Vector signaling with reduced receiver complexity
First Claim
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1. A system including a receiver circuit, the receiver circuit comprising:
- N conductors configured to receive a set of values corresponding to a sub-code, wherein N is greater than 2;
a sparse comparator circuit comprising strictly fewer than N*(N−
1)/2 graph-connected two-input comparators wherein each two-input comparator compares one of the values of the set of values received on one of the N conductors to another one of the values of the set of values received on some other one of the N conductors, wherein the sub-code comprises a maximum independent set of elements selected from a large code based on a graph comprising nodes representing the conductors and edges representing pairs of conductors being compared through at least one graph-connected two-input comparator, and wherein graph-connected two-input comparators comprise the graph being connected such that there are one or more edges connecting any pair of nodes; and
,a decoder circuit to determine a data word based on N*(N−
1)/2 outputs of the circuit.
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Abstract
Methods and apparatuses are described to determine subsets of vector signaling codes capable of detection by smaller sets of comparators than required to detect the full code. The resulting lower receiver complexity allows systems utilizing such subset codes to be less complex and require less power.
150 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A system including a receiver circuit, the receiver circuit comprising:
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N conductors configured to receive a set of values corresponding to a sub-code, wherein N is greater than 2; a sparse comparator circuit comprising strictly fewer than N*(N−
1)/2 graph-connected two-input comparators wherein each two-input comparator compares one of the values of the set of values received on one of the N conductors to another one of the values of the set of values received on some other one of the N conductors, wherein the sub-code comprises a maximum independent set of elements selected from a large code based on a graph comprising nodes representing the conductors and edges representing pairs of conductors being compared through at least one graph-connected two-input comparator, and wherein graph-connected two-input comparators comprise the graph being connected such that there are one or more edges connecting any pair of nodes; and
,a decoder circuit to determine a data word based on N*(N−
1)/2 outputs of the circuit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A method of decoding symbols comprising:
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receiving a set of symbols on a plurality of conductors; determining n fine codeword comparator outputs using n local sparse comparator units, wherein n is an integer greater than 1 wherein the ith local comparator unit, where 1≦
i≦
n, compares an ith subset of Ni symbols that are elements of a corresponding fine codeword using strictly less than Ni*(Ni−
1)/2 graph-connected two-input comparators, where Ni is an integer greater than 1;determining coarse codeword elements of a coarse codeword corresponding to the set of received symbols by forming arithmetic symbol combinations based on at least one subset of symbols; determining coarse codeword comparator outputs based on the coarse codeword elements using a global comparator unit; determining a data word based on the fine codeword comparator outputs and the coarse codeword comparator outputs. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. An apparatus comprising:
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a set of conductors configured to receive a set of symbols corresponding to a codeword; an integer, n, of local sparse comparator units, wherein the ith local sparse comparator unit, where 1≦
i≦
n and n>
1, accepts at least Ni inputs representing elements of a fine codeword, the Ni inputs corresponding to an ith subset of the set of conductors, wherein each local sparse comparator unit comprises strictly less than Ni*(Ni−
1)/2 graph-connected two-input comparators where Ni is an integer greater than 1, the one or more local sparse comparator units having one or more fine codeword comparator outputs;an arithmetic unit connected to a second subset of the set of conductors, and having coarse codeword element outputs at least one of which represents an arithmetic combination of signals on the second subset of the set of conductors; and
,a global comparator unit connected to the coarse codeword element outputs and having coarse codeword comparator outputs based on the coarse codeword element outputs. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
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16. An apparatus comprising:
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six conductors; a sparse comparator unit having six inputs connected to the six conductors, and having three local sparse comparator units having three fine-codeword comparator outputs, wherein each local sparse comparator unit comprises one graph-connected two-input comparator; an arithmetic unit connected to the six conductors, and having three averaging units, each averaging unit generating a coarse codeword element output; and
,a non-sparse global comparator unit having three two-input comparators connected to the coarse codeword element outputs of the arithmetic unit, and having coarse codeword comparator outputs based on the coarse codeword element outputs. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification