Active cables and communication systems

Abstract

The present application relates to an active cable and a communication system. The active cable includes two transceiver ends, each of which includes a digital signal processor (DSP) with N / 2 channels. A first signal is received by a first transmitting golden finger on the first end, a first signal to be transmitted is obtained based on the first signal, and the first signal to be transmitted is transmitted to the DSP on the second end. The DSP on the second end performs compensation processing on the first signal to be transmitted to obtain a first target signal, and transmits the first target signal to the receiving golden finger on the second end corresponding to the first transmitting golden finger. A second signal is received by a second transmitting golden finger on the first end, and the DSP on the first end performs compensation processing on the second signal to obtain a second signal to be transmitted, and transmits the second signal to the second end. The second target signal is obtained by the second end based on the second signal to be transmitted, and the second target signal is transmitted to the receiving golden finger on the second end corresponding to the second transmitting golden finger. The power consumption and cost of the active cable can be reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of high-speed cables, and in particular to an active cable and a communication system. Background Art

[0002] Active electrical cables (AECs) are an effective solution for 112G and even 224G 4-Level Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM4) transmission. Each printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) on the AEC end includes a re-timer digital signal processor (DSP) chip with signal retiming capabilities. However, current active cables suffer from high power consumption and high cost. Summary of the Invention

[0003] Based on this, it is necessary to provide an active cable and communication system that can reduce power consumption and cost in order to address the above technical problems.

[0004] In a first aspect, the present application provides an active cable, comprising two transceivers, each having N channels between them, each transceiver including 2N solder pads and 2N gold fingers corresponding to the 2N solder pads, the 2N gold fingers including N transmitting gold fingers and N receiving gold fingers, the corresponding two solder pads on the two transceivers being connected via a cable pair, and each transceiver including a digital signal processor (DSP) having N / 2 channels;

[0005] The first end is configured to receive a first signal through a first transmitting golden finger on the first end, obtain a first signal to be transmitted based on the first signal, and transmit the first signal to be transmitted to the DSP on the second end. The DSP on the second end performs compensation processing on the first signal to be transmitted to obtain a first target signal, and transmits the first target signal to the receiving golden finger on the second end corresponding to the first transmitting golden finger. The first end is either of the two transmitting and receiving ends, and the first transmitting golden finger is N / 2 of the N transmitting golden fingers.

[0006] The first end is further used to receive a second signal through the second transmitting golden finger on the first end, and to compensate the second signal through the DSP of the first end to obtain a second signal to be transmitted, and to transmit the second signal to be transmitted to the second end, so that the second end obtains a second target signal according to the second signal to be transmitted, and transmits the second target signal to the receiving golden finger corresponding to the second transmitting golden finger on the second end; the second transmitting golden finger is the other half of the N transmitting golden fingers except the first transmitting golden finger.

[0007] In one embodiment, the first end includes a first equalizer chip;

[0008] The first end is used to amplify the first signal through the first equalizer chip to obtain a first signal to be transmitted.

[0009] In one embodiment, the first end is used to receive a first signal through a first transmitting golden finger on the first end, and use the first signal as a first signal to be transmitted.

[0010] In one embodiment, the second end includes a second equalizer chip;

[0011] The second end is used to amplify the second signal to be transmitted through the second equalizer chip to obtain a second target signal.

[0012] In one embodiment, the second end is used to receive the second signal to be transmitted through the pad corresponding to the second transmitting golden finger on the second end, and use the second signal to be transmitted received by the pad corresponding to the second transmitting golden finger on the second end as the second target signal.

[0013] In one embodiment, the first end is used to transmit a first signal to be transmitted to a pad on the first end corresponding to a first transmitting golden finger through a PCB microstrip line on the first end, and to transmit the first signal to be transmitted to a pad on the second end corresponding to the first transmitting golden finger through a cable corresponding to the first transmitting golden finger, so as to transmit the first signal to be transmitted to the DSP at the second end through the pad on the second end corresponding to the first transmitting golden finger.

[0014] In one embodiment, the first end is used to transmit a second signal to be transmitted to a pad on the first end corresponding to a second transmitting golden finger, and transmit the second signal to be transmitted to a pad on the second end corresponding to the second transmitting golden finger through a cable pair corresponding to the second transmitting golden finger, and the second end obtains a second target signal based on the received second signal to be transmitted.

[0015] In one embodiment, N is equal to 8 or 16.

[0016] In one embodiment, when N is equal to 8, the wire diameter of the cable wire pair used to connect the two pads is smaller than the preset wire diameter.

[0017] In a second aspect, the present application also provides a communication system, which includes a host end, a connector and any of the above active cables, wherein the host end is connected to the transceiver end of the active cable through the connector.

