Frequency/phase-shift-keying for back-channel serdes communication
AssigneeHuawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
InventorsDavide Tonietto, Dustin Tarl Dunwell, Anthony Chan Carusone
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Methods, integrated circuits and computer-readable media for communicating back-channel data over a data link by modulating the phase or frequency of a clock signal of a data signal transmitted over the data link. Slow modulation of the clock signal allows it to be detected and extracted by a receiver without affecting the integrity or bit rate of the data signal. Some embodiments allow the functionality to be implemented without the use of extra hardware in the transmitter or receiver or either.
Claims20
An integrated circuit (IC) for communicating back-channel data over a SerDes data link, comprising:
- a digital modulator for receiving back-channel data and modulating at least one clock signal to encode the back-channel data, producing a modulated clock signal;
- and
- a transmitter for receiving a data input signal and the modulated clock signal and transmitting over the SerDes data link a data output signal encoded by the modulated clock signal.
An integrated circuit (IC) for communicating back-channel data over a SerDes data link, comprising:
- a receiver for receiving a data signal over the SerDes data link, detecting modulation of at least one clock signal encoding the data signal, and extracting back-channel data from the modulation of the clock signal based on a predetermined modulation scheme.
A method for communicating back-channel data over a SerDes data link comprising the steps of:
- modulating a clock signal to encode back-channel data, producing a modulated clock signal;
- and
- transmitting over the SerDes data link a data output signal encoded by the modulated clock signal.
A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing instructions enabling one or more processors of an electronic communication system to execute the steps of:
- modulating a clock signal to encode back-channel data, producing a modulated clock signal;
- and
- transmitting over a SerDes data link a data output signal encoded by the modulated clock signal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.