ComLSI_Cables_2012

July 2012 1ComLSI Cables

Multi-Gbps Cable Development(2005 – 2011)

Raj Nair

ComLSI


Customer Enquiry: 30m HDMI1. Target process technology

a. CMOSb. Migration path

0.18µ Analog 3.3V operation

2. Performance desireda. Peak transmit data rate (over DVI cable)b. Power consumption (chip incl. PHY)c. Signaling d. Distance (cable length)e. Bit-error rate

2.5 Gb/s <500mWLVDS30M<1E-10

(per channel, stretch target!)(dependent upon θja , TBD)Stretch target!1E-9 pixel error DVI spec

3. System features desireda. Signaling protocolb. Dual-function Bi-directional Signaling IOsc. Auto-recognition (input/output function)

TMDS / TDBDSD IO<100ms?

Min. EMI, true-differentialSingle-bus, bidirectional Data

4. Receive (Rx) blocks a. Input receivers (TMDS-DVI, LVDS)b. Impedance matchingc. Receiver equalizationd. Data sampler (de-serialize)e. Clock Receive PLLf. Wide Range Sampling DLL

In EAS±20%?1-bit FIR?3-bits per UI? 25-165 MHz~133ps resol.

Dependent on cable/conn.3X Ovr-Smpl, or Clk-Extr?Receive and transmit XCLKsCan the sampling DLL and Clock Receive

PLL share?

5. Transmit (Tx) blocksa. Serializer / sequencerb. LVDS driversc. TMDS drivers d. Pre-emphasis (equalization)e. Impedance matching to cable

CML/ 750mvCML/ 750mv1-bit, % ? ± 30%?

75ps rise/fall (parasitics?)75ps rise/fallEdge spectral enhancementTBD, cable-measurements

Reference“Pelican SerDes Proposal”, plan document, August 2005, ComLSI. Image src: Amazon.com® PNY® Active HDMI Cable.


Feasibility Studies

RTDVI

RxTxLVDS

XPLL

RTDVI

RxTxLVDS

XPLL

CABLERGB data stream - 1

xclknclk nclk

RGB data stream - 2

XDVI chips

RTDVI

RxTxLVDS

XPLL

RTDVI

RxTxLVDS

XPLL


xclknclk nclk

RGB data stream - 2

RTDVI

RxTxLVDS

XPLL

RTDVI

RxTxLVDS

XPLL


xclknclk nclk

RGB data stream - 2

XDVI chips

XDVI chip

Organic substrate Cable

Wire bondingXDVI chip

Organic substrate Cable

Wire bonding

Reference“Pelican EAS Options”, plan document, September 2005, ComLSI.


Architectural Eval (Syst. Sims)

Reference“Pelican Arch Eval - Plan”, plan document, September 2005, ComLSI.


System & Cable Modeling/Sims

CAT-5 equivalent 2-D EM model, losses ~1dB/m at 2.5Gbps, 25m length => Closed EYE…

ReferenceD. Bennett, “CAT5 Cable Modeling for DVI/HDMI Links”, 2006 online publication, ComLSI.


Benefits of Spectral Equalization

Reference“BER and SI of CAT5 DVI/HDMI Cables”, 2006 online publication , ComLSI.

Resonant equalization for the 25m cable at 2.5Gbps opens EYE…


IP Core Development Kickoff

MOU signed formalizing workIncluding proposal, resource plan, tools, project cost estimates

Rev. 0 IP Specification transferred Preliminary circuit block diagrams, EAS, etc.

Circuit Design team ramped up Hiring efforts ramped up to locate additional design resources

to apply to additional projects (small team!). Core analog design resources at ComLSI dedicated to Pelican.

Formal Contract Negotiations initiated with customer and a marketing consultant

+ Raj at ComLSI. Agreement signed by November ’05.

References“Rev.0 IP Spec”, September 2005, ComLSI. Project agreements: MOU, September ’05, IP Development Contract, November ‘05.


Integrator-Vendor Mode Request

Customer request: ComLSI part of their teamCustomer servers installed on-site, site-site VPN, shared tools,

weekly database transfers into customer’s environment

Reduced tool costs, improved co-design & top-level integration

Weekly progress and key results update Results shared weekly. Issues uncovered were discussed and

resolved at weekly project meetings

But… specification creep, multi-use requirements arose

IP change resolutionsECO process initiated. Simplified cost calculation for additional

or modified IP developed.

