ESE
VITESSE
SEMICONDUCTOR CORPORATION
SEMICONDUCTOR CORPORATION
Preliminary Data Sheet
Gigabit Interconnect Chip
VSC7212
Clock and Data Recovery
The receiver has a Clock Recovery Unit (CRU) which accepts the selected serial input source, extracts the
high-speed clock and retimes the data. The CRU is monolithic. The CRU automatically locks on data and if the
data is not present, will automatically lock to the REFCLK. This maintains a very well-behaved recovered
clock, RCLK/RCLKN which does not contain any slivers and will operate at a frequency of the REFCLK
reference +/- 200 ppm. The use of an external Lock-to-Reference pin is not needed.
The Clock Recovery Unit must perform bit synchronization which occurs when the CRU locks onto and
properly samples the incoming serial data as described in the previous paragraph. When the CRU is not locked
onto the serial data, the 10-bit data out of the decoder is invalid which results in numerous 8B/10B decoding
errors or disparity errors. When the link is disturbed (e.g., the cable is disconnected or the serial data source is
switched), the CRU will require a certain amount of time to lock onto data, which is specified in the AC Timing
Specification for “Data Acquisition Lock Time.”
Deserializer and Character Alignment
The retimed serial data stream is converted into 10-bit characters by the deserializer. A special 7-bit
“Comma” pattern (‘0011111xxx’ or ‘1100000xxx’) is recognized by the receiver and allows it to identify the
10-bit character boundary. Note that this pattern is found in three special characters, K28.1, K28.5 and K28.7.
However, K28.5 is chosen as the unique IDLE character. Only K28.1 and K28.5 should be used in normal
operation. The K28.7 character should be reserved for test and characterization use.
Character alignment occurs when the deserializer synchronizes the 10-bit character framing boundary to a
“Comma” pattern in the incoming serial data stream. If the receiver identifies a “Comma” pattern in the
incoming data stream which is misaligned to the current framing boundary the receiver will re-synchronize the
recovered data in order to align the data to the new “Comma” pattern. Re-synchronization ensures that the
“Comma” character is output on the internal 10-bit bus so that bits 0 through 9 equal ‘0011111xxx’ or
‘1100000xxx’. If the “Comma” pattern is aligned with the current framing boundary, then re-synchronization
will not change the current alignment. Re-synchronization is always enabled and cannot be turned off when
ENDEC is HIGH. After character re-synchronization the VSC7212 ensures that within a link, the 8-bit data sent
to the transmitting VSC7212 will be recovered by the receiving VSC7212 in the same bit locations as the
transmitter (i.e. T(7:0) = R(7:0)). When ENDEC is LOW, “Comma” detection and alignment are enabled only if
KCHAR is HIGH.
10B/8B Decoder
The 10-bit character from the deserializer is decoded in the 10B/8B decoder, which outputs the 8B data byte
and three bits of status information. If the 10-bit character does not match any valid value, an Out-of-Band Error
is generated which is output on the receiver status bus. Similarly, if the running disparity of the character does
not match the expected value, a Disparity Error is generated. The decoder also reports when a K-character is
received, and distinguishes the K28.5 (IDLE) character from other K-characters. This status information is
combined with LOS State Machine status and FIFO error status, to produce the prioritized per-character link
status output information (see Table 7).
© VITESSE SEMICONDUCTOR CORPORATION • 741 Calle Plano • Camarillo, CA 93012
Tel: (800)-VITESSE • FAX: (805) 987-5896 • Email: prodinfo@vitesse.com
Internet: www.vitesse.com
Page 8
G52268-0, Rev 3.3
04/10/01
VITESSE [ VITESSE SEMICONDUCTOR CORPORATION ]
