Pam multi-level error distribution signature capture
An example method of capturing an error distribution data for a serial channel includes: receiving a signal from the serial channel at a receiver in an integrated circuit (IC), the signal encoding data using pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) scheme having more than two levels; determining a plurality of symbols from the signal, each of the plurality of symbols encoding a plurality of bits; comparing the plurality of symbols with a plurality of expected symbols to detect a plurality of symbol errors; generating the error distribution data by accumulating numbers of the plurality of symbol errors across a plurality of bins based error type; and transmitting the error distribution data from the receiver to a computing system for processing.
1. A method of capturing an error distribution data for a serial channel, comprising:
receiving a signal from the serial channel at a receiver in an integrated circuit (IC), the signal being transmitted on a transmission medium using a digital baseband modulation technique, the signal having encoded data that uses a pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) scheme having more than two levels;
determining a plurality of symbols from the signal, each of the plurality of symbols encoding a plurality of bits;
comparing the plurality of symbols with a plurality of expected symbols to detect a plurality of symbol errors;
generating the error distribution data by accumulating numbers of the plurality of symbol errors across a plurality of bins based error type, the plurality of bins including a bin for each level of the PAM scheme and a bin for each level difference among levels in the PAM scheme; and
transmitting the error distribution data from the receiver to a computing system for processing.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the PAM scheme includes four levels, and wherein the plurality of bins include first bins for levels zero through four of the PAM scheme and second bins for one-level, two-level, and three-level differences.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the data includes a pseudorandom binary sequence (PRBS), and wherein the expected symbols are expected values for the PRBS sequence.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the computing system is disposed in the IC.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the computing system is disposed external to the IC.
6. A receiver in an integrated circuit (IC), the receiver comprising:
a front end configured to:
receive a signal from a serial channel, the signal being transmitted on a transmission medium using a digital baseband modulation technique, the signal having encoded data that uses a pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) scheme having more than two levels; and
determine a plurality of symbols from the signal, each of the plurality of symbols encoding a plurality of bits; and
an error detection circuit, coupled to the front end, configured to:
compare the plurality of symbols with a plurality of expected symbols to detect a plurality of symbol errors;
generate the error distribution data by accumulating numbers of the plurality of symbol errors across a plurality of bins based error type, the plurality of bins including a bin for each level of the PAM scheme and a bin for each level difference among levels in the PAM scheme; and
transmit the error distribution data to a computing system for processing.
7. The receiver of claim 6 , wherein the PAM scheme includes four levels, and wherein the plurality of bins include first bins for levels zero through four of the PAM scheme and second bins for one-level, two-level, and three-level differences.
8. The receiver of claim 6 , wherein the data includes a pseudorandom binary sequence (PRBS), and wherein the expected symbols are expected values for the PRBS sequence.
9. The receiver of claim 6 , wherein the computing system is disposed in the IC.
10. The receiver of claim 6 , wherein the computing system is disposed external to the IC.
11. A system for capturing an error distribution data for a serial channel, comprising:
an integrated circuit having a receiver configured to:
receive a signal from the serial channel, the signal being transmitted on a transmission medium using a digital baseband modulation technique, the signal having encoded data that uses a pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) scheme having more than two levels;
determine a plurality of symbols from the signal, each of the plurality of symbols encoding a plurality of bits;
compare the plurality of symbols with a plurality of expected symbols to detect a plurality of symbol errors;
generate the error distribution data by accumulating numbers of the plurality of symbol errors across a plurality of bins based error type, the plurality of bins including a bin for each level of the PAM scheme and a bin for each level difference among levels in the PAM scheme; and
transmit the error distribution data for processing; and
a computing system configured to receive the error distribution data from the receiver.
12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the PAM scheme includes four levels, and wherein the plurality of bins include first bins for levels zero through four of the PAM scheme and second bins for one-level, two-level, and three-level differences.
13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the computing system is disposed in the IC.
14. The system of claim 11 , wherein the computing system is disposed external to the IC.