Does Intel processor's PCIe interface support hot-plug function?

[RWang31]

Has anyone experience of successfullly hotpluging a PCIe interface in Intel processors?

Does it need extra circuit design or software support?

[idata · Accepted solution]

Hello rotorwang,

Thank you for contacting the Intel community. Hotpluging a PCIe interface with the Intel® processor is not possible, the only one hot plug is the Intel® Xeon Phi processor which is for server system. I'm sorry this is not the answer you wanted to get but this is the reality with this. Best regards, Ivan U.

[RWang31]

Dear Sir:

Thanks for prompt response.

For the hot-pluging process, in the hardware portion's design, it is not hard to implement some circuit and mechanism to disconnect interface and supplied power.

Is these a software issue?

[idata]

In this case, this has not been implemented on the Intel processor; usually you will see this option in the BIOS, at this point there is no documentation if this is going to be implemented in the future. This requires both hardware and software support.

Software requires because the OS has to re-scan the bus, and by default it doesn't do this after the initial scan. Hardware requires special circuitry in order to send an interrupt to the CPU, so that the OS is informed about a new device being connected to the bus. Regards, Ivan U.