[0018] The above-mentioned active cable and communication system include two transceiver ends, with N channels between the two transceiver ends. Each transceiver end includes 2N solder pads and 2N gold fingers corresponding to the 2N solder pads. The 2N gold fingers include N transmitting gold fingers and N receiving gold fingers. The corresponding two solder pads on the two transceiver ends are connected by a cable pair. Each transceiver end includes a digital signal processing DSP with N / 2 channels. The first end is configured to receive a first signal through a first transmitting finger on the first end, obtain a first signal to be transmitted based on the first signal, and transmit the first signal to a DSP on the second end. The DSP on the second end then compensates the first signal to be transmitted to obtain a first target signal, and transmits the first target signal to a receiving finger on the second end corresponding to the first transmitting finger. The first end is also configured to receive a second signal through a second transmitting finger on the first end, compensate the second signal through the DSP on the first end to obtain a second signal to be transmitted, and transmit the second signal to the second end. The second end then obtains a second target signal based on the second signal to be transmitted, and transmits the second target signal to a receiving finger on the second end corresponding to the second transmitting finger. Because each transceiver end of the active cable requires only one digital signal processing DSP with N / 2 channels, the first signal on half of the channels is compensated by the DSP on the first end, while the second signal on the remaining half of the channels is compensated by the DSP on the second end. This ensures signal symmetry and insertion loss consistency across the N channels, reducing power consumption and cost compared to conventional technologies that require N DSP channels. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application or related technologies, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for use in the embodiments of the present application or related technical descriptions. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other related drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying any creative work.

[0020] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of a DAC product technical solution provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0021] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of a DAC product test point provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0022] Figure 3 This is a schematic structural diagram of an active cable provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0023] Figure 4 is a schematic structural diagram of another active cable provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0024] Figure 5 This is a structural diagram of another active cable provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0025] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of this application more clearly understood, the present application is further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain this application and are not intended to limit this application.

[0026] It should be noted that the terms "first", "second", etc. used in this application may be used to describe various elements, but these elements are not limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish the first element from the second element. The terms "including" and "having" used in this application and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. The term "plurality" used in this application refers to two or more. The term "and / or" used in this application refers to one of the solutions or any combination of multiple solutions.

[0027] Short-distance interconnection in data centers primarily involves three application scenarios: server-to-switch interconnection, storage-to-switch interconnection, and switch-to-switch interconnection. High-speed direct attach cable (DAC), a copper-based solution, offers low latency, low cost, low power consumption, and a low failure rate because it avoids the optical-to-electrical and electrical-to-optical signal conversion required by optical modules in fiber-optic communications. It is widely used in network storage, data centers, and high-performance computer connections. Within data centers, using DAC high-speed cables is generally considered the optimal solution for short-distance interconnection between cabinets. With the significant growth in computing power demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), mainstream equipment-side SerDes (SerDes) speeds have reached as high as 112Gbps PAM4 (4-Level Pulse Amplitude Modulation) and are even approaching 224Gbps PAM4. High-speed copper cable products are gaining wider adoption in AI data centers where power consumption and latency requirements are high.

[0028] Direct Attach Cable (DAC) is a cable assembly that uses a certain length of copper cable to connect and can be used with Quad Small Form-factor Pluggable - Double Density (QSFP-DD), Octal Small Form-factor Pluggable (OSFP), Octal Small Form Factor Pluggable - Extra Density (OSFP-XD), OSFP224 and other package types at both ends. Figure 1 As shown, Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of a DAC product technical solution provided by an embodiment of the present application. Based on the differences in technical solutions, it can be divided into passive copper cable (PCC), active copper cable (ACC), and active electrical cable (AEC). The PCC PCBA does not have any signal processing chips and does not require additional power supply, so it is called a passive copper cable. The ACC PCBA at each end has a re-driver equalizer chip with a signal re-drive function, while the active electrical cable (AEC) PCBA at each end has a re-timer (Digital Signal Processor, DSP) chip with a signal retiming function.

[0029] (1) Power consumption and transmission distance:

[0030] To ensure the consistency of transmission systems, the IEEE Copper Interconnect Working Group defines standard test points (TP) to regulate the insertion loss budget requirements of system channels and components. Figure 2 As shown, Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of test points for a DAC product provided by an embodiment of the present application. TP0 is the high-speed signal transmission test point for the SerDes (serializer) on the host side, TP1-TP4 are the DAC copper cable assemblies, and TP5 is the high-speed signal reception test point for the SerDes on the other host side. SMA stands for Subminiature version A, referring to a small A-type coaxial connector. As SerDes speeds have reached 112Gbps PAM4 and are gradually moving towards 224Gbps PAM4, excessive losses in PCBs and copper cables have led to significant transmission distance issues for high-speed signals at TP0-TP5.

