Methods and systems for high bandwidth communications interface
A pair of ground planes arranged in parallel, a dielectric medium disposed in between the pair of ground planes, and a set of at least four signal conductors disposed in the dielectric medium, the set of at least four signal conductors having (i) a first pair of signal conductors arranged proximate to a first ground plane of the pair of ground planes and (ii) a second pair of signal conductors arranged proximate to a second ground plane of the pair of ground planes, each signal conductor of the set of at least four signal conductors configured to carry a respective signal corresponding to a symbol of a codeword of a vector signaling code.
1. An apparatus comprising:
a pair of ground planes arranged in parallel;
a dielectric medium disposed in between the pair of ground planes; and
a set of at least four signal conductors disposed in the dielectric medium, the set of at least four signal conductors comprising (i) a first pair of signal conductors arranged proximate to a first ground plane of the pair of ground planes and (ii) a second pair of signal conductors arranged proximate to a second ground plane of the pair of ground planes, each signal conductor of the set of at least four signal conductors configured to carry a respective signal corresponding to a symbol of a codeword of a vector signaling code, wherein the first pair of signal conductors has a horizontal offset along a length of the dielectric medium with respect to the second pair of signal conductors.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising conductive vias connecting the pair of ground planes.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein signal conductors in the first and second pairs of signal conductors are equidistant from each other.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the vector signaling code comprises all permutations of {+1, −⅓, −⅓, −⅓} and {−1, ⅓, ⅓, ⅓}.
5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a sum of the respective signals carried on the at least four signal conductors corresponds to a constant value.
6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the codeword of the vector signaling code comprises a superposition of three propagation modes.
7. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein one of the three propagation modes has a lower propagation velocity relative to the other two propagation modes.
8. The apparatus of claim 7 , further comprising delaying sampling timings of the other two propagation modes.
9. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein one of the three propagation modes has reduced receive signal levels relative to the other two propagation modes.
10. The apparatus of claim 6 , further comprising amplifying the one propagation mode relative to the other two propagation modes.
11. A method comprising:
receiving a set of information bits;
generating symbols of a codeword of a vector signaling code; and
transmitting the symbols of the codeword in parallel over respective signal conductors of a set of at least four signal conductors disposed in a dielectric medium, the set of at least four signal conductors comprising (i) a first pair of signal conductors arranged proximate to a first ground plane of a pair of ground planes and (ii) a second pair of signal conductors arranged proximate to a second ground plane of the pair of ground planes, wherein the first pair of signal conductors has a horizontal offset along a length of the dielectric medium with respect to the second pair of signal conductors.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the codewords of the vector signaling code comprise all permutations of {+1, −⅓, −⅓, −⅓} and {−1, ⅓, ⅓, ⅓}.
13. The method of claim 11 , wherein a sum of the respective signals carried on the at least four signal conductors corresponds to a constant value.
14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the codeword of the vector signaling code comprises a superposition of three propagation modes, each propagation mode transmitting a respective information bit.
15. The method of claim 14 , wherein one of the three propagation modes has a lower propagation velocity relative to the other two propagation modes.
16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising delaying sampling timings of the other two propagation modes.
17. The method of claim 14 , wherein one of the three propagation modes has reduced receive signal levels relative to the other two propagation modes.
18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising amplifying the one propagation mode relative to the other two propagation modes in the superposition of the three propagation modes.
19. An apparatus comprising:
a pair of ground planes arranged in parallel;
a dielectric medium disposed in between the pair of ground planes; and
a set of at least four signal conductors disposed in the dielectric medium, the set of at least four signal conductors comprising (i) a first pair of signal conductors arranged proximate to a first ground plane of the pair of ground planes and (ii) a second pair of signal conductors arranged proximate to a second ground plane of the pair of ground planes, each signal conductor of the set of at least four signal conductors configured to carry a respective signal corresponding to a symbol of a codeword of a vector signaling code, wherein the vector signaling code comprises all permutations of {+1, −⅓, −⅓, −⅓} and {−1, ⅓, ⅓, ⅓}.
20. The apparatus of claim 19 , further comprising conductive vias connecting the pair of ground planes.
21. The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein signal conductors in the first and second pairs of signal conductors are equidistant from each other.
22. The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein a sum of the respective signals carried on the at least four signal conductors corresponds to a constant value.
