Attributes

Attributes in S-Link take inspiration from the attributes found in M-PHY. The ability to “tune” the link seemed like a neat feature and for chiplet based ecosystems, could possibly be leveraged. It also seemed like a necessity as different physical layers would require different training algorithms. A serial die-to-die would need to train much longer than a GPIO based physical layer. A user could also use the attributes to fine tune the settings for training to reduce latency.

The attributes are used to change the link conditions, and can be done while the link is running. The attributes have two storage elements

  • Effective - The currently active setting of the attribute

  • Shadow - The staged setting to be activated the next time a lower P state is entered.

When performing an attribute update the user is actually writing the shadow value and is essentially staging both sides of the link for the next link condition. These shadow attributes are applied to the effective state by setting the link to a lower power state (P1/2/3).