[0031] According to the insertion loss budget requirements of 112Gbps system channels in IEEE 802.3ck, the DAC copper cable assembly for TP1-TP4 uses PCC passive copper cable technology, which, while consuming near-zero power, offers a transmission distance of only 2m. ACC technology, based on the re-driver function of the equalizer (EQ) chip, typically employs a continuous time linear equalizer (CTLE) high-pass filter to amplify and re-drive the signal, providing a constant gain for signal transmission. Further EQ compensation of 20dB can be achieved, allowing 112Gbps transmission up to 5m. The overall power consumption of an 8-channel 800G ACC is less than 3W. While compensating for high-speed signal attenuation, it also amplifies noise, resulting in no improvement in the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and bit error ratio (BER), potentially impacting the matching and connectivity of system equipment. AEC utilizes DSP and corresponding algorithms to pre-emphasize and de-emphasize the input and output signals, as well as recompile and restore the signals. This effectively compensates for copper cable dielectric loss and improves jitter, thereby achieving a better SNR. The 8-channel 800G AEC At 112Gbps, the transmission distance can reach over 7m, and the overall typical power consumption exceeds 20W, which is close to that of equivalent optical module technology.

[0032] AI data centers based on high computing power are recognized as high-energy-consuming infrastructure. Compared with fiber-optic communication technology and optical module interconnection, leading AI manufacturers widely adopt copper cable technology largely due to its excellent power consumption and energy-saving considerations. ACC and AEC active copper cables have obvious advantages and disadvantages in power consumption and transmission capacity.

[0033] (2) Cost issues:

[0034] AWG (America wire gauge) is a universal American standard used in the cable industry to distinguish wire diameters. 112G PAM4 copper cable products often use copper cables with wire diameters such as 26AWG, 30AWG, and 32AWG. The smaller the value, the thicker the wire, which has better strength and electrical properties. However, the thicker the wire, the higher the cost and weight required, and the more difficult it is to bend and install the wiring.

[0035] When choosing a transmission distance, it's important to consider both the insertion loss and cost of the copper cable conductor core. Generally, a thicker core diameter improves electrical parameters like insertion loss, but also increases the cost. PCC passive copper cable technology primarily consists of a PCBA and copper cable conductor without any active components, often requiring a thicker core diameter. ACC active copper cable technology primarily consists of a re-driver equalizer chip, PCBA, and a correspondingly smaller core diameter copper cable conductor, costing over twice as much as PCC. AEC active copper cable technology primarily includes an expensive re-timer DSP chip, PCBA, and a smaller core diameter copper cable conductor, costing over four times as much as PCC.

[0036] Therefore, combined with the above Figure 1 and Figure 2 As can be seen from the introduction of the corresponding content, although AEC faces the problem of high power consumption, from the perspective of copper cable product technology transmission distance capability and signal integrity solution, AEC is an effective solution for 112G and even 224G PAM4 transmission. Figure 1 The traditional AEC DSP chip provides signal compensation processing capability of more than 40dB for the line side and host side when working. Figure 2 Based on analysis of IEEE 802.3ck channel insertion loss budgets, this solution for 112G PAM4 copper cable transmission exhibits considerable redundancy. However, the simultaneous use of DSP capabilities on both the line and host sides for signal compensation and processing leads to high power consumption and costs, restricting the application of AEC products. In other words, current active cable AECs offer high transmission distances and signal-to-noise ratios, but suffer from high power consumption and costs.

[0037] To reduce the power consumption and cost of active cables, an embodiment of the present application provides an active cable. The active cable includes two transceivers, each with N channels between them. Each transceiver includes 2N solder pads and 2N gold fingers corresponding to the 2N solder pads. The 2N gold fingers include N transmitting gold fingers and N receiving gold fingers. The corresponding two solder pads on the two transceivers are connected by a cable pair. Each transceiver includes a digital signal processing (DSP) with N / 2 channels.

[0038] The first end is configured to receive a first signal through a first transmitting golden finger on the first end, obtain a first signal to be transmitted based on the first signal, and transmit the first signal to be transmitted to the DSP on the second end. The DSP on the second end performs compensation processing on the first signal to be transmitted to obtain a first target signal, and transmits the first target signal to the receiving golden finger on the second end corresponding to the first transmitting golden finger. The first end is either of the two transmitting and receiving ends, and the first transmitting golden finger is N / 2 of the N transmitting golden fingers.

[0039] The first end is further used to receive a second signal through the second transmitting golden finger on the first end, and to compensate the second signal through the DSP of the first end to obtain a second signal to be transmitted, and to transmit the second signal to be transmitted to the second end, so that the second end obtains a second target signal according to the second signal to be transmitted, and transmits the second target signal to the receiving golden finger corresponding to the second transmitting golden finger on the second end; the second transmitting golden finger is the other half of the N transmitting golden fingers except the first transmitting golden finger.

