Capture Buffer Data Reduction for PCIe Gen6 Protocol Analysis
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional PCIe Protocol Analyzers face challenges with high costs and error proneness due to the need for large memory buffers to capture and process high-speed data, leading to issues with signal integrity and data processing when handling the high bit rates of the PCIe Gen6 protocol.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of an interposer circuit that performs real-time data integrity checks, omits unnecessary data integrity bits and ACK/NACK packets, reduces or removes redundant fields, and compresses data payloads in parallel to reduce the amount of data stored in the capture buffer, while maintaining functionality and information integrity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If large memory buffers are used to capture high-speed PCIe Gen6 data, then data capture capability is improved, but cost and error proneness increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes redundant data elements from the captured PCIe protocol data stream. Specifically, it removes data integrity bits (such as CRC fields) and ACK/NACK packets that are unnecessary for protocol analysis purposes. This extraction reduces the volume of data stored in capture buffers while maintaining the essential information needed for debugging and analysis, thereby reducing cost and error proneness without sacrificing data capture capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies discarding by eliminating redundant data components that can be regenerated or are unnecessary for analysis. The system discards data integrity bits and acknowledgment packets during the capture process, relying on the ability to recover or reconstruct this information if needed, while significantly reducing the storage burden and associated errors.
2Productivity
If large memory buffers are used to store high-speed data, then data capture capability is improved, but material cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts redundant information from the PCIe protocol data stream, specifically removing data integrity bits and ACK/NACK packets. This extraction reduces the total volume of data that needs to be stored in memory buffers, thereby reducing the material cost of the capture system while maintaining full data capture capability for analysis purposes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of data volume by selectively removing redundant elements from the captured protocol data. By transforming the data stream to exclude unnecessary components, the system reduces the storage capacity requirements and associated material costs while preserving the essential diagnostic information.
3Productivity
If large memory buffers are used to capture high-bit-rate data, then data capture capability is improved, but signal integrity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes redundant data elements from the high-bit-rate PCIe protocol stream, reducing the overall data volume that must be processed and stored. This extraction lessens the burden on the capture system, thereby maintaining signal integrity by reducing the risk of data corruption that arises from handling excessively large data volumes.
4Loss of information
If redundant data fields are stored, then data completeness is improved, but data processing efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes redundant data fields from the PCIe protocol capture data. Specifically, it eliminates data integrity bits and ACK/NACK packets that do not contribute to protocol analysis. This extraction maintains data completeness for essential diagnostic information while significantly improving data processing efficiency by reducing the total data volume that must be handled.
Data Source
AI summary
A method is provided for decompressing wide word data compressed in parallel. The method includes creating an instance of memory structure for a wide word in the wide word data, where the instance of memory structure is an inverse of a compression dictionary for the wide word; retrieving multiple compressed codes iteratively from a gap-free compressed output stream of the wide word data using the instance of memory structure, where each compressed code includes at least one character code and a reverse-pointer, and where at least one compressed code includes a multi-symbol string having a multiple character codes; forming an intermediate decompressed output stream by iteratively following the reverse-pointers for the multiple compressed codes, respectively; and forming decompressed output stream by reversing an order of the character codes in the multi-symbol string of the at least one compressed code.