Customer controlled design of a communication system

Abstract

A system for designing a communication link for use in a data processing system, includes a parameter generator and an internal link model. The parameter generator allows a user to specify a first set of link parameters. The generator derives a set of internal parameters from the first set of parameters. The internal link model, which includes a set of configurable link cells, receives the internal parameters and instantiates each link cell based on the internal parameters. The system further includes a channel simulator or similar means for modeling a bit error rate (BER) of the instantiated communication link and may further include an estimator of the link's area and power consumption. In an embodiment that protects the intellectual property associated with the internal model from the system user, the parameter generator prevents the user from directly accessing the internal parameters and the generic link model.

1 . A system for designing a communication link for use in a data processing system, said system comprising: 
 a parameter generator configured to permit a user to specify a first set of parameters associated with the communication link and further configured to derive a set of internal parameters associated with the communication link from the first set of parameters;    an internal link model comprising a set of configurable link cells, wherein the internal link model is configured to receive the derived set of internal parameters and to instantiate each link cell in the set of configurable link cells based on the set of internal parameters;    means for modeling a bit error rate (BER) of the communication link based upon the instantiated set of link cells; and    means for presenting at least one characteristic of the modeled communication link to the user.    
   
   
       2 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising an estimator configured to estimate the area and power consumption based on the user-specified first set of parameters.  
   
   
       3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the means for modeling the BER includes: 
 a channel simulator configured to receive the instantiated set of configurable link cells from the parameter generator; and    a media transfer function specified by the user, wherein the media transfer function is indicative of a channel to which the instantiated set of configurable link cells is connected.    
   
   
       4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the parameter generator prevents the user from directly accessing the set of internal parameters and the internal link model.  
   
   
       5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the first set of parameters includes link design parameters selected from a set of parameters comprising a sampling complexity parameter, a loop bandwidth parameter, and a loop order parameter.  
   
   
       6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the set of configurable link cells in the internal link model includes a sampling latch cell having a configurable sample rate and a sample memory having a configurable memory size.  
   
   
       7 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the set of configurable link cells in the internal link model further includes an edge detector, a phase controller, and a phase rotator, each having at least one configurable parameter.  
   
   
       8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein power supply voltage is a configurable parameter of the internal link model.  
   
   
       9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the system is configured to permit the user to specify a first operational parameter and an acceptable limit for a second operational parameter, and to instantiate each link cell to obtain an optimal value for the first operational parameter constrained by the second operational parameter.  
   
   
       10 . A computer program product comprising: 
 a tangible computer readable medium;    program code, within the computer readable medium, for designing a communication link for use in a data processing system, said program code including:    parameter generator code for permitting a user to specify a first set of parameters associated with the communication link and further for deriving a set of internal parameters associated with the communication link from the first set of parameters;    internal link model code for modeling an internal link comprising a set of configurable link cells, wherein the internal link model code is configured to receive the derived set of internal parameters and to instantiate each link cell in the set of configurable link cells based on the set of internal parameters;    bit error rate (BER) modeling code for modeling a bit error rate (BER) of the instantiated set of configurable link cells; and    code for presenting at least one characteristic of the communication link to the user.    
   
   
       11 . The computer program product of  claim 10 , further comprising code for estimating the area and power consumption based on the user-specified first set of parameters.  
   
   
       12 . The computer program product of  claim 10 , wherein the BER modeling code includes: 
 code for receiving the instantiated set of configurable link cells from the parameter generator; and    a media transfer function specified by the user, wherein the media transfer function is indicative of a channel to which the instantiated set of configurable link cells is connected.    
   
   
       13 . The computer program product of  claim 10 , wherein the parameter generator code prevents the user from directly accessing the set of internal parameters and the model of the internal link.  
   
   
       14 . The computer program product of  claim 10 , wherein the first set of parameters includes link design parameters selected from a set of parameters comprising a sampling complexity parameter, a loop bandwidth parameter, and a loop order parameter.  
   
   
       15 . The computer program product of  claim 10 , wherein the set of configurable link cells in the internal link model includes a sampling latch cell having a configurable sample rate and a sample memory having a configurable memory size.  
   
   
       16 . The computer program product of  claim 15 , wherein the set of configurable link cells in the internal link model further includes an edge detector, a phase controller, and a phase generator, each having at least one configurable parameter.  
   
   
       17 . The computer program product of  claim 10 , wherein a power supply voltage is a configurable parameter of the internal link model.  
   
   
       18 . The computer program product of  claim 10 , further comprising: 
 code for permitting the user to specify a first operational parameter of the communication link; and    code for determining values of the internal parameters to optimize the first operational parameter of the link constrained by the second operational parameter.