Delivers IBIS-AMI Models for PCI Express 3.0, Provides the Industry’s First
Back-channel Simulation Support in Collaboration with Sigrity
BURLINGTON, Ontario, November 16, 2010 – Gennum Corporation (TSX: GND) today
announced that its Snowbush IP group will be the first to support its high-speed PHY IP
with simulation models based on the industry-standard IBIS-AMI (I/O Buffer
Information Specification-Algorithmic Modeling Interface) specification. Newly
developed in collaboration with Sigrity, the models give system designers unprecedented
visibility into IP system-level performance enabled by first-time support for back-channel
simulation. The IBIS-AMI models are a highly valued deliverable for IP supporting data
rates of 8 gigabits per second (Gbps) and higher, and the Gennum Snowbush IP group
therefore intends to offer these models on all of its high-speed PHY IP going forward,
beginning with its PCI Express 3.0 PHYs.
“At speeds of 8 Gbps and higher, traditional simulation methods aren’t providing enough
visibility into how high-speed serial links perform within a system,” said Kevin Walsh,
Marketing Director for Gennum’s Snowbush IP group. “With these new models,
customers can evaluate the signal integrity of PHY IP from the chip to the board to the
backplane. By providing a higher level of support for our IP, we reduce the need for
costly re-spins and reduce the development time of next-generation networking
equipment.”
The new models will allow Snowbush PHY IP customers to perform efficient signal
integrity analysis of their multi-gigabit serial links with correlated models so that they
can look at the impact of transmitter (Tx), receiver (Rx), and channel properties along
with those of adjacent signals.
First to Apply Back-channel Support to the IBIS-AMI Specification
IBIS-AMI is a modeling standard for SerDes transceivers that enables fast, accurate and
statistically significant simulation of multi-gigabit serial links. The models provide an
interoperable solution that can run a 10 million bit simulation in 10 minutes or less on
any commercial simulator.
The IBIS-AMI IP model kit from Snowbush supports the current IBIS-AMI specification
and adds first-time support for simulation of back-channel communications, developed
with Sigrity’s Channel Designer tool.
“Simulation of back-channel behavior is a necessary step in the simulation process for
advanced SerDes, and we wanted to collaborate with the leaders in that discipline,” stated
Dr. Kumar Keshavan, Sigrity SI Architect. “Together with Snowbush, we have
developed a solution that has the ability to mimic a hardware backchannel sequence and
predict real-world behavior. We believe this model development and back-channel
approach will become widely used in the design community, serving as a new benchmark
for high-speed serial link offerings.”
Although currently not part of the IBIS-AMI standard, high-speed serial links, such as
PCI Express 3.0 running at 8Gbps and 10GBase-KR running at 10Gbps, support backchannel
techniques used to help optimize the transmission of data through the system
while maintaining high signal quality. This typically involves the transmission of a
training sequence from the transmitter (Tx) to the receiver (Rx). The Rx examines the
waveforms of the received signal, and sends guidance back to the Tx regarding
adjustments to its equalization (EQ) settings. The Tx makes the requested EQ
modifications and re-transmits the training sequence. This process is repeated until the
Rx is satisfied with the quality of the incoming signal, at which time the actual data
transmission is executed with the optimized EQ settings
Availability
Gennum’s Snowbush IP Group is shipping its first version of the PCI-Express 3.0 IBISAMI
model to select customers now. The production version of the model will be
available in the first quarter of 2011. Snowbush IP plans to develop similar models for
its other PHY offerings above 8Gbps. Since IBIS-AMI is a standard that is supported by
many different commercial simulators, the model is expected to run on a variety of
different simulators (some simulators will need to be adapted to support back channel
communication). For more information on pricing and licensing terms, please contact:
Email Contact.
About the Gennum Snowbush IP Group
The Gennum Snowbush IP group offers a team of interconnect specialist to design and
deliver silicon-proven, high-speed serial interface IP. Comprising one of the industry’s
most robust, widely-deployed, production-tested and customizable family of IP cores, the
Snowbush IP portfolio satisfies the needs of today’s most demanding high-speed serial
communication protocols and applications. The offering includes complete, integrated,
PHY and controller solutions for standards like USB, PCI Express® and Serial ATA
(SATA), and single and multi-standard SerDes for applications with data rates from 1
Gb/s to over 10 Gb/s. Gennum’s Snowbush IP group is committed to supporting
customers with diverse foundry and process requirements, offering IP cores for TSMC,
UMC, Common Platform, and Fujitsu processes. For more information visit
www.snowbush.com
Gennum Corporation (TSX: GND) designs innovative semiconductor solutions and
intellectual property (IP) cores to serve the rising global demand for high-speed data
transmission products in the broadcast, networking, storage and telecommunications
markets. Gennum offers proven optical, analog and mixed-signal solutions with
uncompromising signal integrity to support standards such as high-definition (HD) video,
Fibre Channel, InfiniBand®, Ethernet, SONET and PCI Express®. The company is
headquartered in Burlington, Canada, and has global design, research and development
and sales offices in Canada, Mexico, Japan, Germany, United States, India and the United
Kingdom.
Contact:
Robin Vaitonis
1-480-381-6302
Email Contact