[0040] The first signal and the second signal can be high-speed differential signals from the host end connected to the first end of the active cable. The first transmitting golden finger includes transmitting golden fingers TX1 to TX The second transmitting gold finger includes the transmitting gold finger TX at the first end +1)~TXN. Alternatively, the first transmitting gold finger includes the transmitting gold finger TX at the first end +1)~TXN, the second transmitting gold finger includes the transmitting gold finger TX1~TX .

[0041] For example, when N is equal to 8, the first transmitting golden fingers include transmitting golden fingers TX1 to TX4 at the first end, and the second transmitting golden fingers include transmitting golden fingers TX5 to TX8 at the first end.

[0042] The active cable in this embodiment can be widely used in products with 800G / 1.6T rates and different package forms, such as the 800G QSFP-DD / OSFP Hybrid Active Copper Cable. The OSFP Hybrid Active Copper Cable is an eight-channel small form-factor pluggable hybrid active copper cable.

[0043] 800G QSFP-DD: QSFP-DD is a 76-pinout (4 rows * 19), 8-channel product package, widely used in pluggable optical modules and copper cable products, and can support high-speed transmission up to 8 * 112Gb / s.

[0044] 800G OSFP: OSFP is a 60-pinout (2 rows * 30), 8-channel product package that is widely used in pluggable optical modules and copper cable products, and can support high-speed transmission up to 8 * 112Gb / s.

[0045] For example, Figure 3 As shown, Figure 3This is a structural diagram of an active cable provided in an embodiment of the present application. The active cable in this embodiment includes two transceiver ends, and there are 8 channels between the two transceiver ends. The two transceiver ends include end A and end B. In this embodiment, end A is used as the first end and end B is used as the second end. End A and end B are PCBAs of 800G QSFP-XD or OSFP Hybrid Active Copper Cable. The PCBA contains a re-timer DSP and a microcontroller unit (MCU) with SMT patches. 16 cable pairs of 26AWG and other smaller wire diameters can be used at both ends to achieve 8-channel electrical connection and full-duplex transmission of high-speed signals.

[0046] Figure 3 In this example, the first transmitting gold finger includes the gold fingers TX1~TX4 at the A end, and the second transmitting gold finger includes TX5~TX8 at the A end. After the HACC is plugged into the OSFP or QSFP-DD connector at the HOST end and powered on,

[0047] The first signal is received by the first transmitting gold fingers TX1-TX4 on end A. The first signal extends through the PCB microstrip line and vias on end A to the pads TX1-TX4 on end A. The first signal is transmitted to the pads RX1-RX4 on end B via four copper cable pairs connected between the pads TX1-TX4 on end A and the pads RX1-RX4 on end B. The first signal is then transmitted to the DSP on end B via the pads RX1-RX4 on end B. The DSP on end B compensates the first signal to obtain a first target signal, which is then transmitted to the receiving gold fingers RX1-RX4 on the second end corresponding to the first transmitting gold fingers, thereby achieving high-speed interconnection and interoperability between end A TX1-TX4 and end B RX1-RX4. In this embodiment, the first signal to be transmitted includes the first signal.

[0048] The second signal is received by the second transmitting golden fingers TX5~TX8 on the A end, and the second signal is compensated by the DSP of the A end to obtain the second signal to be transmitted, and the second signal to be transmitted is transmitted to the B end. The B end obtains the second target signal according to the second signal to be transmitted, and transmits the second target signal to the receiving golden fingers RX5~RX8 on the B end corresponding to the second transmitting golden fingers TX5~TX8. Specifically, the second transmitting gold fingers TX5~TX8 on the A end receive the second signal, pass the second signal through the PCB microstrip line and vias of the A end, and input it to the DSP of the A end to compensate the second signal to obtain the second signal to be transmitted, and transmit the second signal to the pads TX5~TX8 of the A end. The second signal to be transmitted is transmitted to the pads TX5~TX8 of the A end through the cable pair connected between the pads TX5~TX8 of the A end and the pads RX5~RX8 of the B end to the pads RX5~RX8 of the B end. The second signal to be transmitted is then transmitted to the receiving gold fingers RX5~RX8 of the B end through the PCB microstrip line and vias of the B end, thereby realizing high-speed interconnection and intercommunication between the TX5~TX8 of the A end and the RX5~RX8 of the B end.

[0049] As shown above Figure 3 In this solution, the first signal received by the first transmitting golden fingers TX1-TX4 at end A does not need to be compensated by the DSP at end A, but is compensated by the DSP at end B; the second signal received by the second transmitting golden fingers TX5-TX8 at end A is compensated by the DSP at end A, and end B does not need to compensate for the received second target signal.

