Duty-cycled equalization

1. An information handling system (IHS) comprising:

at least one transceiver;

at least one data communication interface connecting a sending component to a receiving component;

an equalizer coupled to said at least one transceiver; and

a controller coupled to said transceiver and to said equalizer, and which:

detects propagation of a communication signal over the communication interface;

selects, using a power consumption specification and a data throughput specification, an equalization to be applied to the propagating communication signal from among a continuous equalization and a duty-cycled equalization, wherein the duty-cycled equalization provides a first interval during which the equalizer is activated and a second interval during which the equalizer is de-activated;

in order to achieve a specific reduction in input/output (I/O) transmission power consumption when duty-cycled equalization is activated instead of continuous equalization, selectively determines a first sample set having a first sample size corresponding to the first interval relative to a second sample set having a second sample size; and

performs the equalization selected for the communication signal.

2. The IHS of claim 1 , wherein the controller:

determines whether at least one of an expected power consumption performance for duty-cycled equalization and an expected data throughput corresponding to the duty-cycled equalization exceeds respective established performance thresholds for activating duty-cycled equalization;

initiates duty-cycled equalization for the communication signal in response to determining that at least one of the expected power consumption performance for duty-cycled equalization and the expected data throughput corresponding to the duty-cycled equalization exceed the respective established performance thresholds; and

provides continuous equalization in response to determining that at least one of the expected power consumption performance for duty-cycled equalization and the expected data throughput corresponding to the duty-cycled equalization does not exceed the respective established performance thresholds.

3. The IHS of claim 2 , wherein to provide continuous duty-cycled equalization the controller:

determines a range of acceptable duty cycle values corresponding to at least one of specified power performance values and specified throughput values, wherein, each duty cycle value within the range of acceptable duty cycle values can be utilized, during a respective periodic time interval, to provide duty-cycled equalization by which equalization is performed for a corresponding first number of data samples and equalization is disabled for a corresponding second number of data samples;

selects a first duty cycle value from the range of acceptable duty cycle values; and

initiates equalization using the selected first duty cycle value.

4. The IHS of claim 2 , wherein to initiate duty-cycled equalization the controller:

evaluates one or more of (i) a length of a corresponding propagation path, (ii) an estimated amount of power savings, and (iii) a corresponding signal propagation speed to determine whether to select a specific type of equalization from among periodic duty-cycled equalization and aperiodic duty-cycled equalization;

selects aperiodic duty-cycled equalization in response to an occurrence of at least one of the following conditions: (a) an identified propagation path is shorter than a threshold length; (b) signal propagation speed exceeds a threshold speed value; and (c) a threshold amount of power can be saved; and

selects periodic duty-cycled equalization when none of the at least one of the conditions occurs.

5. The IHS of claim 4 , wherein to select periodic duty-cycled equalization the controller:

calculates an acceptable period for the periodic duty-cycled equalization by determining at least one of a bit error rate (BER) and signal quality information of a corresponding serial link; and

provides periodic duty-cycled equalization using the calculated acceptable period.

6. The IHS of claim 4 , wherein to selecting aperiodic duty-cycled equalization the controller:

selects one or more duty cycle values associated with aperiodic duty-cycled equalization based on at least one of (i) specified power performance values and (ii) specified throughput values, wherein each duty cycle value corresponds to a respective duty cycle interval from among a sequence of duty cycle intervals, and duty cycle values vary from one duty cycle interval to a next, sequential duty cycle interval, and each duty cycle interval corresponds to a respective signal sample set having a specified sample size; and

initiates aperiodic duty-cycled equalization using the one or more duty cycle values which correspond to a sequence of duty cycle intervals.

7. The IHS of claim 2 , wherein to initiate duty-cycled equalization the controller:

identifies parameters associated with applying duty-cycled equalization, which parameters can include at least one of a duty cycle value, average duty cycle, identification of the first interval for duty-cycled equalization, and identification of the second interval for duty-cycled equalization; and

selects values for the identified parameters based on at least one of: system settings; user profile settings; and an indicated preference for one of an increased power savings and an increased operating margin.

8. The IHS of claim 7 , wherein the controller:

activates duty-cycled equalization using the selected parameter values to control at least one of firmware configuration, a selection of equalization coefficients, and a status of associated enable signals.

