Dynamic skew correction in a multi-lane communication link

A method for dynamically deskewing a communication link having a plurality of lanes, the method comprising:

• during operation of the communication link, for each lane, selectively enabling and disabling a write pointer and a read pointer of a respective corresponding first-in first-out (FIFO) storage unit;
• wherein selectively enabling and disabling the write pointer and the read pointer includes:
• disabling the write pointer in response to receiving a start symbol of a set of alignment symbols and in response to a determination that the number of storage locations within the FIFO storage unit is greater than a minimum predetermined number;
• enabling the write pointer in response to receiving an end symbol of the set of alignment symbols;
• disabling the read pointer in response to receiving the end symbol and in response to a determination that the end symbol has not been received on all lanes of the plurality of lanes;
• enabling the read pointer in response to a determination that the end symbol has been received on all lanes of the plurality of lanes.

A system comprising:

• a transmitter unit;
• a receiver unit coupled to the transmitter unit via a communication link having a plurality of communication lanes;
• wherein the receiver unit includes:
• for each lane of the plurality of lanes:
• a first-in first-out (FIFO) unit including a plurality of storage locations, wherein the FIFO unit is configured to store received symbols to a locations pointed to by a write pointer and to output to downstream logic, the symbols stored at locations pointed to by a read pointer;
• a symbol drop unit coupled to the FIFO unit and configured to disable the write pointer in response to receiving a start symbol of a set of alignment symbols and in response to a determination that the number of storage locations within the FIFO storage unit is greater than a minimum predetermined number, and to enable the write pointer in response to receiving an end symbol of the set of alignment symbols;
• an alignment unit coupled to the FIFO unit and configured to disable the read pointer in response to detecting that the end symbol has been received on one or more lanes but not all lanes of the plurality of lanes;
• wherein the alignment unit is further configured to enable the read pointer in response to a determination that the end symbol has been received on all lanes of the plurality of lanes.