Interleaved Multi-Lane Ethernet Encoding for Lane Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current 10 Gb Ethernet network interfaces face challenges in efficiently aligning and encoding data across multiple lanes due to differences in propagation delays and frequency, leading to misalignment and DC offset issues.
Innovation Solution
A network interface system that includes a substitutor module to replace idle symbols with alignment symbols, interleaver modules to interleave data and alignment symbols, and decoders to align and decode data, ensuring each lane receives sufficient alignment symbols for proper signal propagation and minimizing DC offset.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If 8/10 encoding is applied to each lane separately in 10 GBASE-X, then encoding efficiency per lane is improved, but lane misalignment occurs due to propagation delay differences
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an interleaver as an intermediary component that combines data from multiple lanes before encoding. This interleaver distributes data symbols across lanes in a controlled manner, ensuring that encoding operations on different lanes remain synchronized and alignment is maintained despite propagation delay differences.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges multiple lanes into a single interleaved stream before applying the 8/10 encoding. By combining the lanes at the symbol level prior to encoding, the system ensures that encoding operations are performed on a unified data structure, preventing misalignment issues that would arise from independent lane encoding.
2Device complexity
If 64/66 encoding is applied to aggregated data in 10 GBASE-R, then lane aggregation is simplified, but encoding flexibility for multi-lane configurations is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal encoding architecture that can handle both single-lane and multi-lane configurations. The interleaver and 8/10 encoder combination provides a flexible framework that adapts to different lane counts (2, 4, or more lanes) while maintaining consistent encoding principles, thus providing both simplicity and versatility.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a dynamic encoding system where the interleaver can be configured for different numbers of lanes and the encoding parameters can be adjusted based on the specific configuration. This dynamic adaptability allows the same basic architecture to serve multiple lane aggregation scenarios without requiring completely different encoding schemes.
3Manufacturing precision
If alignment symbols are inserted frequently to maintain lane synchronization, then alignment accuracy is improved, but overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs alignment preparation in advance by using the interleaver to pre-synchronize data distribution across lanes before encoding begins. This preliminary alignment action eliminates the need for frequent alignment symbols during data transmission, as the interleaving structure itself maintains lane synchronization throughout the encoding process.
Data Source
AI summary
A network interface includes an interleaver module and line drivers. The interleaver module receives symbols on a plurality of input lanes. The symbols are arranged in groups, and each group includes one symbol from each of the plurality of input lanes. The symbols within each group are received concurrently on the plurality of input lanes. The interleaver module also serially outputs the symbols of a first group of the groups onto a first output lane of a plurality of output lanes, serially outputs the symbols of a second group of the groups onto a second output lane of the plurality of output lanes, and serially outputs the symbols of a third group of the groups onto the first output lane. The line drivers drive data based on the plurality of output lanes onto respective lanes of a physical medium.