Scalable Multifunction Serial Link Interface
First Claim
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1. A digital system comprising an integrated circuit, wherein the integrated circuit comprises:
- a plurality of serial transmit lane drivers coupled to pins of the integrated circuit (IC);
a plurality of serial receive lane receivers coupled to pins of the IC;
a plurality of communication controllers each having a physical adaptor wherein each physical adaptor has a plurality of serial lane terminals, wherein a portion of the serial lane terminals are for transmitting and a portion of the serial lane terminals are for receiving;
a programmable multiplexor coupled between the plurality of transmit lane drivers and the plurality of transmit lane terminals on the plurality of communication controllers;
a programmable demultiplexor coupled between the plurality of receive lane receivers and the plurality of receive lane terminals on the plurality of communication controllers; and
a control module coupled to the multiplexor and to the demultiplexor, wherein the control module is operable to program the multiplexor to couple each transmit lane terminal to a selected one of the plurality of transmit lane drivers, and to program the demultiplexor to couple each receive lane terminal to a selected one of the plurality of receive lane receivers.
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Abstract
An integrated circuit includes two or more communication controllers and a plurality of point to point serial communication lanes for communication external to the integrated circuit. A programmable cross-point circuit allows different sets of serial communication lanes to be coupled at different times to the communication controllers in order to optimize performance of different applications.
18 Citations
15 Claims
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1. A digital system comprising an integrated circuit, wherein the integrated circuit comprises:
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a plurality of serial transmit lane drivers coupled to pins of the integrated circuit (IC); a plurality of serial receive lane receivers coupled to pins of the IC; a plurality of communication controllers each having a physical adaptor wherein each physical adaptor has a plurality of serial lane terminals, wherein a portion of the serial lane terminals are for transmitting and a portion of the serial lane terminals are for receiving; a programmable multiplexor coupled between the plurality of transmit lane drivers and the plurality of transmit lane terminals on the plurality of communication controllers; a programmable demultiplexor coupled between the plurality of receive lane receivers and the plurality of receive lane terminals on the plurality of communication controllers; and a control module coupled to the multiplexor and to the demultiplexor, wherein the control module is operable to program the multiplexor to couple each transmit lane terminal to a selected one of the plurality of transmit lane drivers, and to program the demultiplexor to couple each receive lane terminal to a selected one of the plurality of receive lane receivers. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method for operating a system having an integrated circuit coupled to a plurality of point to point serial communication lanes for communication with other integrated circuits, wherein the method comprises:
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initializing the integrated circuit when the integrated circuit is powered on; configuring a cross-point interconnect circuit to allocate a first portion of the plurality of point to point serial communication lanes for use by a first communication controller in the integrated circuit and a second portion of the plurality of point to point serial communication lanes for use by a second communication controller in the integrated circuit; and transmitting and receiving data via the first communication controller using the first portion of serial communication lanes and via the second communication controller using the second portion of serial communication lanes. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A digital system comprising an integrated circuit, wherein the integrated circuit comprises:
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a plurality of serial transmit lane drivers coupled to pins of the integrated circuit (IC); a plurality of serial receive lane receivers coupled to pins of the IC; a plurality of communication controllers each having a physical adaptor wherein each physical adaptor has a plurality of serial lane terminals, wherein a portion of the serial lane terminals are for transmitting and a portion of the serial lane terminals are for receiving; means for initializing the integrated after a power reset; and means for allocating a first portion of the plurality of serial transmit lane drivers and serial receive lane receivers for use by a first one of the plurality of communication controller and a second portion of the plurality of serial transmit lane drivers and serial receive lane receivers for use by a second one of the plurality of communication controllers. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15)
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Specification