Switching Fabric Based on Multi-Level LVDS Compatible Interconnect

Switching fabric (SF) is the key component of the next generation of back plane interconnects. Low power, TID and SEU resistant and high bandwidth upgradeable communication between computer nodes are of utmost importance for future NASA missions. The current state off-the-art binary SF interconnect architectures have high power consumption and latency due to the necessity to perform internal data conversion and synchronization in order to recognize redundant bits and extract useful information from the data stream. The high power consumption of the SFs limit their application in the next generation of nano-satellites. In order to minimize latency and reduce power consumption, we propose a novel, robust, radiation tolerant and easy-to-align SF based on a multi-level power efficient Low Voltage Differential Signal interface. Our approach uses differential multilevel signals to mark a reference high-level bit position in one of the differential channels. Because the marked pilots will follow the high logic level in one of the differential outputs, they will regularly occur at the same bit position and ensure stable and easy recovery of the low-speed clock signal, which will be used as a reference for multi-channel data alignment and will synchronize high speed clocking circuitry using a standard clock multiplier technique.