Ivor, In the SERDES there is a PLL that will adjust the internal sampling clock frequency. When there is no data or no lock the internal PLL will normally frequency/ phase lock onto the reference clock. This frequency is typically very close to the actual data rate. Once the receiver of the SERDES receives data that data and the PLL clock is compared in frequency and phase in a separate phase-frequency dectector (PFD) the error signal is then used to adjust the PLL in such a way to sample the incoming data. In an analog system quadrature PFD/sampling is used to align the data edge and the sampling edge to the center of the data eye. Once the data is sampled it is then de-serialized and passed as a word (normally a 10 bit word for 8B10B systems) to an elastic buffer. The elastic buffer then will transfer the data into the local clock domain like Steve Weir explains in his email. This is a simplistic view and mainly an analog view. There are many other ways to perform asynchronous sampling in the digital domain and at the higher speeds half rate clocks are used. The above explanation is provided as a simple conceptual view. Leonard Dieguez High Speed IO Applications, Altera Corporation 9330 Scranton Road, Suite 400 San Diego, CA 92121 ldieguez@xxxxxxxxxx 858.202.3511 (office) "There are two kinds of engineers - those who have signal integrity problems, and those who will." - Eric Bogatin. -----Original Message----- From: si-list-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:si-list-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Bowden, Ivor Sent: Thursday, December 10, 2009 12:31 AM To: si-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [SI-LIST] SERDES CDR with asynchronous reference clock? Hi SI people, Can someone offer an explanation how a SERDES CDR can recover data with an asynchronous reference clock? Example is PCI-Express (reference PCI EXPRESS BASE SPECIFICATION, REV 2.1 section 4.3.7.5. "Separate Refclk Architecture"), where Refclk #1 drives the TX circuit and Refclk #2 drives the RX circuit. How does this CDR circuit work? I thought that even if they were separate clocks they'd have to be frequency locked, and a PCI-SIG presentation indicates they can be +/-300ppm each. Thanks, Ivor Bowden _______________________________________________________________________ This e-mail and any files transmitted with it are proprietary and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have reason to believe that you have received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender and destroy this email and any attached files. Please note that any views or opinions presented in this e-mail are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Curtiss-Wright Corporation or any of its subsidiaries. Documents attached hereto may contain technology subject to government export regulations. Recipient is solely responsible for ensuring that any re-export, transfer or disclosure of this information is in accordance with applicable government export regulations. The recipient should check this e-mail and any attachments for the presence of viruses. Curtiss-Wright Corporation and its subsidiaries accept no liability for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by this e-mail. ------------------------------------------------------------------ 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 technical documents are available at: http://www.si-list.net 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 Confidentiality Notice. This message may contain information that is confidential or otherwise protected from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any use, disclosure, dissemination, distribution, or copying of this message, or any attachments, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please advise the sender by reply e-mail, and delete the message and any attachments. Thank you. ------------------------------------------------------------------ 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 technical documents are available at: http://www.si-list.net 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