Receiver/transmitter co-calibration of voltage levels in pulse amplitude modulation links

1. A multi-level pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) PAM-N receiving device, comprising:

a receiver interface circuit to receive a PAM-N signal from a PAM-N transmitting device via a communication channel, wherein N is greater than 2 and the PAM-N signal has N signal levels for N symbols;

a circuit to generate distortion information indicative of a level of distortion corresponding to inequalities in voltage differences between the N signal levels; and

a driver circuit to transmit the distortion information indicative of the level of the distortion to the PAM-N transmitting device.

2. The PAM-N receiving device of claim 1 , further comprising:

a decision feedback equalizer, wherein the distortion information is generated by:

determining a first threshold error level used to generate error information for adaptation of tap weights of the decision feedback equalizer when targeting a first symbol of the N symbols, and

determining a second threshold error level used to generate error information for adaptation of the tap weights of the decision feedback equalizer when targeting a second symbol of the N symbols, wherein the distortion information is generated from the first threshold error level and the second threshold error level.

3. The PAM-N receiving device of claim 1 , wherein the distortion information is generated by:

identifying a first amount of inter symbol interference (ISI) during transitions from a first symbol of the N symbols; and

identifying a second amount of ISI during transitions from a second symbol of the N symbols, wherein the distortion information is generated from the first amount of ISI and the second amount of ISI.

4. The PAM-N receiving device of claim 3 , wherein the circuit:

identifies the first amount of ISI during transitions from the first symbol to a third symbol of the N symbols; and

identifies the second amount of ISI during transitions from the second symbol to a fourth symbol of the N symbols.

5. The PAM-N receiving device of claim 1 , wherein the circuit comprises:

an eye scanning circuit to detect a plurality of vertical eye openings for the PAM-N signal, wherein the distortion information is generated from the plurality of vertical eye openings.

6. The PAM-N receiving device of claim 1 , wherein:

the circuit detects when a predetermined pattern is present in the PAM-N signal and generates the distortion information responsive to the predetermined pattern being present.

7. The PAM-N receiving device of claim 1 , wherein:

the receiver interface circuit comprises an analog front end circuit that applies analog signal conditioning to the PAM-N signal; and

the circuit generates the distortion information indicative of the level of distortion corresponding to the inequalities in the voltage differences between the N signal levels in the PAM-N signal at an output of the analog front end circuit.

8. A multi-level pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) PAM-N transmitting device, comprising:

a driver circuit to transmit a PAM-N signal via a communication channel to a PAM-N receiving device, wherein N is greater than 2, and the PAM-N signal has N signal levels for N symbols;

a receiver interface circuit to receive distortion information indicative of a level of distortion corresponding to inequalities in voltage differences between the N signal levels at the PAM-N receiving device; and

a driver control circuit to adjust one or more drive strength parameters of the driver circuit based on the distortion information.

9. The PAM-N transmitting device of claim 8 , wherein:

the driver circuit generates the PAM-N signal using a predetermined pattern.

10. The PAM-N transmitting device of claim 8 , wherein:

the driver circuit generates the PAM-N signal using a pseudorandom or scrambled pattern.

11. The PAM-N transmitting device of claim 8 , wherein the driver circuit includes:

a first driver corresponding to a first symbol bit; and

a second driver corresponding to a second symbol bit,

wherein the driver control circuit adjusts the one or more drive strength parameters based on the distortion information such that a ratio of a first drive strength of the first driver to a second drive strength of the second driver is adjusted.

12. The PAM-N transmitting device of claim 8 , wherein the driver control circuit adjusts the one or more drive strength parameters to minimize the inequalities in the voltage differences.

13. The PAM-N transmitting device of claim 8 , wherein the driver control circuit adjusts the one or more drive strength parameters to match a peak power constraint of the driver circuit.

14. A method, comprising:

transmitting, by a driver circuit of a multi-level pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) PAM-N transmitting device, a PAM-N signal via a communication channel, wherein N is greater than 2, and the PAM-N signal has N signal levels corresponding to N symbols;

receiving, by a PAM-N receiving device, the PAM-N signal;

generating, by the PAM-N receiving device, distortion information indicative of a level of distortion corresponding to inequalities in voltage differences between the N signal levels;

transmitting, by the PAM-N receiving device to the PAM-N transmitting device, the distortion information indicative of the level of the distortion;

receiving, by the PAM-N transmitting device, the distortion information; and

adjusting, by the PAM-N transmitting device, one or more drive strength parameters of the driver circuit of the PAM-N transmitting device based on the distortion information.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the generating of the distortion information comprises:

determining a first threshold error level used to generate error information for adaptation of tap weights of a decision feedback equalizer when targeting a first symbol of the N symbols; and

determining a second threshold error level used to generate error information for adaptation of the tap weights of the decision feedback equalizer when targeting a second symbol of the N symbols, wherein the distortion information is generated from the first threshold error level and the second threshold error level.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the generating of the distortion information comprises:

identifying a first amount of inter symbol interference (ISI) during transitions from a first symbol of the N symbols; and

identifying a second amount of ISI during transitions from a second symbol of the N symbols, wherein the distortion information is generated from the first amount of ISI and the second amount of ISI.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the generating of the distortion information comprises:

identifying the first amount of ISI during transitions from the first symbol to a third symbol of the N symbols; and

identifying the second amount of ISI during transitions from the second symbol to a fourth symbol of the N symbols.

18. The method of claim 14 , wherein the generating of the distortion information comprises:

detecting a plurality of vertical eye openings for the PAM-N signal, wherein the distortion information is generated from the plurality of vertical eye openings.

19. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

detecting a predetermined pattern being present in the PAM-N signal; and

generating the distortion information responsive to the predetermined pattern being present.

20. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

applying, by an analog front end circuit, analog signal conditioning to the PAM-N signal;

wherein the distortion information is generated to indicate a level of distortion corresponding to the inequalities in the voltage differences between the N signal levels in the PAM-N signal at an output of the analog front end circuit.