[0050] It should be noted that if Figure 3 As shown, when end B is the first end and end A is the second end, the high-speed interconnection and intercommunication between TX1 to TX4 of end B and RX1 to RX4 of end A is similar to the high-speed interconnection and intercommunication between TX1 to TX4 of end A and RX1 to RX4 of end B described above when end A is the first end and end B is the second end. Furthermore, when end B is the first end and end A is the second end, the high-speed interconnection and intercommunication between TX5 to TX8 of end B and RX5 to RX8 of end A is similar to the high-speed interconnection and intercommunication between TX5 to TX8 of end A and RX5 to RX8 of end B described above when end A is the first end and end B is the second end, and therefore will not be further described here.

[0051] In this technical solution, the 800G QSFP-XD / OSFP Hybrid Active Copper Cable only transmits or receives high-speed signals through a DSP, ensuring signal symmetry and insertion loss consistency across all eight channels. Each end of the product requires only one 4-channel DSP to transmit 8 channels of 112G PAM4 signals, while traditional AEC product solutions require one 8-channel DSP or two 4-channel DSPs per end. HACC products achieve nearly half the power consumption and cost improvements of AEC.

[0052] In this embodiment, each transceiver end of the active cable only requires one digital signal processing DSP with N / 2 channels. Compared with the traditional technology that requires one N-channel DSP or two N / 2-channel DSPs, the power consumption and cost of the active cable can be reduced.

[0053] Furthermore, AI data centers have very high latency requirements, especially for edge computing and other applications with strict real-time requirements. The TP1-TP4 latency for 2m 800G PCC and 2m ACC is approximately 10ns, while the TP1-TP4 latency for 2m 800G AEC is over 100ns. The DSP chip signal processing contributes the majority of this latency. Since the number of DSP channels used in this embodiment is reduced, DSP processing latency can be reduced.

[0054] Furthermore, products using the PCC passive copper cable technology solution have no active components, resulting in a very low failure rate and strong environmental adaptability. Products using the ACC active copper cable technology solution have relatively simple EQ chip functions and low power consumption, resulting in a low overall failure rate. Products using the AEC active copper cable technology solution, due to the complex functions and high heat density of the DSP chip, may experience heat dissipation difficulties within package types such as QSFP-DD / OSFP / OSFP-XD / OSFP224. Without a good heat dissipation working environment, the AEC will malfunction. Because the embodiments of the present application reduce the number of DSP channels used, they can reduce the DSP's heat generation, thereby reducing the probability of AEC malfunctions.

[0055] In one implementation, the first end includes a first equalizer chip;

[0056] The first end is used to amplify the first signal through the first equalizer chip to obtain a first signal to be transmitted.

[0057] In this embodiment, the first equalizer chip amplifies the first signal to obtain a first signal to be transmitted, and transmits the first signal to the DSP at the second end. The DSP at the second end then compensates the first signal to obtain a first target signal. The amplification of the first signal by the first equalizer chip improves the quality of the obtained first target signal.

[0058] In one implementation, the first end is configured to receive a first signal through a first transmitting golden finger on the first end, and use the first signal as a first signal to be transmitted.

[0059] like Figure 3 As shown, the first transmitting gold fingers TX1~TX4 on the A end receive the first signal, and use the first signal as the first signal to be transmitted, which is extended to the pads TX1~TX4 on the A end through the PCB microstrip line and vias at the A end.

[0060] In one embodiment, the second end includes a second equalizer chip;

[0061] The second end is used to amplify the second signal to be transmitted through the second equalizer chip to obtain a second target signal.

[0062] The active cable in this embodiment uses the 1.6T OSFP-XD Hybrid Active Copper Cable as an example. 1.6T OSFP-XD (Octal Small Form-factor eXtra Dense Pluggable): This type is a pluggable optoelectronic module solution for current ultra-dense applications. It is a 120-pinout (4 rows * 30) and 16-channel product package that can support high-speed transmission of up to 16 * 112Gb / s. Compared to OSFP, OSFP-XD is its extended version. The internal volume is approximately 20%, but the number of channels has doubled from 8 to 16. 32 pairs of copper cables need to be soldered and assembled inside, which will make the copper cable size and pad layout difficult. Only 30AWG or other smaller wire diameters of 32 pairs of copper cables can be used to achieve 16-channel electrical connection and high-speed signal full-duplex transmission. This will limit the transmission distance of this product and will be used in applications such as Figure 2 The insertion loss of TP1~TP4 does not meet the requirements of IEEEE802.3ck.

[0063] Based on the above reasons, an equivalent effective architecture of 1.6T OSFP-XD Hybrid ACC is proposed through DSP and EQ equalizer. Figure 4 As shown, Figure 4This is a schematic diagram of the structure of another active cable provided in an embodiment of the present application. The active cable in this embodiment includes two transceiver ends, and there are 8 channels between the two transceiver ends. The two transceiver ends include end A and end B. In this embodiment, end A is the first end and end B is the second end. Figure 4 In the example, ends A and B are 1.6T OSFPP-XDHybrid Active Copper Cable PCBAs (including SMT patches of re-timer DSP, MCU, and EQ). Both ends can use 32 pairs of 30AWG and other smaller wire diameter copper cables to achieve 16-channel electrical connection and high-speed signal full-duplex transmission.

