Re-driver for bidriectional unidrectional high speed signaling while permitting low speed bidirectional signaling

A re-driver circuit, comprising:

• a plurality of lanes, each lane comprising:
• a unidirectional first channel comprising a receiver to receive an input signal from a first port to that lane and a driver to receive a signal from the receiver and drive an output signal of the lane through a second port;
• a bidirectional second channel in parallel with the first channel and comprising a pair of bidirectional path switches;
• and
• a channel control unit to determine whether the input signal is indicative of a higher speed mode or of a lower speed mode and to enable one of the first and second channels while disabling the other of the channels based on the determined mode;
• and
• a delay port to which a resistor is connectable to tune a delay of the lane;
• wherein the first and second channels share the first and second ports.

A system, comprising:

• a first transceiver;
• a second transceiver;
• and
• a re-driver circuit including:
• a first channel comprising a receiver to receive an input signal from a first port to the re-driver circuit and a driver to receive a signal from the receiver and drive an output signal of the re-driver circuit through a second port;
• a second channel in parallel with the first channel and comprising a bidirectional path switch;
• and
• a channel control unit to determine whether the input signal is indicative of a higher speed mode or of a lower speed mode and to enable one of the first and second channels while disabling the other of the channels based on the determined mode;
• wherein the first and second channels share the first and second ports.