All, I have been analyzing SERDES for some time, but have always been working for organizations that are designing complete, end-to-end systems. Now I find myself working with a firm that only designs and controls part of the signal path (basically a SERDES on a daughtercard that will ultimately plug into a backplane). I find myself confused as to how to proceed. I am fortunate in that only two vendors make SERDES that would reside on the other (not the one I am designing) end of the link. I suppose I need to make some serious assumptions about the backplane and any interposing cables as well. Are trace/cable lengths something that every appears in a standard (I seem to remember that USB and DIsplayPort spec out maximum cable lengths), or is it purely application dependent? Specifically, this is in the context of SAS and PCI-E if that makes any difference. I have yet to review these specs in detail, and I apologize if the answers to my questions lay in them. Your wisdom greatly appreciated in advance, Ed ------------------------------------------------------------------ To unsubscribe from si-list: si-list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field or to administer your membership from a web page, go to: //www.freelists.org/webpage/si-list For help: si-list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'help' in the Subject field List forum is accessible at: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/si-list List archives are viewable at: //www.freelists.org/archives/si-list Old (prior to June 6, 2001) list archives are viewable at: http://www.qsl.net/wb6tpu