System architecture for varying rate transmission
View Patent ↗A system receives an incoming datastream at an incoming data rate or transmits an outgoing datastream at an outgoing data rate. The system may include a detection circuit to monitor the signal quality of the datastream. Responsive to changes in the monitored signal quality, the system may switch the data rate from a first data rate to a new data rate. If signal conditions are favorable, the system may switch to a higher data rate than the first data rate. If signal quality conditions worsen, the system may switch from the first data rate to a lower data rate to allow for a reduction in error rate.
1. A device, comprising:
network interface circuitry; and
adjustment processing circuitry configured to:
determine a signaling condition, of a wireline medium, based on external environmental conditions surrounding the wireline medium;
control, responsive to the signaling condition, the network interface circuitry to establish a communication link over the wireline medium at a first data rate with a network device;
subsequent to establishing the communication link, detect a change in the signaling condition of the wireline medium;
control, responsive to the change in the signaling condition, the network interface circuitry to re-establish the communication link at a second data rate different than the first data rate with the network device;
determine, based on the signaling condition and responsive to the network interface circuitry receiving an indicator of a third data rate from the network device, whether the third data rate is supported by the external environmental conditions;
control, in a case that the third data rate is supported by the external environmental conditions, the network interface circuitry to establish the communication link at the third data rate with the network device; and
control, in a case that the third data rate is not supported by the external environmental conditions, the network interface circuitry to transmit an error message via the wireline medium to the network device, wherein
the second data rate is greater than the first data rate in a case that the change in the signaling condition exceeds an improvement threshold level,
the second data rate is less than the first data rate in a case that the change in the signaling condition is lower than a staggered threshold level that is lower than the improvement threshold level, and
the network interface circuitry is configured to:
determine a setup protocol for establishing the communication link with the network device;
in a case that the network interface circuitry determines that the setup protocol is to auto-negotiate,
establish a negotiation link with the network device,
exchange setup information with the network device via the negotiation link,
determine whether a data rate is specified in the setup information,
setup the communication link at the specified data rate in a case that the data rate is specified, and
setup the communication link at a selected data rate in a case that the data rate is not specified; and
in a case that the network interface circuitry determines that the setup protocol is to retrain,
send a retrain indicator to the network device, and
apply a multiplier to a clock signal for the first data rate to generate a clock signal for the second data rate.
2. The device of claim 1 , wherein the signaling condition comprises a signal-to-noise ratio for the communication link.
3. The device of claim 1 , wherein the signaling condition comprises a bit-error rate for the communication link.
4. The device of claim 1 , wherein the network interface circuitry is configured to receive a parity coding frame over the communication link.
5. The device of claim 4 , wherein the network interface circuitry is configured to receive parity coding frames periodically while the communication link is active.
6. The device of claim 4 , wherein the adjustment processing circuitry is configured to determine the signaling condition by analyzing the parity coding frame received by the network interface circuitry.
7. The device of claim 1 , wherein the adjustment processing circuitry is configured to:
responsive to establishing the communication link at the first data rate, start a back-off timer; and
forgo controlling the network interface circuitry to re-establish the communication link responsive to a detection of another improvement in the signaling condition at a first time before an expiration of the back-off timer.
8. The device of claim 1 , wherein the indicator is received via the communication link.
9. A method by a device that includes adjustment processing circuitry and network processing circuitry, the method comprising:
by the adjustment processing circuitry:
determining a signaling condition, of a wireline medium, based on external environmental conditions surrounding the wireline medium;
controlling, responsive to the signaling condition, the network interface circuitry to establish a communication link over the wireline medium at a first data rate with a network device;
subsequent to establishing the communication link, detecting a change in the signaling condition of the wireline medium;
controlling, responsive to the change in the signaling condition, the network interface circuitry to re-establish the communication link at a second data rate different than the first data rate with the network device;
determining, based on the signaling condition and responsive to the network interface circuitry receiving an indicator of a third data rate from the network device, whether the third data rate is supported by the external environmental conditions;
controlling, in a case that the third data rate is supported by the external environmental conditions, the network interface circuitry to establish the communication link at the third data rate with the network device; and
controlling, in a case that the third data rate is not supported by the external environmental conditions, the network interface circuitry to transmit an error message via the wireline medium to the network device, wherein
the second data rate is greater than the first data rate in a case that the change in the signaling condition exceeds an improvement threshold level,
the second data rate is less than the first data rate in a case that the change in the signaling condition is lower than a staggered threshold level that is lower than the improvement threshold level, and
by the network interface circuitry:
determining a setup protocol for establishing the communication link with the network device;
in a case that the network interface circuitry determines that the setup protocol is to auto-negotiate,
establishing a negotiation link with the network device,
exchanging setup information with the network device via the negotiation link,
determining whether a data rate is specified in the setup information,
setting up the communication link at the specified data rate in a case that the data rate is specified, and
setting up the communication link at a selected data rate in a case that the data rate is not specified; and
in a case that the network interface circuitry determines that the setup protocol is to retrain,
sending a retrain indicator to the network device, and
applying a multiplier to a clock signal for the first data rate to generate a clock signal for the second data rate.
10. A device, comprising:
network interface circuitry configured to:
determine a setup protocol for establishing a communication link with a network device over a wireline medium;
in a case that the network interface circuitry determines that the setup protocol is to auto-negotiate,
establish a negotiation link with the network device,
exchange setup information with the network device via the negotiation link,
determine whether a data rate is specified in the setup information,
setup the communication link at the data rate in a case that the data rate is specified, and
setup the communication link at a selected data rate in a case that the data rate is not specified; and
in a case that the network interface circuitry determines that the setup protocol is to retrain,
send a retrain indicator to the network device, and
apply a multiplier to a clock signal for the data rate of the communication link to re-establish the communication link at a new data rate; and
adjustment processing circuitry configured to:
subsequent to the network interface circuitry establishing the communication link, detect a change in a signaling condition of the wireline medium;
control, responsive to the change in the signaling condition, the network interface circuitry to re-establish the communication link at a first data rate different than the data rate with the network device;
determine, based on the signaling condition and responsive to the network interface circuitry receiving an indicator of a second data rate from the network device, whether the second data rate is supported by external environmental conditions of the wireline medium;
control, in a case that the second data rate is supported by the external environmental conditions, the network interface circuitry to establish the communication link at the second data rate with the network device; and
control, in a case that the second data rate is not supported by the external environmental conditions, the network interface circuitry to transmit an error message via the wireline medium to the network device, wherein
the first data rate is greater than the data rate in a case that the change in the signaling condition exceeds an improvement threshold level,
the first data rate is less than the data rate in a case that the change in the signaling condition is lower than a staggered threshold level that is lower than the improvement threshold level.