Serial Link Receiver Idle-Word Filtering for Lower Power
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing serial link interfaces face significant power consumption issues during periods of inactivity due to processing idle control words, which have little-to-no data value, despite the need to maintain signal locking capabilities.
Innovation Solution
A receiver circuit with word detection logic and gating logic selectively discards idle control words, preventing them from being forwarded to the data buffer, thereby reducing power consumption by minimizing unnecessary processing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If idle control words are processed by the receiver circuitry, then signal locking capabilities are maintained, but power consumption increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes idle control words from the data stream before they reach the main processing circuitry. Word detection logic identifies idle words based on specific bit patterns, and gating logic selectively blocks them from being processed by the deserializer and data buffer, thereby eliminating unnecessary power consumption while preserving signal locking through dedicated minimal circuitry
Solution Approach 2:
The receiver circuitry is segmented into distinct functional blocks: word detection logic, gating logic, deserializer, and data buffer. This segmentation allows idle word filtering to occur at an early stage before full processing, separating the power-intensive processing path from the signal monitoring path to maintain locking with minimal power usage
2Reliability
If idle control words are continuously processed, then error correction and flow control information can be received, but data transmission efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential error correction and flow control information from idle control words before discarding the rest. The word detection logic identifies these words, extracts relevant control information, and discards the idle portions, thereby maintaining error correction capability while improving data transmission efficiency by reducing processing overhead
Data Source
AI summary
A receiver circuit for coupling to a serial link is disclosed. The receiver circuit comprises a data buffer and serial interface circuitry. The serial interface circuitry receives serialized packet words and processes the serial words for input to the data buffer. The serial interface circuitry includes word detection logic to detect predefined control words and discard logic to selectively inhibit forwarding of one or more of the predefined control words to the data buffer.