3.0 Functional Description (Continued)
No Signal Detect
The Line State Detector recognizes the incoming data to be
in the No Signal Detect state upon the deassertion of the
Signal Detect signal. No Signal Detect indicates that the
incoming link is inactive.
Master Line State
The Line State Detector recognizes the incoming data to be
in the Master Line State upon the reception of eight consec-
utive Halt-Quiet symbol pairs nominally (plus up to 2 symbol
pairs in start up cases).
The Master Line State is used in the handshake sequence
of the PHY Connection Management process.
Halt Line State
The Line State Detector recognizes the incoming data to be
in the Halt Line State upon the reception of eight consecu-
tive Halt symbol pairs nominally (plus up to 2 symbol pairs in
start up cases).
The Halt Line State is used in the handshake sequence of
the PHY Connection Management process.
Quiet Line State
The Line State Detector recognizes the incoming data to be
in the Quiet Line State upon the reception of eight consecu-
tive Quiet symbol pairs nominally (plus up to 9 bits of 0 in
start up cases).
The Quiet Line State is used in the handshake sequence of
the PHY Connection Management process.
Noise Line State
The Line State Detector recognizes the incoming data to be
in the Noise Line State upon the reception of 16 noise sym-
bol pairs.
The Noise Line State indicates that data is not received
correctly. A detailed description of a noise event can be
found in Section 8.2.
Line State Unknown
The Line State Detector recognizes the incoming data to be
in the Line State Unknown state upon the reception of one
inconsistent symbol pair (i.e. data that is not expected). This
may be the beginning of a new line state.
Line State Unknown indicates that data is not received cor-
rectly. If the condition persists the noise line state may be
entered.
ELASTICITY BUFFER
The Elasticity Buffer performs the function of a ‘‘variable
depth’’ FIFO to compensate for clock skews between the
Receive Clock (RXCg) and the Local Byte Clock (LBC).
Bit 5 (EBOU) of the Receive Condition Register B (RCRB) is
set to 1 to indicate an error condition when the Elasticity
Buffer cannot compensate for the clock skews.
The Elasticity Buffer will support maximum clock skews of
g50 ppm with a maximum packet length of 4500 bytes.
To make up for the accumulation of frequency disparity be-
tween the two clocks, the Elasticity Buffer will insert or de-
lete Idle symbol pairs in the preamble. Data is written into
the byte-wide registers of the Elasticity Buffer with the Re-
ceive Clock, while data is read from the registers with the
Local Byte Clock.
The Elasticity Buffer will recenter (i.e. set the read and write
pointers to a predetermined distance from each other) upon
the detection of a JK or every four byte times during PHY
Invalid (i.e. MLS, HLS, QLS, NLS, NSD) and Idle Line State.
To resolve metastability problems, the Elasticity Buffer is
designed such that a given register cannot be written and
read simultaneously under normal operating conditions. In a
symbol-wide station, a 5-bit off boundary JK following after a
maximum size frame situation may be produced which may
result in a small increase in the probability of an error
caused by a metastability condition.
LINK ERROR DETECTOR
The Link Error Detector provides continuous monitoring of
an active link (i.e. during Active and Idle Line States) to
insure that it meets the minimum Bit Error Rate requirement
as set by the standard or user to remain on the ring.
Upon detecting a link error, the internal 8-bit Link Error Mon-
itor Counter is decremented. The start value for the Link
Error Monitor Counter is programmed through the Link Error
Threshold Register (LETR). When the Link Error Monitor
Counter reaches zero, bit 4 (LEMT) of the Interrupt Condi-
tion Register (ICR) is set to 1. The current value of the Link
Error Monitor Counter can be read through the Current Link
Error Count Register (CLECR). For higher error rates the
current value is an approximate count because the counter
rolls over.
There are two ways to determine Link Error Rate: polling
and interrupt.
Polling
The Link Error Monitor Counter is set to the value of FF.
This start value is programmed through the Link Error
Threshold Register (LETR).
Upon detecting a link error, the Current Link Error Counter is
decremented.
The Host System reads the current value of the Link Error
Monitor Counter via the Current Link Error Count Register
(CLECR). The Counter is then reset to FF.
Interrupt
The Link Error Monitor Counter is set to the value of FF.
This start value is programmed through the Link Error
Threshold Register (LETR).
Upon detecting a link error, the Line Error Monitor Counter
is decremented. When the counter reaches zero, bit 4
(LEMT) of the Interrupt Condition Register (ICR) is set to 1,
and the interrupt signal goes low.
The Host System is interrupted when the Link Error Monitor
Counter reaches 0.
A state table describing Link Errors in more detail can be
found in Section 8.3.
Miscellaneous Items
When bit 0 (RUN) of the Mode Register (MR) is set to zero,
or when the PLAYER device is reset through the Reset pin
(RST), the Signal Detect line (TTLSD) is internally forced to
zero and the Line State Detector is set to Line State Un-
known.
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