An architecture is provided for implementing bypass,
repeater and retimer functions in high-speed multi-port
SERDES bypass ports and devices. Specifically, this architecture uses
clock recovery to implement a
repeater function which retransmits data synchronously at a recovered-
clock rate, providing very low-latency as no elastic-buffers are required to perform
clock-rate compensation. It also supports a full
retiming function where incoming data is retransmitted synchronously to the local-clock domain, in which case elastic-buffers are needed to compensate for differences between incoming clock and local-clock domains. The architecture disclosed herein is advantageously used for Fibre-Channel
Arbitrated Loop (FCAL) applications. It can also be leveraged in other applications like
Infiniband, XAUI, PCI-Express to create a single device that be used as “eye-opener” to extend reach with low-latency when operated in “
repeater mode” and as
retiming device when operated as “retimer-mode”. It can also perform as an
amplifier with very low-latency when operated in bypass-mode.