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US 11,695,504 B1Granted
Forward error correction decoder failure detection
AssigneeEthernovia Inc.
InventorsHossein Sedarat, Ramin Shirani, Darren S. Engelkemier, Oscar Ballan, Roy T. Myers, Jr.
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Abstract
Various embodiments described herein provide for a mechanism for detecting failure in the operation of FEC of a physical layer device, such as a physical layer device of a networking application that seeks to meet a functional safety standard (e.g., ISO 26262). In particular, some embodiments described herein provide one of several methods for detecting a failure in the operation of a FEC decoder of a physical layer device.
Claims18
A system comprising:
- a first physical layer device configured to communicate data with a second physical layer device over a data transmission medium, the first physical layer device comprising:
- a plurality of forward error correction decoders, each decoder in the plurality of forward error correction decoders being configured to receive one or more data frames and generate forward error correction output data for each of the one or more data frames;
- and
- a forward error correction decoder failure detector configured to perform operations:
- receiving, from a first forward error correction decoder, a first forward error correction output data for an individual data frame, the individual data frame comprising encoded data that is encoded by the second physical layer device using a forward error correction process to carry payload data, the first forward error correction output data comprises first decoded payload data, the first decoded payload data representing the payload data as corrected by the first forward error correction decoder and as decoded from the encoded data by the first forward error correction decoder;
- receiving, from a second forward error correction decoder, a second forward error correction output data for the individual data frame, the second forward error correction output data comprises second decoded payload data, the second decoded payload data representing the payload data as corrected by the second forward error correction decoder and as decoded from the encoded data by the second forward error correction decoder;
- determining whether the first forward error correction output data matches the second forward error correction output data;
- and
- generating a failure indication in response to determining that the first forward error correction output data does not match the second forward error correction output data.
6 more elements
A system comprising:
- a first physical layer device configured to communicate data with a second physical layer device over a data transmission medium, the first physical layer device comprising:
- a first forward error correction decoder configured to receive data frames generated by the second physical layer device;
- a second forward error correction decoder configured to operate at a slower data rate than the first forward error correction decoder;
- and
- a forward error correction decoder failure detector configured to periodically perform operations comprising:
- capturing a sample data frame from the data frames received by the first forward error correction decoder, the sample data frame comprising encoded data that is encoded by the second physical layer device using a forward error correction process to carry payload data;
- causing the sample data frame to be processed by the second forward error correction decoder;
- receiving, from the first forward error correction decoder, a first forward error correction output data for the sample data frame, the first forward error correction output data comprises first decoded payload data, the first decoded payload data representing the payload data as corrected by the first forward error correction decoder and as decoded from the encoded data by the first forward error correction decoder;
- receiving, from the second forward error correction decoder, a second forward error correction output data for the sample data frame, the second forward error correction output data comprises second decoded payload data, the second decoded payload data representing the payload data as corrected by the second forward error correction decoder and as decoded from the encoded data by the second forward error correction decoder;
- determining whether the first forward error correction output data matches the second forward error correction output data;
- and
- generating a failure indication in response to determining that the first forward error correction output data does not match the second forward error correction output data.
9 more elements
A system comprising:
- a first physical layer device configured to communicate data with a second physical layer device over a data transmission medium, the first physical layer device comprising:
- a forward error correction decoder;
- and
- a forward error correction decoder failure detector configured to configured to perform operations comprising:
- receiving data frames generated by the second physical layer device;
- determining whether a received data frame is carrying expected payload data;
- and
- in response to determining that the received data frame is not carrying expected payload data:
- causing the forward error correction decoder to process a predetermined data pattern;
- receiving, from the forward error correction decoder, forward error correction output data for the predetermined data pattern;
- determining whether the forward error correction output data matches an expected forward error correction output data for the predetermined data pattern;
- and
- generating a failure indication in response to determining that the forward error correction output data does not match the expected forward error correction output data.
10 more elements
A system comprising:
- a first physical layer device configured to communicate data with a second physical layer device over a data transmission medium, the first physical layer device comprising:
- a forward error correction decoder;
- and
- a forward error correction decoder failure detector configured to receive data frames generated by the second physical layer device and configured to perform an error detection process, the error detection process comprising:
- causing the second physical layer device to inject one or more errors into a designated data frame;
- detecting for when the designated data frame is received by the forward error correction decoder failure detector;
- and
- in response to detecting the designated data frame:
- causing the designated data frame to be processed by the forward error correction decoder;
- receiving, from the forward error correction decoder, forward error correction output data for the designated data frame;
- based on the forward error correction output data, determining whether the forward error correction decoder corrected the one or more errors injected into the designated data frame by the second physical layer device;
- and
- generating a failure indication in response to determining that the forward error correction decoder failed to correct the one or more errors injected into the designated data frame by the second physical layer device.
10 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.