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SNLU238A – August 2018 – Revised September 2019
Copyright © 2018–2019, Texas Instruments Incorporated
DS250DF230EVM User’s Guide
User's Guide
SNLU238A – August 2018 – Revised September 2019
DS250DF230EVM User’s Guide
The DS250DF230 is a four-channel multi-rate retimer with integrated signal conditioning. It is used to
extend the reach and robustness of long, lossy, crosstalk-impaired high-speed serial links while achieving
a bit error rate (BER) of 10-15 or less. Each channel of the DS250DF230 independently locks to serial
data rates in a continuous range from 19.6 Gbps to 25.8 Gbps or to any supported sub-rate (÷2 and ÷4).
The DS250DF230 has a single power supply and minimal need for external components. These features
reduce PCB routing complexity and BOM cost. The advanced equalization features of the DS250DF230
include a low-jitter 3-tap transmit finite impulse response (FIR) filter, an adaptive continuous-time linear
equalizer (CTLE), and an adaptive decision feedback equalizer (DFE). This enables reach extension for
lossy interconnect and backplanes with multiple connectors and crosstalk. The integrated CDR function is
ideal for front-port optical module applications to reset the jitter budget and retime the high-speed serial
data. The DS250DF230 implements 2x2 cross-point on each channel pair, providing the host with both
lane crossing and fanout options.
The DS250DF230 can be configured via the default SMBus slave mode or with an external EEPROM. Up
to 16 devices can share a single EEPROM. A non-disruptive on-chip eye monitor and PRBS generator
and checker functions allow for in-system diagnostics. With this kit, users can quickly evaluate the
DS250DF230 retimer performance.