11. Transceiver Link Debugging Using the System Console

Transcription

1 November 2011 QII Transceiver Link Debugging Using te System Console QII Tis capter describes ow to use te Transceiver Toolkit in te Quartus II sotware. Te Transceiver Toolkit in te Quartus II sotware allows you to quickly test te unctionality o transceiver cannels and elps you improve te signal integrity o transceiver links in your design. 1 You can use an example design available on te Altera website i you want to immediately start using te Transceiver Toolkit, or you can create a custom design. In today's ig-speed interaces, stringent bit error rate (BER) requirements are not easy to meet and debug. You can use te Transceiver Toolkit in te Quartus II sotware to ceck and improve te signal integrity o transceiver links on your board beore you complete te inal design, saving you time and elping you ind te best pysical medium attacment (PMA) settings or your ig-speed interaces. Tis capter contains te ollowing sections: Transceiver Toolkit Overview Transceiver Link Debugging Design Examples on page 11 3 Setting Up Tests or Link Debugging on page 11 3 Using Tcl in System Console on page Usage Scenarios on page Quick Guide to Using te Transceiver Toolkit in te Quartus II Sotware on page Transceiver Toolkit Overview Te underlying ramework or te Transceiver Toolkit is te System Console. Te System Console perorms low-level ardware debugging o your design. Te System Console provides read and write access to te IP cores instantiated in your design. Use te System Console or te initial bring-up o your PCB and low-level testing. For inormation about te System Console, reer to te Analyzing and Debugging Designs wit te System Console capter in volume 3 o te Quartus II Handbook. For more inormation about getting training to use te System Console, reer to te Altera Training page o te Altera website. Te Transceiver Toolkit allows you to perorm run-time tasks, including perorming ig-speed link tests or te transceivers in your devices. Te Transceiver Toolkit allows you to test your ig-speed interaces in real-time. To launc te Transceiver Toolkit, in te main Quartus II window, on te Tools menu, click Transceiver Toolkit Altera Corporation. All rigts reserved. ALTERA, ARRIA, CYCLONE, HARDCOPY, MAX, MEGACORE, NIOS, QUARTUS and STRATIX words and logos are trademarks o Altera Corporation and registered in te U.S. Patent and Trademark Oice and in oter countries. All oter words and logos identiied as trademarks or service marks are te property o teir respective olders as described at Altera warrants perormance o its semiconductor products to current speciications in accordance wit Altera's standard warranty, but reserves te rigt to make canges to any products and services at any time witout notice. Altera assumes no responsibility or liability arising out o te application or use o any inormation, product, or service described erein except as expressly agreed to in writing by Altera. Altera customers are advised to obtain te latest version o device speciications beore relying on any publised inormation and beore placing orders or products or services. ISO 9001:2008 Registered Quartus II Handbook Version 11.1 November 2011 Twitter Feedback Subscribe

