Elastic Buffer Control for Data Rate Matching With Lower Power

The elastic buffer is segmented into multiple pipeline registers (first pipeline register, second pipeline register, etc.) that can be independently controlled. Each register can be individually enabled or disabled through clock gating, allowing the buffer depth to be dynamically adjusted in granular steps rather than as a monolithic structure. This segmentation enables fine-grained control over buffer behavior while reducing overall complexity compared to a traditional FIFO.

The elastic buffer implements dynamic depth adjustment by selectively enabling or disabling pipeline registers based on data rate requirements. The buffer depth is not fixed but can be modified in real-time by controlling which registers are active, allowing the system to adapt to varying data rate conditions between subcomponents without requiring a complex reconfigurable architecture.

The elastic buffer employs periodic clock gating to power down unused pipeline registers. Instead of continuously clocking all registers as in a traditional FIFO, the controller selectively applies clock signals only to the currently needed registers based on the data rate mismatch requirements. This periodic activation pattern significantly reduces dynamic power consumption while maintaining reliable data rate matching functionality.

The system dynamically discards (powers down) unused pipeline registers and recovers (powers up) them only when needed for data rate matching. This allows the buffer to minimize power consumption by keeping only the necessary number of registers active at any given time, while maintaining the capability to expand buffer depth when data rate variations require deeper buffering.

The elastic buffer provides dynamic pipeline staging by selectively enabling pipeline registers based on the actual data rate requirements between source and destination subcomponents. This allows the system to insert exactly the right amount of pipeline staging needed to match data rates without over-pipelining, thereby minimizing the time signals spend traversing the chip while still achieving the required operating frequency.

The system changes the effective buffer depth parameter dynamically by enabling or disabling specific pipeline registers. This allows flexible adjustment of the pipeline stages to optimize the balance between operating frequency and signal traversal time, adapting to different data rate requirements without being locked into a fixed pipeline depth.