References“Week 7 Report”, “Week 10 Report”, ComLSI.


Linear Regulators and PLL

HDMI Wideband, Low-Jitter Supply-Isolated Clock Synthesizer PLL

References“Wideband Linear Voltage Regulator Review”, and “Phase Locked Loop Review”, December ‘05/January ‘06, ComLSI.


CBDS Silicon IP

CBDS* Transceiver with De-emphasis, Active Receiver Equalization & SERDES

*Patented, US 7348810 , additional references “SerDes Review”, February 2006, and “Pelican IP”, ComLSI


Pelican Closure

Validated IP delivered by July 2006Customer confident continuing chip development on their own

They invested $2M more in active cable development

Filed patents & published findingsCBDS patent granted

Published at the International Society for Consumer Electronics 2007 conference, Dallas, TX

Marketed IPInterest in HDMI silicon IP continued to increase, but we were

at least one process generation behind

References“Pelican Microarchitecture” July 2006, USPTO filings, online: “HDMI Secrets…”, and “Enhancing Digital SI in Cables”, ISCE 2007.


Post-Pelican Cable R&D

Informal relationship with faculty at IIT-Madras, India


Cable R&D Testing

D0 D1 D2 CLK< 825 M 10.3 dB 7.47 dB 7.02 dB 7.36 dB

825 M - 2.475 G 15.7 dB 15.6 dB 14.6 dB 16.17 dB2.475 G - 4.125 G 19.69 dB 18.4 dB 17.77 dB 19.17 dB

@1.65 GHz 9.61 dB 7.86 dB 7.6 dB 8.38 dB

D0 D1 D2 CLK@ 1.65 Ghz 45.39 + j 2.64 47.05 + j10.06 40.21 + j 6.09 46.94 + j 9.83

D0 & D1 D0 & D2 D0 & CLK D1 & D2 D1 & CLK D2 & CLK< 825 M -30.86dB -23.29 dB -27.36 dB -26.02 dB -25.92 dB -27.58 dB

825 M - 2.475 G -25.43 dB -22.90 dB -27.52 dB -26.13 dB -24.02 dB -27.76 dB2.475 G - 4.125 G -29.87 dB -24.63 dB -33.68 dB -26.29 dB -26.71 dB -30.24 dB

@1.65 GHz -28.42 dB -36.88 dB -35.59 dB -35.50 dB -43.31 dB -37.58 dB

ResultInsertion Loss PassImpedance Differential Impedance Measurement not undertakenFEXT Pass

Insertion Losss

Common Mode Impedance

FEXT


Shielded Flat Pair & Cable ‘07

US Patent #7449639 & Pending (2011)


Shielded Flat Pair Benefits

• Shielded Flat Pair (SFP) cable assemblies minimize intra-pair, inter-pair skew, impedance discontinuities, and crosstalk issues employing flattened conductors and untwisted wire pairs.

• SFP’s mitigate manufacturing variation induced intra-pair skew / Z-variation.• SFP cables reduce skin-effect related loss without increasing copper use,

while prior art increases copper use quadratically. SFP’s enable reduction of attenuation and dispersion through Heaviside condition based design.

• SFP cables are an improvement over Belden® bonded pair cables, which employ wire-pair (variable) twist with higher skin-effect loss, skew, and crosstalk. Belden generates >50% of its revenues ($2.0B in 2009) from cable and networking products, which employ Belden® bonded pair technology: http://www.beldensolutions.com/en/Company/Press/PR117_EN0909/index.phtml

• SFP cables reduce conductor copper use reducing cable weight and cost in skin-effect limited cables.

• US patent 7449639 & 1 pending patent protect best mode implementation of SFP’s and SFP cables. No obligations or encumbrances exist.

http://www.beldensolutions.com/en/Company/Press/PR117_EN0909/index.phtml


HDMI Cables Opportunity (2006)

2006 2007 (est) 2009 (est)

HDMI Ports 380M 1200M

Cable: Cust. Home Inst.

1.6M, ~$230M

Commercial 1.3M, ~$210M

Consumer 24.2M, ~$970M

OEM2.9M,

~$90M

3X

$1.5B $2.5-$3B Sources: InStat, Others

Large Market opportunity.Anticipated growth.1% penetration suffices!!


