A 10 Gb/s Si-bipolar TX/RX chipset for computer data transmission

With Internet host counts doubling every five to seven months, there is a pressing need for high-speed interconnect circuits in routers, switches, and computer systems. These transmitter (TX) and receiver (RX) chips for 10 Gb/s serial data transmission provide clock generation, 16:1 multiplexing, clock recovery, 1:16 demultiplexing and loss of signal (LOS) detection. No errors are seen in a 24-hour test period across 21 feet of 0.190" diameter coax, implying a BER better than 10/sup -14/ and demonstrating the feasibility of short-distance 10 Gb/s transmission using copper-based links. The monolithic 3.0 W TX and 5.5 W RX chips are implemented in a 25 GHz f/sub T/ Si-bipolar process. A data rate of 40% of f/sub T/ is the highest reported architectural performance for a chipset at this level of integration.