Cascaded Communication of Serialized Data Streams Through Devices and Their Resulting Operation

An integrated circuit device, comprising:

• an input interface configured to receive an input plurality of serialized data streams from a source external to the integrated circuit device;
• first phase aligning circuitry, communicatively coupled to the input interface, configured to align, but not frame, the input plurality of serialized data streams to produce a first aligned plurality of serialized data streams;
• a first interface configured to produce the first aligned plurality of serialized data streams from the integrated circuit device, with the first aligned plurality of serialized data streams not being framed within the integrated circuit device;
• second phase aligning circuitry, communicatively coupled to the input interface, configured to align, but not frame, the input plurality of serialized data streams to produce a second aligned plurality of serialized data streams;
• a second interface configured to produce the second aligned plurality of serialized data streams from the integrated circuit device, with the second aligned plurality of serialized data streams not being framed within the integrated circuit device;
• a third interface configured to receive a second plurality of serialized data streams from a source external to the integrated circuit device;
• first framing circuitry, communicatively coupled to the third interface, configured to produce a first sequence of data frames from the second plurality of serialized data streams;
• a fourth interface configured to receive a third plurality of serialized data streams from a source external to the integrated circuit device;
• second framing circuitry, communicatively coupled to the fourth interface, configured to produce a second sequence of data frames from the third plurality of serialized data streams;
• combining and framing circuitry configured to produce an output plurality of serialized data streams based on the first sequence of data frames and on the second sequence of data frames;
• and
• an output configured to produce the output plurality of serialized data streams from the integrated circuit device.

A method, comprising:

• receiving, by a device, a first plurality of serialized data streams from a source external to the first device;
• communicating, from the device, one or more copies of the first plurality of serialized data streams, each of said one or more copies of the first plurality of serialized data streams having been phase aligned by the device, but not framed by the device;
• framing each of one or more second plurality of serialized data streams received from a same or different source external to the first device to generate one or more sequences of data frames;
• producing a result based on said one or more sequences of data frames;
• generating an output plurality of serialized data streams including by framing the result;
• and
• sending, from the device, the output plurality of serialized data streams.