In a high-speed serial link, an eye finder diagnostic circuit has improved
performance by being on-chip with the existing capture latch(es) of a
receive equalizer. The eye finder circuit employs an additional capture
latch with its input tied to the same input node as the existing capture
latch(es) of a receive equalizer. The additional capture latch has a
clock input and reference voltage input. The clock input is adjusted
through a phase interpolator (or variable delay line) while the reference
voltage input is adjusted by a voltage generator. A digital post
processing circuit then compares the output of the additional capture
latch with the output of the other existing capture latch(es), in order
to determine the receive eye opening. The horizontal eye opening is
measured by changing the phase of the additional capture latch through
the phase interpolator, while the vertical eye opening is measured by
changing the reference voltage of the voltage generator of the additional
capture latch. The eye finder circuit, being on-chip and in-line with
existing capture latch(es), employs a minimum of power, minimum of area,
and minimizes the extra loading to the existing equalizer output.