditions.

For this to work, I would expect the price to be somewhere within $20-$50 for every EdgeTPU. I personally would be unwilling to pay more than double the cost of a single EdgeTPU module.

As an absurd pricing, consider the Asus PCIe accelerator card, which costs a whopping $1310. It's made up internally of 8x dual-core modules. Each dual core module costs $40, so 8*40 should be $320. So for the adaptor, we're paying for a markup of $990. That's just not economical. More money is going to the adaptor than the AI modules themselves.

[quantgeek]

I used the QNAP QM2-4P-384 Quad M.2 PCIe Card. It has a built-in PCIe bifurcation, so that it works on older motherboards. With the dual core modules and the m.2 B+M adapters, that gives me eight TPUs:

The QNAP is selling fairly cheap on ebay. It comes with both the low-profile and high-profile PC brackets, so it installs nicely on a regular desktop...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/255953919797

[chino-lu]

I used the QNAP QM2-4P-384 Quad M.2 PCIe Card. It has a built-in PCIe bifurcation, so that it works on older motherboards. With the dual core modules and the m.2 B+M adapters, that gives me eight TPUs:

The QNAP is selling fairly cheap on ebay. It comes with both the low-profile and high-profile PC brackets, so it installs nicely on a regular desktop...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/255953919797

could you let me know what adapter you are using exactly? Thanks.

[quantgeek]

I bought four of the following adapters:

https://www.makerfabs.com/dual-edge-tpu-adapter-m2-2280-b-m-key.html

Regards,

QG

From: chino-lu @.> Sent: Tuesday, August 1, 2023 3:12 AM To: magic-blue-smoke/Dual-Edge-TPU-Adapter @.> Cc: Quant Geek @.>; Comment @.> Subject: Re: [magic-blue-smoke/Dual-Edge-TPU-Adapter] PCIe adaptor for multiple mini-PCIe chips (Issue #35)

I used the QNAP QM2-4P-384 Quad M.2 PCIe Card. It has a built-in PCIe bifurcation, so that it works on older motherboards. With the dual core modules and the m.2 B+M adapters, that gives me eight TPUs:

https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/45181914/238467056-a07a366e-00fc-4c2b-9ad4-30c99ac9d6d7.png

The QNAP is selling fairly cheap on ebay. It comes with both the low-profile and high-profile PC brackets, so it installs nicely on a regular desktop...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/255953919797

could you let me know what adapter you are using exactly? Thanks.

— Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/magic-blue-smoke/Dual-Edge-TPU-Adapter/issues/35#issuecomment-1659794834 , or unsubscribe https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AKYWXWU3Z3TY4TZTJLNBL23XTC247ANCNFSM6AAAAAAXHDQCAM . You are receiving this because you commented. https://github.com/notifications/beacon/AKYWXWXOZQ7AC6YFD4EFJWTXTC247A5CNFSM6AAAAAAXHDQCAOWGG33NNVSW45C7OR4XAZNMJFZXG5LFINXW23LFNZ2KUY3PNVWWK3TUL5UWJTTC5Z2ZE.gif Message ID: @. @.> >