High performance interconnect physical layer

• US 9,378,171 B2
• Filed: 03/15/2013
• Issued: 06/28/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/22/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Iyer, Venkatraman, Jue, Darren S., Shah, Rahul, Kumar, Arvind
• Primary Examiner(s): Tecklu, Isaac T
• Application Number:
  US13/976,971
• Publication Number:
  US 20140215437A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,201 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3287 by switching off individual functional units in the computer system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1004 to protect a block of data words, e.g. CRC or checksum G06F11/1076 takes precedence; security arrangements for protecting computers or computer systems against unauthorized activity G06F21/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/0806 Multiuser, multiprocessor or multiprocessing cache systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/0808 with cache invalidating means G06F12/0815 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/0813 with a network or matrix configuration
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/0815 Cache consistency protocols
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/0831 using a bus scheme, e.g. with bus monitoring or watching means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/0833 in combination with broadcast means (e.g. for invalidation or updating)
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/22 using successive scanning, e.g. polling G06F13/24 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4022 using switching circuits, e.g. switching matrix, connection or expansion network G06F13/4009 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4068 Electrical coupling
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4221 being an input/output bus, e.g. ISA bus, EISA bus, PCI bus, SCSI bus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4273 using a clocked protocol
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4282 on a serial bus, e.g. I2C bus, SPI bus on daisy chain buses G06F13/4247
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4286 using a handshaking protocol, e.g. RS232C link
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4291 using a clocked protocol
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2212/1016 Performance improvement
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2212/2542 Non-uniform memory access [NUMA] architecture
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2212/622 State-only directory, i.e. not recording identity of sharing or owning nodes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/71 Version control security arrangements therefor G06F21/57; Configuration management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/73 : Program documentation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/77 : Software metrics
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/30145 : Instruction analysis, e.g. decoding, instruction word fields
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/44505 : Configuring for program initiating, e.g. using registry, configuration files
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/466 : Transaction processing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4641 : Virtual LANs, VLANs, e.g. virtual private networks [VPN] LAN interconnection over a bridge based backbone H04L12/462; encapsulation techniques H04L12/4633; routing of packets H04L45/00; packet switches H04L49/00; virtual private networks for security H04L63/0272
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/74 : Address processing for routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/15 : Interconnection of switching modules
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0662 : with particular pseudorandom sequence generator
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 : Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/00 : Reducing energy consumption in communication networks

Abstract

A serial data link is to be adapted during initialization of the link. Adaptation of the link is to include receiving a pseudorandom binary sequence (PRBS) from a remote agent, analyzing the PRBS to identify characteristics of the data link, and generating metric data describing the characteristics.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a layered stack comprising physical layer logic, link layer logic, and protocol layer logic, wherein the physical layer logic comprises hardware circuitry and is to adapt a serial data link, wherein adaptation of the link is to include;

receiving a pseudorandom binary sequence (PRBS) from a remote agent, wherein the PRBS comprises an instance of a supersequence;

analyzing the PRBS to identify characteristics of the data link; and

generating metric data describing the characteristics;

wherein the physical layer logic is further to send the metric data as feedback to the remote agent.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the metric data is based on a comparison of the received version of the supersequence and an expected version of the supersequence.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the supersequence is to be scrambled using the PRBS.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the supersequence comprises a loopback supersequence to be sent in a master-master loopback state.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the metric data is to be sent over a backchannel.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the backchannel comprises a software-implemented backchannel.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the software-implemented backchannel utilizes a slow mode of an embedded clock for the data link.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising control logic to calibrate one or more attributes of the link based on the metric data.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the physical layer logic is further to notify the remote agent that adaptation of the data link is complete.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the physical layer logic is further to receive an acknowledgement of completion of the adaptation from the remote agent and exit adaptation based on the acknowledgement.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the PRBS is a 23 bit PRBS.

12. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the PRBS is to be generated using a Fibonacci linear feedback shift register (LFSR).

13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the PRBS comprises a control supersequence and at least a portion of the supersequence is scrambled using the PRBS.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the supersequence comprises a repeating sequence including an electric idle exit ordered set (EIEOS), wherein the sequence is to be repeated according to a particular predefined frequency.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the sequence includes a defined number of training sequences following the EIEOS.

16. An apparatus comprising:

a layered stack comprising physical layer logic, link layer logic, and protocol layer logic, wherein the physical layer logic comprises hardware circuitry and is to adapt a serial data link, adaptation of the link is to include sending a pseudorandom binary sequence (PRBS) to a remote agent, wherein the PRBS comprises an instance of a supersequence and the remote agent is to use the PRBS to identify characteristics of the data link and develop metric data describing the characteristics, wherein the physical layer logic is further to receive the metric data from the remote agent.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, further comprising control logic to calibrate one or more attributes of the link based on the metric data.

18. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein adaptation further comprises entering a loopback state and analyzing loopback data to be received during the loopback state.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the loopback state comprises a master-master loopback state.

20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the loopback data comprises a loopback supersequence scrambled using the PRBS.

21. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the loopback data is to be analyzed to determine whether the loopback data matches an instance of the loopback data sent to the remote agent during the loopback state.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the metric data is based at least in part on the analysis of the loopback data.

23. A method comprising:

receiving a pseudorandom binary sequence (PRBS) from a remote agent, wherein the PRBS comprises an instance of a supersequence;

analyzing the PRBS to identify characteristics of the data link;

generating metric data describing the characteristics; and

sending the metric data as feedback to the remote agent in association with adaptation of the data link.

24. A system comprising:

a first device; and

a second device communicatively coupled to the first device using a serial data link, the second device including a physical layer module executed by at least one processor to;

receive a pseudorandom binary sequence (PRBS) from a remote agent, wherein the PRBS comprises an instance of a supersequence;

analyze the PRBS to identify characteristics of the data link;

generate metric data describing the characteristics, wherein adaptation of the data link is to be based, at least in part, on the metric data; and

send the metric data to the first device in association with adaptation of the data link.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the first device comprises a microprocessor.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the second device comprises at least one of a second microprocessor and a graphics accelerator.