Patent · US Active

Transmitter voltage and receiver time margining

US8570881B2 · kind B2 · utility

16Cited by
31References
18Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJan 29, 2007
Grant dateOct 29, 2013
Priority date
Expiry dateJun 3, 2032

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04L1/20
  • WIPO fieldMeasurement
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

A technique for characterizing a communications interface includes determining a voltage margin and a timing margin of the interface based on data sampled by a sampling device of a receiver of the interface. In at least one embodiment of the invention, a method for determining margin associated with a receiver circuit of an integrated circuit includes periodically sampling a signal over a time period by a receiver sampling circuit of the receiver circuit to generate a sampled version of the signal. The method includes incrementally varying a value of the parameter associated with the signal. The varying of the parameter is through a range of values of the parameter over the time period. The method includes determining a margin value of the receiver circuit associated with the parameter based, at least in part, on the sampled version of the signal.

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