Signal monitoring and measurement for a multi-wire, multi-phase interface

An apparatus for characterizing a waveform received in a data communication device coupled to a 3-line communication interface, comprising:

• means for sampling signals present on each line of the 3-line communication interface using a plurality of first samplers, where a respective first sampler of the plurality of first samplers samples each line, wherein each sampler includes at least one of a programmable time delay and a programmable voltage offset configured to respectively delay the sampled signal by a time amount or determine a voltage offset;
• means for sampling direct line signals using a plurality of second samplers,
• means for comparing the outputs of each first sampler with respective direct line samples from each of the second samplers for each of the three lines of the 3-line communication interface to generate error signals;
• means for generating an array of error signal data over time using the comparison of the sample outputs and the line samples from the means for comparing;
• and
• means for determining waveform characteristics based on the array of error signal data.

A non-transitory processor readable storage medium comprising code for:

• sampling signals present on each line of a 3-line communication interface using a plurality of first samplers, where a respective first sampler of the plurality of first samplers samples each line, wherein each sampler includes at least one of a programmable time delay and a programmable voltage offset configured to respectively delay the sampled signal by a time amount or determine a voltage offset;
• comparing the outputs of each first sampler with respective direct line samples of signals on each of the three lines of the 3-line communication interface to generate error signals, where the direct line samples are sampled using a plurality of second samplers, each of which is coupled to a respective line of the 3-line communication interface;
• generating an array of error signal data over time using the comparison of the sample outputs and the line samples;
• and
• determining waveform characteristics based on the array of error signal data.

A system for characterizing a waveform received in a data communication device coupled to a 3-line communication interface, the system comprising:

• a first sampling circuitry in a receiver that is configured to sample signals present on each line of the 3-line communication interface, wherein the first sampling circuity includes at least one of a programmable time delay and a programmable voltage offset configured to respectively delay the sampled signal by a time delay amount or determine a voltage offset;
• a second sampling circuitry in the receiver that is configured to directly sample the signal on each line of the 3-line communication interface;
• a comparison circuitry configured to compare the outputs of the first sampling circuitry and the second sampling circuitry over a plurality of time delay amounts and a plurality of voltage offsets to generate a plurality of error signals;
• an error signal array generator configured to generate an array of error signal data over time using the plurality of error signals;
• and
• a waveform characteristic determination circuitry configured to determine waveform characteristics of the signals received on the 3-line communication interface based on the array of error signal data.