[0064] The first signal is introduced through the gold fingers TX1 to TX8 at end A and extends through the PCB microstrip line and vias at end A to the pads TX1 to TX8 at end A. The eight pairs of copper cables soldered to the pads TX1 to TX8 at end A are connected to the pads RX1 to RX8 at end B. The first signal passes through the eight pairs of copper cables between the pads TX1 to TX8 at end A and the pads RX1 to RX8 at end B and is input to the DSP at end B. The DSP performs corresponding algorithm compensation and signal recovery processing to output the first target signal, which is then transmitted to the receiving gold fingers RX1 to RX8 at end B, thereby achieving high-speed interconnection and intercommunication between TX1 to TX8 at end A and RX1 to RX8 at end B.

[0065] The second signal is introduced through the second transmit fingers TX9-TX16 on end A. After passing through the PCB microstrip traces and vias on end A, it is input to the DSP on end A, where it receives compensation and signal recovery algorithms to output the second transmit signal. This second transmit signal is then transmitted to pads TX9-TX16 on end A. Because pads TX9-TX16 on end A are connected to pads RX9-RX16 on end B via eight pairs of soldered scoop cables, the second transmit signal can be fed through the eight pairs of copper cables between pads TX9-TX16 on end A and RX9-RX16 on end B to the equalizer chip on end B, known as the second equalizer chip. The second equalizer chip then amplifies the second transmit signal to generate the second target signal. This target signal is then transmitted through the PCB microstrip traces and vias on end B to the receive fingers RX9-RX16 on end B, thus achieving high-speed interconnection between TX9-TX16 on end A and RX9-RX16 on end B.

[0066] It should be noted that if Figure 4As shown, when end B is the first end and end A is the second end, the high-speed interconnection and intercommunication between TX1 to TX8 on end B and RX1 to RX8 on end A is similar to the process of high-speed interconnection and intercommunication between TX1 to TX8 on end A and RX1 to RX8 on end B described above when end A is the first end and end B is the second end. Furthermore, when end B is the first end and end A is the second end, the high-speed interconnection and intercommunication between TX9 to TX16 on end B and RX9 to RX16 on end A is similar to the process of high-speed interconnection and intercommunication between TX9 to TX16 on end A and RX9 to RX16 on end B described above when end A is the first end and end B is the second end, and therefore will not be further described here.

[0067] In this technical solution, only half of the high-speed signals in the 1.6T OSFP-XD Hybrid Active Copper Cable's transmit or receive channels are compensated by the re-timer DSP. The remaining half, which do not undergo DSP signal compensation, are compensated by the EQ chip. All 16 channels have signal symmetry and insertion loss consistency. Each end of the product requires only an equivalent architecture consisting of an 8-channel DSP and EQ chip to achieve 16-channel 112G PAM4 signal transmission. Traditional AEC product technical solutions require two 8-channel DSPs per end to achieve this. HACC products improve power consumption and cost by over 30% compared to AEC.

[0068] In one embodiment, the first end includes a first equalizer chip, and the second end includes a second equalizer chip;

[0069] The first end is configured to amplify the first signal through a first equalizer chip to obtain a first signal to be transmitted;

[0070] The second end is used to amplify the second signal to be transmitted through the second equalizer chip to obtain a second target signal.

[0071] like Figure 5 As shown, Figure 5This is a structural diagram of another active cable provided in an embodiment of the present application. The active cable in this embodiment includes two transceiver ends, and there are 8 channels between the two transceiver ends. The two transceiver ends include end A and end B. In this embodiment, end A is used as the first end and end B is used as the second end for introduction. End A and end B are 1.6T OSFP224 hybrid active copper cable (Hybrid Active Copper Cable, HACC) PCBA (including SMT patch re-timer DSP, MCU, EQ), and 16 pairs of 26AWG and other smaller wire diameters can be used at both ends to achieve 8-channel electrical connection and high-speed signal full-duplex transmission. Among them, SMT is the abbreviation of Surface Mount Technology, which refers to surface mount technology.

[0072] After the HACC is inserted into the OSFP224 connector on the host side and powered on, the first signal is introduced through the first transmitting gold fingers TX1 to TX4 on the A side. After the first equalizer chip synchronously amplifies the signal and noise, the first signal to be transmitted is obtained. The first signal to be transmitted is extended through the PCB microstrip line and vias on the A side to the pads TX1 to TX4 on the A side. Through four pairs of copper cables soldered to the pads TX1 to TX4 on the A side, it is connected to the pads RX1 to RX4 on the B side PCB. The first signal to be transmitted is input into the DSP on the B side and the corresponding algorithm compensation and signal recovery processing are carried out to obtain the first target signal. The first target signal is then output to the receiving gold fingers RX1 to RX4 on the B side PCB.

