As the demand for higher data rates and increased serial I/O density intensifies, the performance requirements for next-generation SerDes designs become more stringent, particularly in managing area and power constraints. Multi-Gigabit/s serial transceivers are rapidly supplanted traditional parallel interfaces across numerous applications. High-speed transceivers must seamlessly support a range of data rates to accommodate new link speeds and emerging standards, all while maintaining backward compatibility with legacy systems. At elevated data rates, each component must meet rigorous performance specifications to ensure overall link integrity, especially in managing jitter and maintaining a strict bit error rate amidst challenging interconnect conditions such as channel loss, impedance discontinuities caused by packaging and connectors, and crosstalk from routing limitations in the package and motherboard.
To effectively meet these challenges, serial I/O design has advanced, incorporating increasingly sophisticated architectures and cutting-edge techniques. Key ASIC’s multi-mode transceiver IP, which integrates both the PMA and PCS layers, is specifically engineered for applications demanding low power consumption and high performance. It is highly configurable and can be efficiently integrated with user logic or SoC resources, supporting data rates ranging from 1Gbps to 16Gbps.
