7.5.7 Interrupt Status

Control/Shared Register 0x05, bits 3:0, Register 0x01, bits 4 and 0, Register 0x30, bit 4, Register 0x32, and Register 0x36, bit 6

Each channel of the DS125DF410 will generate an interrupt under several different conditions. The DS125DF410 will always generate an interrupt when it loses CDR lock or when a signal is no longer detected at its input. If the HEO/VEO interrupt is enabled by setting bit 6 of register 0x36, then the retimer will generate an interrupt when the horizontal or vertical eye opening falls below the preset values even if the retimer remains locked. When one of these interrupt conditions occurs, the retimer alerts the system controller via hardware and provides additional details via register reads over the SMBus.

First, the open-drain interrupt line INT is pulled low. This indicates that one or more of the channels of the retimer has generated an interrupt. The interrupt lines from multiple retimers can be wire-ANDed together so that if any retimer generates an interrupt the system controller can be notified using a single interrupt input.

If the interrupt has occurred because the horizontal or vertical eye opening has dropped below the pre-set threshold, which is set in channel register 0x32, then bit 4 of register 0x30 will go high. This indicates that the source of the interrupt was the HEO or VEO.

If the interrupt has occurred because the CDR has fallen out of lock, or because the signal is no longer detected at the input, then bit 4 and/or bit 0 of register 0x01 will go high, indicating the cause of the interrupt.

In either case, the control/shared register set will indicate which channel caused the interrupt. This is read from bits 3:0 of control/shared register 0x05.

When an interrupt is detected by the controller on the interrupt input, the controller should take the following steps to determine the cause of the interrupt and clear it.

1. The controller detects the interrupt by detecting that the INT line has been pulled low by one of the retimers to which it is connected.
2. The controller reads control/shared register 0x05 from all the DS125DF410s connected to the INT line. For at least one of these devices, at least one of the bits 3:0 will be set in this register.
3. For each device with a bit set in bits 3:0 of control/shared register 0x05, the controller determines which channel or channels produced an interrupt. Refer to Table 14 for a mapping of the bits in this bit field to the channel producing the interrupt.
4. When the controller detects that one of the retimers has a 1 in one of the four LSBs of this register, the controller selects the channel register set for that channel of that retimer by writing to the channel select register, 0xff, as previously described.
5. For each channel that generated an interrupt, the controller reads channel register 0x01. If bit 4 of this register is set, then the interrupt was caused by a loss of CDR lock. If bit 0 is set, then the interrupt was caused by a loss of signal. it is possible that both bits 0 and 4 could be set. Reading this register will clear these bits.
6. Optionally, for each channel that generated an interrupt, the controller reads channel register 0x30. If bit 4 of this register is set, then the interrupt was caused by HEO and/or VEO falling out of the configured range. This interrupt will only occur if bit 6 of channel register 0x36 is set, enabling the HEO/VEO interrupt. Reading register 0x30 will clear this interrupt bit.
7. Once the controller has determined what condition caused the interrupt, the controller can then take the appropriate action. For example, the controller might reset the CDR to cause the retimer to re-adapt to the incoming signal. If there is no longer an incoming signal (indicated by a loss of signal interrupt, bit 0 of channel register 0x01), then the controller might alert an operator or change the channel configuration. This is system dependent.
8. Reading the interrupt status registers will clear the interrupt. If this does not cause the interrupt input to go high, then another device on the same input has generated an interrupt. The controller can address the next device using the procedure above.
9. Once all the interrupt registers for all channels for all DS125DF410s that generated interrupts have been read, clearing all the interrupt indications, the INT line should go high again. This indicates that all the existing interrupt conditions have been serviced.

The channel registers referred to above, registers 0x01, 0x30, 0x32, and 0x36, are described in the channel registers table, Table 16.