Configurable transmitter device based on data rate
AssigneeeTopus Technology Inc.
InventorsTze Yin Cheung, Paul K. Lai, Danfeng Xu
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A transmitter device includes a configurable timer circuit that adjusts timing of input data for serial transmission of the input data. The configurable timer circuit may be configured depending on the configured data rate of the transmitter device. In one embodiment, the configurable timer circuit includes a plurality of configurable retimers that retime the input data where at least a portion of one of the plurality of configurable retimers is enabled based on the configured data rate.
Claims20
A transmitter device comprising:
- a clock circuit configured to generate a clock signal associated with a data rate of the transmitter device;
- a configurable timer circuit including a plurality of retimers configured to receive input data and adjust a timing of the input data to generate retimed input data according to the clock signal, each of the plurality of retimers including a plurality of registers arranged in a plurality of rows of registers where each register is configured to receive a different portion of the input data and output a corresponding portion of the retimed input data according to the clock signal;
- and
- a transmitter circuit coupled to a communications channel, the transmitter circuit configured to transmit serialized data based on the retimed input data to a receiver device over the communications channel at the data rate,
- wherein responsive to the transmitter device being configured to operate at the data rate that is a portion of a maximum data rate of the transmitter device, a portion of the plurality of rows of registers of at least one of the plurality of retimers is enabled to adjust the timing of the input data and a remaining portion of the plurality of rows of registers of the at least one of the plurality of retimers is disabled.
A method of a transmitter device including a configurable timer circuit comprising a plurality of retimers that each include a plurality of registers arranged in a plurality of rows of registers where each register is configured to receive a different portion of input data and output a corresponding portion of the retimed input data according to a clock signal, the method comprising:
- setting a data rate of operation of the transmitter device from a plurality of data rates;
- responsive to the data rate being a portion of a maximum data rate of the transmitter device, reconfiguring the configurable timer circuit by enabling a portion of the plurality of rows of registers at least one of the plurality of retimers and disabling a remaining portion of the plurality of rows of registers of the at least one of the plurality of retimers;
- receiving the input data for transmission by the transmitter device at the data rate;
- adjusting a timing of the input data using the enabled portion of the plurality of rows of registers of the at least one of the plurality of retimers to generate retimed input data according to clock signal that is associated with the data rate;
- and
- transmitting serialized data that is based on the retimed input data to a receiver device over a communications channel at the data rate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.