Orthogonal differential vector signaling codes with embedded clock

• US 10,055,372 B2
• Filed: 11/25/2015
• Issued: 08/21/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/25/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kandou Labs, SA
• Original Assignee: Kandou Labs, SA
• Inventors: Shokrollahi, Amin
• Primary Examiner(s): Misiura, Brian T
• Application Number:
  US14/952,491
• Publication Number:
  US 20170147520A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,000 Days
• Field of Search: 710107
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/362 with centralised access control
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4068 Electrical coupling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 25/0272 Arrangements for coupling to multiple lines, e.g. for differential transmission
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 25/49 using code conversion at the transmitter; using predistortion; using insertion of idle bits for obtaining a desired frequency spectrum; using three or more amplitude levels ; Baseband coding techniques specific to data transmission systems spectral shaping H04L25/03828
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

Orthogonal differential vector signaling codes are described which support encoded sub-channels allowing transport of distinct data and clocking signals over the same transport medium. Embodiments are described which are suitable for implementation in both conventional high-speed CMOS and DRAM integrated circuit processes.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a first subchannel encoder configured to receive a first input signal and to generate elements of a first weighted subchannel vector;

a second subchannel encoder configured to receive a second input signal, and to generate elements of a second weighted subchannel vector, wherein the second weighted subchannel vector is mutually orthogonal to the first weighted subchannel vector and wherein the second input signal is asynchronous with respect to the first input signal;

an asynchronous codeword generator connected to the first and second subchannel encoders, the asynchronous codeword generator configured to receive the first and second subchannel vectors and to responsively generate elements of an asynchronous-transmit codeword by adding the first and second weighted subchannel vectors, wherein elements of the asynchronous-transmit codeword transition asynchronously in response to transitions of elements of the first or second weighted subchannel vector; and

a driver configured to transmit the elements of the asynchronous-transmit codeword as analog signals on a multi-wire bus.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first and second subchannel encoders are analog encoders, and wherein the asynchronous codeword generator comprises one or more analog combination units.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first and second subchannel encoders are digital encoders configured to generate a pair of sets of subchannel bits representing the first and second weighed subchannel vectors.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the asynchronous codeword generator comprises a plurality of digital adders, the plurality of digital adders configured to receive the pair of sets of subchannel bits and to responsively generate a set of codeword bits representing the asynchronous-transmit codeword;

and,

wherein the driver comprises a signal-level conversion circuit connected to the plurality of digital adders, the signal-level conversion circuit configured to generate the analog signals on the multi-wire bus based on the set of codeword bits.

5. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the first and second subchannel encoders are digital circuits selected from the group consisting of Boolean logic encoders and digital look-up registers.

6. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the asynchronous codeword generator comprises a plurality of sets of driver circuits, each set of the plurality of sets of driver circuits connected to a respective wire of the multi-wire bus, and each set of driver circuits configured to receive respective subsets of the pair of sets of subchannel bits, the respective subsets corresponding to an element of the asynchronous-transmit codeword for generation of an analog signal representing the corresponding asynchronous-transmit codeword element for transmission on the respective wire of the multi-wire bus.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second input signal has a ½

unit interval (UI) phase offset with respect to the first input signal.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first input signal is a data signal and the second input is a clock signal.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the first input signal transitions at a first rate, and the second input signal transitions at a second rate that is an integer fraction of the first rate.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a first multi-input comparator configured to receive the elements of the asynchronous-transmit codeword and to generate a first comparator output representative of the first input signal, wherein the first multi-input comparator has input weights determined by a first subchannel vector associated with the first subchannel encoder; and

a second multi-input comparator configured to receive the elements of the asynchronous-transmit codeword and to generate a second comparator output representative of the second input signal, wherein the second multi-input comparator has input weights determined by a second subchannel vector associated with the second subchannel encoder.

11. A method comprising:

receiving, at a first subchannel encoder, a first input signal and responsively generating elements of a first weighted subchannel vector;

receiving, at a second subchannel encoder, a second input signal and responsively generating elements of a second weighted subchannel vector, wherein the second weighted subchannel vector is mutually orthogonal to the first weighted subchannel vector and wherein the second input signal is asynchronous with respect to the first input signal;

generating, using an asynchronous codeword generator, elements of an asynchronous-transmit codeword by adding the first and second weighted subchannel vectors, wherein elements of the asynchronous-transmit codeword transition asynchronously in response to transitions of elements of the first or second weighted subchannel vector; and

transmitting the elements of the asynchronous-transmit codeword as multi-level analog signals on a multi-wire bus.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein generating the first and second subchannel vectors comprises analog computation, and wherein generating the asynchronous codeword comprises analog signal combination.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein generating the first and second subchannel vectors comprises digital encoding configured to represent each element of the first and second weighed subchannel vectors as a set of one or more bits.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the elements of the asynchronous-transmit codeword are sets of codeword bits that are generated using digital adders based on the sets of one or more bits representing the elements of the first and second weighted subchannel vectors;

and

wherein transmitting the elements of the asynchronous-transmit codeword comprises converting the sets of codeword bits into analog signal levels for transmission over the multi-wire bus.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein each set of one or more bits is generated based on logical combinations of the first and second input signals with bits representing first and second subchannel vectors, respectively.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein generating the first and second subchannel vectors comprises using a lookup table (LUT).

17. The method of claim 11, wherein the second input signal has a ½

unit interval (UI) phase offset with respect to the first input signal.

18. The method of claim 11, wherein the first input signal is a data signal and the second input signal is a clock signal.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the first input signal transitions at a first rate, and the second input signal transitions at a second rate that is an integer fraction of the first rate.

20. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving the elements of the asynchronous-transmit codeword at a first multi-input comparator, and responsively generating a first comparator output representative of the first input signal, wherein the first multi-input comparator has input weights determined by a first subchannel vector associated with the first subchannel encoder; and

receiving the elements of the asynchronous-transmit codeword at a second multi-input comparator, and responsively generating a second comparator output representative of the second input signal, wherein the second multi-input comparator has input weights determined by a second subchannel vector associated with the second subchannel encoder.