Peter Feldmann IBM T.J. Watson Research Center

Communication System Performance Analysis by Efficient Computations with Markov Chains

In high-speed data networks, the bit-error-rate specification on the system can be very stringent, i.e., 1014. It is not feasible to predict such small error rates with straightforward, simulation based, approaches. This work introduces a stochastic model and an efficient, analysis-based, performance evaluation method of digital data communication circuits. The analyzed circuit is modeled as finite state machines with inputs described as functions on a Markov chain state-space. System performance measures, such as probability of bit errors and rate of synchronization loss, can be evaluated through the analysis of a larger resulting Markov system. A dedicated multi-grid method is used to solve the very large associated linear systems and novel graph based, data structures are used to store and manipulate effectively, transition probability matrices for several million state Markov chains The method is illustrated on a real industrial clock recovery circuit design.

Bio
Peter Feldmann was born in Timisoara, Romania. He received the B.Sc. degree, summa cum laude, in computer engineering, in 1983 and the M.Sc. degree in electrical engineering in 1987, both from the Technion, Israel, and the Ph.D. degree in 1991 from Carnegie Mellon. He began his engineering career in Zoran Microelectronics in Haifa, Israel, designing digital signal processors. After the doctorate, he was Member of Technical Staff at Bell Labs in Murray Hill, NJ in the Design Principles Research Department for almost 10 years. Subsequently he spent two years as Vice President of VLSI and Integrated Electro-optics at Celight, a fiber-optic communications start-up. Currently he is a Research Staff Member at the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center. Peter Feldmann authored over 50 papers and over 10 patents. He is a fellow of the IEEE. His research interests include analysis, design, and optimization methods for electronic circuits and communication systems.