9. A method performed within an information handling system having a controller and a transceiver, the method comprising:

detecting propagation of a communication signal over a communication interface;

a controller selecting, using a power consumption specification and a data throughput specification, an equalization to be applied to the propagating communication signal from among a continuous equalization and a duty-cycled equalization, wherein the duty-cycled equalization provides a first interval during which a corresponding equalizer is activated and a second interval during which the equalizer is de-activated;

in order to achieve a specific reduction in input/output (I/O) transmission power consumption when duty-cycled equalization is activated instead of continuous equalization, selectively determining a first sample set having a first sample size corresponding to the first interval relative to a second sample set having a second sample size; and

performing the equalization selected for the communication signal.

10. A method performed within an information handling system having a controller and a transceiver, the method comprising:

detecting propagation of a communication signal over a communication interface;

a controller selecting, using a power consumption specification and a data throughput specification, an equalization to be applied to the propagating communication signal from among a continuous equalization and a duty-cycled equalization, wherein the duty-cycled equalization provides a first interval during which a corresponding equalizer is activated and a second interval during which the equalizer is de-activated;

determining whether at least one of an expected power consumption performance for duty-cycled equalization and an expected data throughput corresponding to the duty-cycled equalization exceeds respective established performance thresholds for activating duty-cycled equalization;

in response to determining that at least one of the expected power consumption performance for duty-cycled equalization and the expected data throughput corresponding to the duty-cycled equalization exceed the respective established performance thresholds, initiating duty-cycled equalization for the communication signal;

in response to determining that at least one of the expected power consumption performance for duty-cycled equalization and the expected data throughput corresponding to the duty-cycled equalization does not exceed the respective established performance thresholds, providing continuous equalization; and

performing the equalization selected for the communication signal.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein said providing duty-cycled equalization further comprises:

determining a range of acceptable duty cycle values corresponding to at least one of specified power performance values and specified throughput values, wherein, each duty cycle value within the range of acceptable duty cycle values can be utilized, during a respective periodic time interval, to provide duty-cycled equalization by which equalization is performed for a corresponding first number of data samples and equalization is disabled for a corresponding second number of data samples;

selecting a first duty cycle value from the range of acceptable duty cycle values; and

initiating equalization using the selected first duty cycle value.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein said initiating duty-cycled equalization further comprises:

evaluating one or more of (i) a length of a corresponding propagation path, (ii) an estimated amount of power savings, and (iii) a corresponding signal propagation speed to determine whether to select a specific type of equalization from among periodic duty-cycled equalization and aperiodic duty-cycled equalization;

selecting aperiodic duty-cycled equalization in response to an occurrence of at least one of the following conditions: (a) an identified propagation path is shorter than a threshold length; (b) signal propagation speed exceeds a threshold speed value; and (c) a threshold amount of power can be saved; and

selecting periodic duty-cycled equalization when none of the at least one of the conditions occurs.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein said selecting periodic duty-cycled equalization further comprises:

calculating an acceptable period for the periodic duty-cycled equalization by determining at least one of a bit error rate (BER) and signal quality information of a corresponding serial link; and

providing periodic duty-cycled equalization using the calculated acceptable period.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein said selecting aperiodic duty-cycled equalization further comprises:

selecting one or more duty cycle values associated with aperiodic duty-cycled equalization based on at least one of (i) specified power performance values and (ii) specified throughput values, wherein each duty cycle value corresponds to a respective duty cycle interval from among a sequence of duty cycle intervals, and duty cycle values vary from one duty cycle interval to a next, sequential duty cycle interval, and each duty cycle interval corresponds to a respective signal sample set having a specified sample size; and

initiating aperiodic duty-cycled equalization using the one or more duty cycle values which correspond to a sequence of duty cycle intervals.

15. The method of claim 10 , wherein said initiating duty-cycled equalization further comprises:

identifying parameters associated with applying duty-cycled equalization, which parameters can include at least one of a duty cycle value, average duty cycle, identification of the first interval for duty-cycled equalization, and identification of the second interval for duty-cycled equalization; and

selecting values for the identified parameters based on at least one of: system settings; user profile settings; and an indicated preference for one of an increased power savings and an increased operating margin.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

activating duty-cycled equalization using the selected parameter values to control at least one of firmware configuration, a selection of equalization coefficients, and a status of associated enable signals.