Hybrid rate interface to reduce power consumption and area in high-speed DACs and digital transmitters

A system, comprising:

• a port comprising a number of input bits, wherein the port is configured to receive the input bits at a first frequency;
• one or more first cells configured to generate a signal for a channel at a channel frequency that is N times greater than the first frequency, wherein N is larger than one, wherein the one or more first cells are configured to transmit at a second frequency that is M times greater than the first frequency and the second frequency is smaller than the channel frequency;
• and
• one or more first interface links coupled between a first portion of the input bits of the port and the one or more first cells, wherein the first portion of the input bits is encoded by thermometer coded T bits, wherein each one of the T bits is encoded by M repeated parallel bits with a value of a respective T bit, wherein each first interface link comprises M interface lines between each T bit and each first cell, and wherein M is smaller than N to reduce the number of interface lines for the T bits.

A system, comprising:

• a port comprising a first binary coded bit and a second thermometer coded bit, wherein the port is configured to receive the first binary coded bit and the second thermometer coded bit at a first frequency;
• a first cell configured to transmit at a second frequency that is N times greater than the first frequency, wherein N is greater than one;
• a first interface link coupled between the first binary coded bit and the first cell, wherein the first binary coded bit is encoded by N repeated parallel bits with a value of a respective input bit and the first interface link comprises N interface lines between the first binary coded bit and the first cell;
• a second cell configured to transmit at a third frequency that is M times greater than the first frequency, wherein M is larger or equal to one;
• and
• a second interface link coupled between the second thermometer coded bit and the second cell, wherein the second thermometer coded bit is encoded by thermometer coded T bits, wherein each one of the T bits is encoded by M repeated parallel bits with a value of the second thermometer coded bit, wherein the second interface link comprises M interface lines between the M repeated parallel bits and the second cell, and wherein M is smaller than N to reduce an area used by the second interface link compared to the first interface link.