[0073] The second signal is introduced through the second transmitting fingers TX5-TX8 on end A. It then passes through the PCB microstrip traces and vias on end A to the DSP on end A. The DSP then performs algorithmic compensation and signal recovery on the second signal, outputting the second transmission signal. This signal is then transmitted to pads TX5-TX8 on end A. Because pads TX5-TX8 on end A are connected to pads RX5-RX8 on end B via four pairs of soldered copper cables, the second transmission signal can pass through the four pairs of copper cables between pads TX5-TX8 on end A and RX5-RX8 on end B to the equalizer chip on end B, known as the second equalizer chip. The second equalizer chip then amplifies the second transmission signal to produce the second target signal. This target signal is then transmitted through the PCB microstrip traces and vias on end B to the receiving fingers RX5-RX8 on end B, thus achieving high-speed interconnection between TX5-TX8 on end A and RX5-RX8 on end B.

[0074] In one embodiment, the second end is used to receive the second signal to be transmitted through the pad corresponding to the second transmitting golden finger on the second end, and use the second signal to be transmitted received by the pad corresponding to the second transmitting golden finger on the second end as the second target signal.

[0075] like Figure 3 As shown, the second signal to be transmitted received by the pad corresponding to the second transmitting gold fingers TX5-TX8 on the B end is used as the second target signal.

[0076] In this embodiment, the second end receives the second signal to be transmitted through the pad corresponding to the second transmitting gold finger on the second end, and uses the second signal to be transmitted received by the pad corresponding to the second transmitting gold finger on the second end as the second target signal, thereby realizing high-speed interconnection between half of the channels on the first end and the corresponding half of the channels on the second end.

[0077] In one embodiment, Figure 3 、 Figure 4 and Figure 5 As shown, the first end is used to transmit the first signal to be transmitted to the pad on the first end corresponding to the first transmitting gold finger through the PCB microstrip line on the first end, and to transmit the first signal to be transmitted to the pad corresponding to the first transmitting gold finger on the second end through the cable pair corresponding to the first transmitting gold finger, so as to transmit the first signal to be transmitted to the DSP at the second end through the pad corresponding to the first transmitting gold finger on the second end.

[0078] In one embodiment, Figure 3 、 Figure 4 and Figure 5 As shown, the first end is used to transmit the second signal to be transmitted to the pad on the first end corresponding to the second transmitting golden finger, and transmit the second signal to be transmitted to the pad corresponding to the second transmitting golden finger on the second end through the cable pair corresponding to the second transmitting golden finger, and the second end obtains the second target signal based on the received second signal to be transmitted.

[0079] For example, Figure 3 As shown, the second signal to be transmitted is transmitted to the pads TX5~TX8 on the A end, and is transmitted to the pads RX5~RX8 corresponding to the second transmitting gold finger on the B end through the cable pair corresponding to the second transmitting gold finger. The B end uses the received second signal to be transmitted as the second target signal, and transmits the second target signal to the receiving gold fingers RX5~RX8 of the B end through the microstrip line and via at the B end.

[0080] In this embodiment, the first end transmits the second signal to be transmitted to the pad on the first end corresponding to the second transmitting golden finger, and transmits the second signal to be transmitted to the pad on the second end corresponding to the second transmitting golden finger through the cable pair corresponding to the second transmitting golden finger. The second end obtains the second target signal based on the received second signal to be transmitted, and transmits the second signal to be transmitted to the pad on the second end corresponding to the second transmitting golden finger, thereby realizing high-speed interconnection between half of the channels on the first end and half of the corresponding channels on the second end.

[0081] In one embodiment, when N is 8, the wire diameter of the cable pair connecting the two pads is smaller than the preset wire diameter. Sixteen pairs of 26AWG or other smaller copper cables can be used at both ends to achieve an 8-channel electrical connection and high-speed full-duplex signal transmission. The smaller wire diameter of the cable pair reduces material costs, improves construction convenience, and saves space.

[0082] In one embodiment, a communication system is further provided. The communication system includes a host end, a connector, and the active cable in any of the above embodiments. The host end is connected to the transceiver end of the active cable through the connector.

