Patent · US Expired

Low latency multi-level communication interface

US7124221B1 · kind B1 · utility

56Cited by
175References
37Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJan 6, 2000
Grant dateOct 17, 2006
Priority date
Expiry dateJan 6, 2020

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04L25/0298
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A memory system uses multiple pulse amplitude modulation (multi-PAM) output drivers and receivers to send and receive multi-PAM sigsnals. A multi-PAM signal has more than two voltage levels, with each data interval now transmitting a “symbol” at one of the valid voltage levels. In one embodiment, a symbol represents two or more bits. The multi-PAM output driver drives an output symbol onto a signal line. The output symbol represents at least two bits that include a most significant bit (MSB) and a least significant bit (LSB). The multi-PAM receiver receives the output symbol from the signal line and determines the MSB and the LSB.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.