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HDMITM and DisplayPort are rapidly emerging as the digital interface standards which allow high-bandwidth video
and audio to be transmitted uncompressed around the home. Recent versions of these interface standards require
bandwidths of up to 3.4Gbps which present significant physical challenges for copper cable technology.
Cable manufacturers have been looking at different ways to improve the manufacturing process in order to support
these high speeds. Many of these processes involve increased copper thickness. Alternative solutions which provide
independence of volatile copper pricing are desirable. Such solutions need to solve today’s problems and provide a
roadmap for tomorrow to solve the ever increasing data rate performance challenge.
This article explains the problems faced by cable manufacturers, in particular differential skew and limited bandwidth.
The origins and implications for both problems are explained using eye diagrams. The challenges associated with circuits
which automatically de-skew are discussed and the benefits of equalization to address the limited bandwidth problem
are introduced. In the process, the difference between fixed, programmable and adaptive equalization is explained and
the requirement for adaptive equalization is established.
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Figure 2. Measured intra-pair skew
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many application environments. ���
Figure 3.
Eye diagram at 3.4Gbps
showing zero skew (top
plot) and eye diagram
with 155ps of intra-
pair skew (lower plot).
The impact of skew for a TV receiver is to directly reduce the timing budget available to the data recovery circuit
to extract the data. Figure 3 shows the impact of 155ps of skew on a 3.4Gbps data eye through three meters of
Twinax cable. This is the HDMI™ specification limit for the skew at the receiver end of a cable.
The top plot corresponds to a cable with zero skew and shows significant eye opening. This opening allows
the data recovery block in the receiver sample the data over a 300ps window to decide whether a ‘1’ or ‘0’ is
present. The lower plot shows that the addition of the 155ps of skew has reduced this valid data window to
approximately 150ps thus making it virtually impossible for the data recovery block in the receiver.
Figure 4.
Eye diagram at 3.4Gbps
showing degradation
due to 155ps of
skew (top plot) and
improved eye diagram
after processing by
REDMERE’s active
de-skew circuitry
(lower plot).
2
Inter Symbol Interference (ISI) or High frequency Attenuation
Because cables have multiple parrallel lines there will invariably be some series inductance and parallel capacitance. These
parasitic elements will filter the high frequency components of the signal. A measure of this effect is seen below in Figure 5.
Here we see signal attenuation versus frequency for three and six meter cables.
0
Figure 5. Signal
Attenuation, 3MB [dB]
attenuation versus -10
Attenuation, 6MB [dB]
frequency for three -20
-50
-60
0 2 4 6 8 10
Frequency [GHz]
When a signal is filtered by the cable, the data pulses of different lengths are shortened or lengthed and this degrades the
data eye. This time domain degradation is seen in the eye diagrams of Figure 6 where we see the impact of passing data
through a three meter Twinax cable (Top graph) and then further degradation when data is passed through six meters of
Twinax cable.
Cable equalizers compensate for the high frequency loss by applying gain to the high frequency components of the received
signal. This process is seen in Figure 7 where the cascade of the cable transfer function and the equalizer transfer function
produce a unity gain or all pass transfer function.
Figure 7. Cascading
of cable transfer Tcable Tequaliser Tcombined
function with an
equalizer transfer
function produces
unity gain over all
frequencies. Frequency Frequency Frequency
3
If appropriate equalization is applied to the three meter data eye seen in Figure 6 then the resultant improved eye diagram
is as can be seen in Figure 8
Figure 8. 3.4Gbps
data with appropriate
equalization showing
improved eye.
If the same fixed equalization is applied at the end of a six meter cable then the result is a poor eye as shown in Figure 9.
Thus the six meter cable is under-equalized and the level of eye closure here may well cause bit errors.
For this reason, fixed equalization is not generally a quality solution and there is a requirement for tuning the equalization
as the cable length changes. A simple implementation of this tuning process is refered to as programmable equalization.
In this case, tuning of the equalizer chip is achieved by setting or resetting external pins. These pins enable the selection
of different transfer functions for the equalizer. This process may work in certain situations with external test equipment
selecting the correct settings on the chip, but the ideal solution is where the chip tunes the equalizer parameters itself.
This self-tuning is refered to as adaptive equalization. Adaptive equalization changes the transfer function of the equalizer
to automatically cancel the attenuation caused by the cable.
Figure 9. Poor
3.4Gbps data eye
resulting from fixed
equalization scheme
applied to six meter
cable.
It is also worth noting that some receiver chips with fixed equalization claim that they are suited for particular length
cables. This claim, while partially true, ignores the variation associated with different cable technologies. This variation
is clear from Figure 10 which shows different levels of attenuation found in 11 different five meter cables from different
manufacturers.
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Figure 10.
Attenuation ���
versus frequency
measured in 11
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MagnifEyeTM Technology from Redmere
Our solution to the cable limitations is to do both adaptive de-skewing and adaptive equalization in tandem, i.e. using
our patented MagnifEyeTM technology. This block sits at the front end of our HDMI products. MagnifEyeTM technology
very effectively tunes the receiver to the specific cable connected. This gives the optimal reception of HDMI signals
across longer cables and improves operating margins on shorter ones.
Figure 11
MagnifEyeTM
Technology Block
Diagram
The following section shows the impact of using both adaptive de-skewing and adaptive equalization. It is also clear
from the following sequence that both are necessary.
Figure 12
2.275Gbps Data
at the end of 15
meters of cable
with 300ps of
skew.
Clearly there is no chance of recovering this data in this raw state. A standard analog front end would add equalization
at this stage to improve the eye. The result of this can be seen below in Figure 13.
Figure 13
2.275Gbps Data
at the end of 15
meters of cable
with 300ps of skew
with adaptive
equalization
applied
This signal has a wider eye opening but it is clear from the relative eye closure that the subsequent data recovery
system would result in many bit errors. Standard front-ends available today are doomed to failure when required to
deal with 300ps of skew as equalization is the only tool on offer.
5
Fortunately MagnifEyeTM technology has another weapon in its arsenal; it also applies adaptive de-skewing to the same data, the
result of which is shown in Figure 14. Now the data has clear open eyes and is perfectly conditioned for the data recovery block.
Figure 14
2.275Gbps Data
at the end of 15
meters of cable
with 300ps of skew
with adaptive
equalization
and MagnifyeTM‘s
adaptive de-
skewing.
Summary
This article has shown the challenges in sending up to 3.4Gbps through several meters of cable. Two of the key cable challenges,
namely “differential skew” and “Inter symbol Interference” have been introduced and their impact on cable performance
demonstrated. Both these problems reduce the valid data eye, but on cheaper cables the eye is completely closed and data is
rendered unrecoverable. One solution to these problems is to use more expensive cable technology which will typically result in
a thicker and less flexible cable. An alternative is to consider embedded silicon combined with lower cost bulk cable. Redmere’s
patented MagnifEyeTM technology is such a solution, combining circuit solutions for each of the problems into one elegant block.
This block provides optimal signal integrity for lowest cost cables. With MagnifEyeTM, cable manufacturers can deliver cable
assemblies which meet the data requirements of today’s market in a cost-effective manner.