In the technology environment sometimes the response to a challengeis to come up with something totally new. But more often the responseis what in biology is called “conversion of function” – rather thandevelop something totally new, an already existing function is adapted,added to, or used it in a different way to meet the need.

One example of this is SerDes, short forSerializer/Deserializer. All it consists of is a pair of functionalblocks which, in high speed communications links, compensates forlimited input/output. These blocks convert data between serial data andparallel interfaces in each direction. Although the term “SerDes” isgeneric, it is often used as a synonym for the Serial Gigabit Media Independent Interface.

The most recent imaginative use of SerDes is described in my Editor's Top Pick this week : “Using SerDes infourth generation wireless infrastructure ,” by TI's AjinderSingh. Rather than add anything to it or adapt and integrate it intosome new advanced SoC, TI designers took one step back to enabledesigners to take two steps forward. In the article they describe adiscrete solution that provides designers with a great deal moreflexibility than any integrated solution could.

Some of the other recent examples of imaginative use of the SerDesfunction include: transformingvideo SerDes from a nightmare to a dream , modeling SerDes for usein board-level interconnects, how to use SerDes to deal with signaldegradation in multigigabit backplanes, copper SerDes as analternative to optical data links, adapting SerDes for use in the DDR-XAUImemory interface, and using SerDes in gigabitserial links over cable.

I had fun looking for these examples of the imaginative use ofSerDes in a variety of embedded designs. I hope you have as much funreading about them! (Embedded.comEditor Bernard Cole, bccole@acm.org )

Finally, as the deployments of 3G Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks accelerate, engineers have their hands full developing and testing handsets to meet the extreme performance requirements these networks demand. Our online course, the Fundamentals of LTE Physical Layer and Test Requirements will take you through the LTE standard and show you how to set up to test user equipment using the latest test systems and techniques.

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