[0083] Those skilled in the art will understand that all or part of the processes in the above-mentioned embodiments can be implemented by instructing the relevant hardware through a computer program. The computer program can be stored in a non-volatile computer-readable storage medium. When the computer program is executed, it can include the processes of the embodiments of the above-mentioned methods. In particular, any reference to memory, database, or other media used in the embodiments provided in this application can include at least one of non-volatile memory and volatile memory. Non-volatile memory can include read-only memory (ROM), magnetic tape, floppy disk, flash memory, optical memory, high-density embedded non-volatile memory, resistive random access memory (ReRAM), magnetic random access memory (MRAM), ferroelectric random access memory (FRAM), phase change memory (PCM), graphene memory, etc. Volatile memory can include random access memory (RAM) or external cache memory, etc. By way of illustration and not limitation, RAM can take various forms, such as static random access memory (SRAM) or dynamic random access memory (DRAM). The databases involved in the various embodiments provided herein may include at least one of a relational database and a non-relational database. Non-relational databases may include, but are not limited to, blockchain-based distributed databases. The processors involved in the various embodiments provided herein may be, but are not limited to, general-purpose processors, central processing units (CPUs), graphics processing units (GPUs), digital signal processors (DSPs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), quantum computing-based data processing logic devices, artificial intelligence (AI) processors, and the like.

[0084] The technical features of the above embodiments can be combined arbitrarily. In order to make the description concise, not all possible combinations of the technical features in the above embodiments are described. However, as long as there is no contradiction in the combination of these technical features, they should be considered to be within the scope of this application.

[0085] The above-described embodiments merely represent several implementation methods of the present application. While the descriptions are relatively specific and detailed, they should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present application. It should be noted that a person of ordinary skill in the art may make various modifications and improvements without departing from the spirit of the present application, and these modifications and improvements fall within the scope of protection of the present application. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present application shall be determined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. An active cable, characterized in that: The active cable includes two transceiver ends, with N channels between the two transceiver ends, each of the transceiver ends includes 2N solder pads and 2N gold fingers corresponding to the 2N solder pads, the 2N gold fingers include N transmitting gold fingers and N receiving gold fingers, the corresponding two solder pads on the two transceiver ends are connected by a cable pair, and each of the transceiver ends includes a digital signal processor DSP with N / 2 channels; The first end is configured to receive a first signal through a first transmitting golden finger on the first end, obtain a first signal to be transmitted based on the first signal, and transmit the first signal to be transmitted to the DSP on the second end. The DSP on the second end performs compensation processing on the first signal to be transmitted to obtain a first target signal, and transmits the first target signal to the receiving golden finger on the second end corresponding to the first transmitting golden finger. The first end is either of the two transmitting and receiving ends, and the first transmitting golden finger is N / 2 of the N transmitting golden fingers. The first end is further used to receive a second signal through a second transmitting golden finger on the first end, and to compensate the second signal through the DSP of the first end to obtain a second signal to be transmitted, and to transmit the second signal to be transmitted to the second end, so that the second end obtains a second target signal based on the second signal to be transmitted, and transmits the second target signal to the receiving golden finger on the second end corresponding to the second transmitting golden finger; the second transmitting golden finger is the other half of the N transmitting golden fingers except the first transmitting golden finger.

2. The active cable according to claim 1, wherein The first end includes a first equalizer chip; The first end is used to amplify the first signal through the first equalizer chip to obtain the first signal to be transmitted.

3. The active cable according to claim 1, wherein The first end is used to receive a first signal through a first transmitting golden finger on the first end, and use the first signal as the first signal to be transmitted.

4. The active cable according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The second end includes a second equalizer chip; The second end is used to amplify the second signal to be transmitted through the second equalizer chip to obtain the second target signal.

5. The active cable according to claim 3, characterized in that The second end is used to receive the second signal to be transmitted through the pad corresponding to the second transmitting golden finger on the second end, and use the second signal to be transmitted received by the pad corresponding to the second transmitting golden finger on the second end as the second target signal.

6. The active cable according to claim 1, wherein The first end is used to transmit the first signal to be transmitted to the pad on the first end corresponding to the first transmitting golden finger through the PCB microstrip line on the first end, and to transmit the first signal to be transmitted to the pad corresponding to the first transmitting golden finger on the second end through the cable corresponding to the first transmitting golden finger, so as to transmit the first signal to be transmitted to the DSP on the second end through the pad corresponding to the first transmitting golden finger on the second end.

7. The active cable according to claim 1, wherein: The first end is used to transmit the second signal to be transmitted to the pad on the first end corresponding to the second transmitting golden finger, and transmit the second signal to be transmitted to the pad on the second end corresponding to the second transmitting golden finger through the cable pair corresponding to the second transmitting golden finger, so that the second end obtains the second target signal based on the received second signal to be transmitted.

8. The active cable according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The N is equal to 8 or 16.

9. The active cable according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: When N is equal to 8, the wire diameter of the cable wire pair used to connect the two pads is smaller than the preset wire diameter.

10. A communication system, characterized in that: The communication system includes a host end, a connector, and the active cable according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the host end is connected to the transceiver end of the active cable through the connector.

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