3 ms·

Nice article. Didn't even consider you'd ever need something like this in a single system. Also never considered that a "redriver" would be able to help at all

Nice article. Didn't even consider you'd ever need something like this in a single system. Also never considered that a "redriver" would be able to help at all with multi-GHz signals. (Note: I'm very unknowledgeable about this topic.)

segfaultbuserr 6y ago
Redrivers and retimers are also known as "signal conditioners", because it's what they do - to improve the quality of a marginal or non-compliant signal. They are used in many different interfaces to accommodate long cable/board run - USB, HDMI, DisplayPort, SATA, just to name a few [0]. USB is a relatively new market since USB 3.1 and USB 3.2, due to its signal integrity challenge at high data rate. Retimers are digital repeaters. Redrivers are mostly analog, but they are not unity-gain amplifiers, often they do equalization and emphasis internally to compensate for the distortion at high frequency. [0] https://www.diodes.com/products/connectivity-and-timing/redrivers-repeaters/ https://www.diodes.com/products/connectivity-and-timing/redr...
Mughead 6y ago
Testing
kingosticks 6y ago
I would guess they might use pcie in some physically large systems such as super computers, enterprise networking stuff etc.
- arcticbull 6y ago
  Not to mention Thunderbolt which includes 4 PCIe 3.0 lanes [1] [1] https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/186251/intel-jhl8040r-thunderbolt-4-retimer.html https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/186251/...
- Dylan16807 6y ago
  With PCIe 3 yeah. With 4, the limits on how long you can make PCB traces are pushed or surpassed inside a normal desktop. When 5 doubles the frequencies it's going to get really hard to make reasonable connections. And you also need increasingly complicated multiplexing chips for any motherboard that can divide the primary x16 slot into two x8 slots.
  - kingosticks 6y ago
    Won't some of that be solved by better performing pcb materials filtering down to consumer desktops when the price allows?

segfaultbuserr 6y ago

Redrivers and retimers are also known as "signal conditioners", because it's what they do - to improve the quality of a marginal or non-compliant signal. They are used in many different interfaces to accommodate long cable/board run - USB, HDMI, DisplayPort, SATA, just to name a few [0]. USB is a relatively new market since USB 3.1 and USB 3.2, due to its signal integrity challenge at high data rate. Retimers are digital repeaters. Redrivers are mostly analog, but they are not unity-gain amplifiers, often they do equalization and emphasis internally to compensate for the distortion at high frequency. [0] https://www.diodes.com/products/connectivity-and-timing/redrivers-repeaters/ https://www.diodes.com/products/connectivity-and-timing/redr...

Mughead 6y ago

Testing

kingosticks 6y ago

I would guess they might use pcie in some physically large systems such as super computers, enterprise networking stuff etc.

arcticbull 6y ago
Not to mention Thunderbolt which includes 4 PCIe 3.0 lanes [1] [1] https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/186251/intel-jhl8040r-thunderbolt-4-retimer.html https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/186251/...
Dylan16807 6y ago
With PCIe 3 yeah. With 4, the limits on how long you can make PCB traces are pushed or surpassed inside a normal desktop. When 5 doubles the frequencies it's going to get really hard to make reasonable connections. And you also need increasingly complicated multiplexing chips for any motherboard that can divide the primary x16 slot into two x8 slots.
- kingosticks 6y ago
  Won't some of that be solved by better performing pcb materials filtering down to consumer desktops when the price allows?