23. The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the codeword of the vector signaling code comprises a superposition of three propagation modes.
24. The apparatus of claim 23 , wherein one of the three propagation modes has a lower propagation velocity relative to the other two propagation modes.
25. The apparatus of claim 24 , further comprising delaying sampling timings of the other two propagation modes.
26. The apparatus of claim 23 , wherein one of the three propagation modes has reduced receive signal levels relative to the other two propagation modes.
27. The apparatus of claim 23 , further comprising amplifying the one propagation mode relative to the other two propagation modes.
28. An apparatus comprising:
a pair of ground planes arranged in parallel;
a dielectric medium disposed in between the pair of ground planes; and
a set of at least four signal conductors disposed in the dielectric medium, the set of at least four signal conductors comprising (i) a first pair of signal conductors arranged proximate to a first ground plane of the pair of ground planes and (ii) a second pair of signal conductors arranged proximate to a second ground plane of the pair of ground planes, each signal conductor of the set of at least four signal conductors configured to carry a respective signal corresponding to a symbol of a codeword of a vector signaling code, wherein the codeword of the vector signaling code comprises a superposition of three propagation modes.
29. The apparatus of claim 28 , further comprising conductive vias connecting the pair of ground planes.
30. The apparatus of claim 28 , wherein signal conductors in the first and second pairs of signal conductors are equidistant from each other.
31. The apparatus of claim 28 , wherein a sum of the respective signals carried on the at least four signal conductors corresponds to a constant value.
32. The apparatus of claim 28 , wherein one of the three propagation modes has a lower propagation velocity relative to the other two propagation modes.
33. The apparatus of claim 32 , further comprising delaying sampling timings of the other two propagation modes.
34. The apparatus of claim 28 , wherein one of the three propagation modes has reduced receive signal levels relative to the other two propagation modes.
35. The apparatus of claim 34 , further comprising amplifying the one propagation mode relative to the other two propagation modes.
36. A method comprising:
receiving a set of information bits;
generating symbols of a codeword of a vector signaling code; and
transmitting the symbols of the codeword in parallel over respective signal conductors of a set of at least four signal conductors disposed in a dielectric medium, the set of at least four signal conductors comprising (i) a first pair of signal conductors arranged proximate to a first ground plane of a pair of ground planes and (ii) a second pair of signal conductors arranged proximate to a second ground plane of the pair of ground planes, wherein the codewords of the vector signaling code comprise all permutations of {+1, −⅓, −⅓, −⅓} and {−1, ⅓, ⅓, ⅓}.
37. The method of claim 36 , wherein a sum of the respective signals carried on the at least four signal conductors corresponds to a constant value.
38. The method of claim 36 , wherein the codeword of the vector signaling code comprises a superposition of three propagation modes, each propagation mode transmitting a respective information bit.
39. The method of claim 38 , wherein one of the three propagation modes has a lower propagation velocity relative to the other two propagation modes.
40. The method of claim 39 , further comprising delaying sampling timings of the other two propagation modes.
41. The method of claim 38 , wherein one of the three propagation modes has reduced receive signal levels relative to the other two propagation modes.
42. The method of claim 41 , further comprising amplifying the one propagation mode relative to the other two propagation modes in the superposition of the three propagation modes.
43. A method comprising:
receiving a set of information bits;
generating symbols of a codeword of a vector signaling code; and
transmitting the symbols of the codeword in parallel over respective signal conductors of a set of at least four signal conductors disposed in a dielectric medium, the set of at least four signal conductors comprising (i) a first pair of signal conductors arranged proximate to a first ground plane of a pair of ground planes and (ii) a second pair of signal conductors arranged proximate to a second ground plane of the pair of ground planes, wherein the codeword of the vector signaling code comprises a superposition of three propagation modes, each propagation mode transmitting a respective information bit.
44. The method of claim 43 , wherein a sum of the respective signals carried on the at least four signal conductors corresponds to a constant value.
45. The method of claim 43 , wherein one of the three propagation modes has a lower propagation velocity relative to the other two propagation modes.
46. The method of claim 45 , further comprising delaying sampling timings of the other two propagation modes.
47. The method of claim 43 , wherein one of the three propagation modes has reduced receive signal levels relative to the other two propagation modes.
48. The method of claim 47 , further comprising amplifying the one propagation mode relative to the other two propagation modes in the superposition of the three propagation modes.