Low-voltage differential signaling or 2-wire differential link with symbol transition clocking

An apparatus for multi-wire signaling, comprising:

• a plurality of differential transmitters adapted to couple the apparatus to a communications link that employs differential signaling;
• a first convertor that is configured to receive data to be communicated over the communications link and to convert the data to a set of transition numbers;
• and
• a second convertor that is configured to select sequences of symbols using the transition numbers,
• wherein each sequence of symbols is transmitted on the communications link using the plurality of differential transmitters,
• wherein each pair of consecutive symbols in the sequences of symbols comprises two different symbols that define different signaling states of the communications link, and
• wherein the second convertor is configured to embed clock information in transitions in signaling state of the communications link by selecting consecutively transmitted pairs of symbols that are different from one another.

A receiving apparatus for multi-wire signaling, comprising:

• a plurality of differential receivers configured to provide a sequence of symbols representative of signals received from a plurality of lanes in a communications link;
• a clock recovery circuit adapted to generate a receive clock by detecting transitions in signaling state of the communications link, wherein the transitions in signaling state of the communications link correspond to transitions between symbols in the sequence of symbols;
• a first convertor configured to generate a transition number representative of differences between consecutive symbols in the sequence of symbols, wherein the transition number includes a plurality of digits;
• and
• a second convertor configured to decode data from the transition number,
• wherein each digit of the transition number represents a difference between a symbol received by the plurality of differential receivers and an immediately preceding symbol received by the plurality of differential receivers, and
• wherein each consecutive pair of symbols received by the plurality of differential receivers includes two different symbols.

A method for multi-wire signaling, comprising:

• receiving a sequence of symbols from a plurality of lanes in a differential signaling communications link;
• extracting a receive clock corresponding to transitions between consecutive symbols in the sequence of symbols;
• generating a transition number representative of differences between consecutive symbols in the sequence of symbols wherein the transition number includes a plurality of digits;
• and
• converting the transition number to data,
• wherein each pair of consecutive symbols in the sequences of symbols comprises two different symbols such the clock includes an edge corresponding to each symbol in the sequence of symbols, and
• wherein each digit of the transition number represents a difference between a symbol received from the plurality of lanes and an immediately preceding symbol received from the plurality of lanes.