A 20 Gbps Data Transmitting ASIC with PAM4 for Particle Physics Experiments

TL;DR

This paper introduces a 20 Gbps data transmitting ASIC, GBS20, utilizing PAM4 encoding and shared PLL technology to improve data transmission efficiency for particle physics experiments, with prototype testing and future design plans.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel ASIC design that integrates PAM4 encoding with shared PLLs, enabling high-speed data transmission with fewer fibers for particle physics applications.

Findings

Prototype GBS20v0 achieved up to 20.48 Gbps transmission.

Shared PLL design reduces complexity and improves synchronization.

Lessons learned inform the development of GBS20v1 with 16 data channels.

Abstract

We present the design principle and test results of a data transmitting ASIC, GBS20, for particle physics experiments. The goal of GBS20 will be an ASIC that employs two serializers each from the 10.24 Gbps lpGBT SerDes, sharing the PLL also from lpGBT. A PAM4 encoder plus a VCSEL driver will be implemented in the same die to use the same clock system, eliminating the need of CDRs in the PAM4 encoder. This way the transmitter module, GBT20, developed using the GBS20 ASIC, will have the exact lpGBT data interface and transmission protocol, with an output up to 20.48 Gbps over one fiber. With PAM4 embedded FPGAs at the receiving end, GBT20 will halve the fibers needed in a system and better use the input bandwidth of the FPGA. A prototype, GBS20v0 is fabricated using a commercial 65 nm CMOS technology. This prototype has two serializers and a PAM4 encoder sharing the lpGBT PLL, but no user data input. An internal PRBS generator provides data to the serializers. GBS20v0 is tested barely up to 20.48 Gbps. With lessons learned from this prototype, we are designing the second prototype, GBS20v1, that will have 16 user data input channels each at 1.28 Gbps. We present the design concept of the GBS20 ASIC and the GBT20 module, the preliminary test results, and lessons learned from GBS20v0 and the design of GBS20v1 which will be not only a test chip but also a user chip with 16 input data channels.