Method and system for serialization and deserialization (SERDES) for inter-system communications

1. A system comprising:

an integrated circuit comprising:

a tuner operable to digitize a band of frequencies comprising a plurality of television channels;

a crossbar operable to select one or more of said plurality of television channels output by said tuner;

a plurality of demodulators operable to receive said selected one or more of said plurality of television channels from said crossbar and demodulate said selected one or more television channels to recover a plurality of transport streams;

a transport module operable to multiplex said plurality of transport streams into a single packet stream;

a framer operable to:

encapsulate packets of said plurality of transport streams into transport stream frames of a serial datastream; and

insert filler frames into said serial datastream after every Nth transport stream frame of said serial datastream, where N is an integer.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein said integrated circuit is operable to determine the value of N based on a timing mismatch between a first oscillator and a second oscillator, said first oscillator residing in said integrated circuit and said second oscillator residing in another integrated circuit that receives said serial datastream.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein said integrated circuit is operable to determine said value of N during run time of said integrated circuit.

4. A method comprising:

in a first integrated circuit:

multiplexing a plurality of transport streams into a multiplexed packet stream comprising a plurality of packets;

encapsulating packets of said multiplexed packet stream in transport stream frames of a serial datastream, wherein:

a filler frame is inserted into said serial datastream after every N transport stream frames of said serial datastream; and

N is an integer; and

transmitting said serial datastream onto a channel that couples said first integrated circuit to a second integrated circuit.

5. The method of claim 4 , comprising determining the value of N based on a timing mismatch between a first oscillator and a second oscillator, said first oscillator residing in said first integrated circuit and said second oscillator residing in said second integrated circuit.

6. The method of claim 5 , comprising determining said value of N during run time of said first integrated circuit.

7. The method of claim 5 , comprising determining said value of N based on a size of a buffer in said second integrated circuit that receives said serial datastream.

8. The method of claim 7 , comprising determining said value of N during run time of said first integrated circuit.

9. The method of claim 4 , comprising:

downconverting a higher-frequency block of frequencies comprising a plurality of television channels to a lower-frequency block of frequencies; and

digitally selecting one or more of said plurality of television channels.

10. The method of claim 9 , comprising:

demodulating, via a plurality of demodulators arranged in parallel in said first integrated circuit, said one or more of said plurality of television channels to recover said plurality of transport streams.

11. The method of claim 4 , comprising generating said frames of said serial datastream by programmatically controlling a multiplexer to select among a filler input, a transport stream input, and a header input.

12. A system comprising:

a first integrated circuit operable to:

multiplex a plurality of transport streams into a multiplexed packet stream comprising a plurality of packets;

encapsulate packets of said multiplexed packet stream in transport stream frames of a serial datastream, wherein:

a filler frame is inserted into said serial datastream after every N transport stream frames of said serial datastream; and

N is an integer; and

transmit said serial datastream onto a channel that couples said first integrated circuit to a second integrated circuit.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein said first integrated circuit is operable to determine the value of N based on a timing mismatch between a first oscillator and a second oscillator, said first oscillator residing in said first integrated circuit and said second oscillator residing in said second integrated circuit.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein said first integrated circuit is operable to determine said value of N during run time of said first integrated circuit.

15. The system of claim 13 , wherein said first integrated circuit is operable to determine said value of N based on a size of a buffer in said second integrated circuit that receives said serial datastream.

16. The system of claim 12 , wherein said first integrated circuit is operable to:

downconvert a higher-frequency block of frequencies comprising a plurality of television channels to a lower-frequency block of frequencies; and

digitally select one or more of said plurality of television channels.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein:

said first integrated circuit comprises a plurality of demodulators arranged in parallel; and

said first integrated circuit is operable to demodulate, via said plurality of demodulators, said one or more of said television channels to recover said plurality of transport streams.

18. The system of claim 16 , wherein said first integrated circuit is operable to scramble said frames of said serial datastream.

19. The system of claim 12 , wherein said first integrated circuit is operable to generate said frames of said serial datastream via programmatic control of a multiplexer to select among a filler input, a transport stream input, and a header input.

20. The system of claim 12 , wherein said first integrated circuit resides in a television set-top box.