Patent ID: 8744029

Claim:
A serial data stream monitor, comprising: an analog front end having a data input and a clock input operating at a first rate, the analog front end including a signal condition detector arranged to receive a serial data stream at the data input and reference signals at a second input and a third input, respectively, the signal condition detector generating a representation of the serial data stream amplitude at a signal condition detector output in response to a phase-adjusted signal from a phase interpolator operating at a second rate that is slower than the first rate and in response to a comparison of the serial data stream and the reference signals, the analog front end further including a down converter arranged to receive the representation of the serial data stream from the signal condition detector output; and a digital state machine having a strobe output coupled to a control input of the down converter and arranged to receive the representation of the serial data stream from the down converter, the digital state machine including logic and a data store, the digital state machine operating at a third rate that is slower than the second rate.