Characteristic Vectors

PERFORMANCE LENGTH

PRICE


Market Major Categories

CUSTOM INST. COMMERCIAL

CONSUMER, OEM


Market Segmentation (’06)

CUSTOM INST. COMMERCIAL

CONSUMER, OEM

69%

16% 15%


Preliminary Findings (2007)

HDMI v1.3 transmissions at 25m+ lengths possible, but challenges exist

Category-II performance 3.4Gbps data rate per wire pair with < 1E10 BER 1.2M 3D capable TV’s in 2010, 9.7M in 20131

Advancements in Signaling ongoing HDMI adopting best practices of LVDS New techniques such as self-terminating CBDS

Active Cable technology in CE products Equalization, Gain, De-Skew, Signal Repeaters, etc.

1 Forecast by Screen Digest in http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8272003.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8272003.stm


Active Cables – Thunderbolt, ‘11

SourcePictures by iFixit, link: http://www.ifixit.com/blog/blog/2011/06/29/what-makes-the-thunderbolt-cable-lightning-fast/

Genuum 2033 transceivers for 2-5m thin-gauge copper cables, while Thunderbolt (electrical) is limited to 3m, “Optical 10’s of meters”

http://www.ifixit.com/

http://www.ifixit.com/blog/blog/2011/06/29/what-makes-the-thunderbolt-cable-lightning-fast/

http://www.gennum.com/products/thunderbolt-cable-transceivers/gn2033

http://www.gennum.com/products/thunderbolt-cable-transceivers/gn2033


Thunderbolt & Pricing

Custom Home Installation & Commercial HDMIAverage ASP ~= $150 based upon cable length mix Cable length population between 5m to 10m

Consumer Average ASP ~= $40; Cable lengths 1m to 5m

OEM’s Average ASP ~= $30; Cable lengths 1m to 3m

New developments such as Thunderbolt cables ($49 retail, 2011) change this significantly.

PNY active HDMI cable shown at beginning is $19.95 today!


Preliminary Active Cable Data

SourceCable loss information from Newry

http://newrycorp.com/us/


Cable Data Summary

• Gain extends length, depending upon• AWG (28, 26, 24…)• Material (PTFE, ePTFE etc.)• Wire-pair architecture (STP, Twin Axial, others – FWP?)• Cable architecture (FWP, minimizing skew, crosstalk?)

• 4X gain (12dB) provides, roughly, and in theory, • 8 to 12Gbps for 5m and 3m, 26AWG, STP, PTFE cables• 14 to 30Gbps for 5m to 3m, 24AWG, ePTFE cables

• Thunderbolt is 10Gbps, two channels at intro• Fundamental wire-pair/cable enhancements can do this?• Consumer need is cables from 1m to 5m max, largest market

segment!


Consumer Need Reiterated

1080P, deep color, true-HD, 3D TV Category-II performance 3.4Gbps data rate per wire pair with < 1E10 BER 1.2M 3D capable TV’s in 2010, 9.7M in 20131

Flexible, easy-to-install, layman-proof Customer insulated from technology, plug-n-play Minimized electronics form factor (power, thermal

considerations)

Low price ~70% of market.

1 Forecast by Screen Digest in http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8272003.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8272003.stm


Shielded Flat Pair Prototyping

References“FWP Dimension Calculator”, “FWP and cable design guidelines”, Prototype, & “Prototype test results”, November 2011, ComLSI.

As fabricated Correction


Summary

Silicon innovation transforming multimedia cablesScaling to higher performance accompanied by:

Thin, light, flexible cable form factorLow cost dominating consumer electronics needIndustry bigwigs working together (Intel®, Apple®)

Fundamental interconnect improvements are keyImproved performance with reduced Cu (low cost)Interconnect design minimizing issues such as intra-pair skew, loss minimizes needed electronics integration (low power, low cost)Design + Fabrication partnerships essential; clearly not a one-way street in high performance cable product development


Backup


ComLSI Design Core Strengths

Turnkey ASIC Circuit Design

Custom TurnkeyAnalog

Silicon for power integrity and signal integrity management.Signal integrity enhancement in interconnect.

Power Integrity

SignalIntegrityC

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Documents

ComLSI_Cables_2012