Serial link interface power control method and apparatus with selective idle data discard
A receiver circuit for coupling to a serial link is disclosed. The receiver circuit comprises a data buffer and serial interface circuitry. The serial interface circuitry receives serialized packet words and processes the serial words for input to the data buffer. The serial interface circuitry includes word detection logic to detect predefined control words and discard logic to selectively inhibit forwarding of one or more of the predefined control words to the data buffer.
1. A receiver circuit for coupling to a serial link, the receiver circuit comprising:
a data buffer;
serial interface circuitry configured to receive serial packet words and process the serial packet words for input to the data buffer, the serial interface circuitry including word detection logic configured to detect control words and data words, and
gating logic configured to:
process the control words and the data words, wherein the control words are forwarded to the data buffer based on a previously detected control word, and
selectively inhibit forwarding the data words to the data buffer.
2. The receiver circuit of claim 1 , wherein the serial interface circuitry receives the serial packet words in accordance with an Interlaken packet protocol.
3. The receiver circuit of claim 1 , wherein the serial interface circuitry further includes a bypass path to route information associated with the control words.
4. The receiver circuit of claim 3 , wherein the information routed on the bypass path includes flow control information.
5. The receiver circuit of claim 3 , wherein the information routed on the bypass path comprises CRC information.
6. The receiver circuit of claim 3 , wherein the control words comprise idle control words.
7. The receiver circuit of claim 1 , wherein the data buffer comprises a first-in-first-out (FIFO) circuit.
8. A method comprising:
receiving serial packet words;
converting the serial packet words to parallel words;
detecting control words and data words from among the parallel words;
processing the control words and the data words, wherein the control words are forwarded to data processing circuitry based on a previously detected control word, and
selectively inhibiting forwarding the data words to the data processing circuitry.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the control words comprise idle control words.
10. The method of claim 8 , wherein processing the control words is based on whether the previously detected control word was an idle control word.
11. The method of claim 8 , further including extracting flow control information from the control words.
12. The method of claim 8 , farther including extracting CRC information from the control words.
13. A system comprising:
a first electronic device having a transmitter for transmitting serial data in accordance with a serial protocol;
a serial link having one end coupled to the first electronic device to route the serial data; and
a second electronic device having a receiver circuit coupled to a second end of the serial link to receive the serial data, the receiver circuit including:
a data buffer;
serial interface circuitry configured to receive the serial data as packet words and process the packet words for input to the data buffer, the serial interface circuitry including word detection logic configured to detect control words and data words, and
gating logic configured to:
process the control words and the data words, wherein the control words are forwarded to the data buffer based on a previously detected control word, and
selectively inhibit forwarding the data words to the data buffer.
14. The system of claim 13 , further comprising a plurality of serial links disposed between the first and second electronic devices.
15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the serial protocol comprises an Interlaken protocol.
16. The system of claim 13 , further including a bypass path to route information associated with the control words.
17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the information routed on the bypass path comprises flow control information.
18. The system of claim 16 , wherein the information routed on the bypass path comprises CRC information.