2 11 2 Capter 11: Transceiver Link Debugging Using te System Console Transceiver Toolkit Overview Transceiver Toolkit User Interace Te Transceiver Toolkit as an intuitive GUI tat you open rom te Tools menu o te Quartus II sotware. It is designed to be run rom witin te System Console ramework. Te interace is a window tat consists o our panes. A let navigation System Explorer sows you connection inormation or te system you are testing, including designs, design instances, and scripts. Once you load a project in te System Console, all te design inormation is populated under te System Explorer. Te Messages pane sows error messages and warnings or any actions you perorm in oter panes. You can enter Tcl commands troug te Tcl Console pane. Most o te actions you can perorm in te GUI can also be perormed wit Tcl commands. Most Tcl commands are listed in tis capter. Te Transceiver Toolkit Cannel Manager GUI consists o tree tabs, including te Transmitter Cannels tab, te Receiver Cannels tab, and te Transceiver Links tab. Tese tabs ave various control buttons, wic you click to open te Auto Sweep Control panel and te EyeQ panel. From tese tree tabs you cxan also open Control Cannel and Control Link panels, wic allow you to view and modiy transceiver and test settings. You can open Link Control Cannel For more inormation, reer to About te Transceiver Toolkit in Quartus II Help. Transceiver Auto Sweep You can sweep ranges or your transceiver PMA settings and run tests automatically wit te auto sweep eature. You can store a istory o te test runs and keep a record o te best PMA settings. You can ten use tese settings in your inal design. For more inormation, reer to te Transceiver Auto Sweep Panel in Quartus II Help. Transceiver EyeQ You can determine signal integrity wit te EyeQ eature. Te EyeQ eature in te Transceiver Toolkit allows you to create a battub curve or eye diagram (Stratix V) to ave a metric oter tan BER to measure siognal quality. Ater you run te EyeQ eature you can view te data in te Report pane o te Transceiver Toolkit and export te data in Comma-Separated Value (.csv) ormat or urter analysis. For more inormation about te EyeQ eature, reer to Working wit te Transceiver Toolkit in Quartus II Help. For more inormation, reer to AN 605: Using te On-Cip Signal Quality Monitoring Circuitry (EyeQ) Feature in Stratix IV Transceivers. Control Links You can test te transmitter and receiver cannel links in your design in manual mode wit te cannel control eatures. Te cannel control panels allow you to view and manually modiy settings or transmitter and receiver cannels wile te cannels are running. Quartus II Handbook Version 11.1 November 2011 Altera Corporation

3 Capter 11: Transceiver Link Debugging Using te System Console 11 3 Transceiver Link Debugging Design Examples For more inormation about te Transceiver Toolkit, reer to Working wit te Transceiver Toolkit in Quartus II Help. Transceiver Link Debugging Design Examples Altera provides design examples to assist you wit setting up and using te Transceiver Toolkit. To learn more about te version o te Quartus II sotware used to create tese design examples, te target device, and development board details, reer to te readme.txt o eac example. Eac example is veriied and tested wit te Quartus II sotware version reerenced in te readme.txt. However, you may be able to use tese examples wit a later version o te Quartus II sotware. I you are recompiling te design examples or a dierent board, reer to Canging Pin Assignments on page 11 8 to determine wic pin assignments you must edit. Download te Transceiver Toolkit design examples rom te On-Cip Debugging Design Examples page o te Altera website. For a quick guide to using design examples wit te Transceiver Toolkit, reer to Working wit Design Examples on page Setting Up Tests or Link Debugging Testing signal integrity or ig-speed transceiver links involves using data patterns, suc as pseudo-random binary sequences (PRBS). Altoug te sequences appear to be random, tey ave speciic properties tat you can use to measure te quality o a link. In te example designs available on te Altera website, data patterns are generated by a pattern generator and are ten transmitted by te transmitter. Te transceiver on te ar end can ten be looped back so tat te same data is ten received by te receiver portion o te transceiver. Te data obtained is ten cecked by a data cecker to veriy any bit errors. November 2011 Altera Corporation Quartus II Handbook Version 11.1

4 11 4 Capter 11: Transceiver Link Debugging Using te System Console Transceiver Link Debugging Design Examples Figure 11 1 and Figure 11 2 sow examples o te test setup or te transceiver link debugging tool. Te igures sow a setup tat is similar to te design examples tat you can download rom te On-Cip Debugging Design Example page o te Altera website. You can also ave te transmitter on one FPGA and te receiver on a dierent FPGA. Figure Transceiver Link Debugging Tool Test Setup Top-Level Design (FPGA) Avalon-ST Data Pattern Generator Custom PHY Custom IP Core PHY IP Core or Low Latency PHY IP Core Loopback on board System Console (in SOPC Builder) Host Computer JTAG-to-Avalon Master Bridge Avalon-ST Data Pattern Cecker Figure 11 2 sows a similar test setup or te second design example described in tis section, except tat tere are our sets o transceivers and receivers rater tan one. Figure Transceiver Link Debugging Tool Test Setup (Four Cannels) Top-Level Design (FPGA) System Console (in SOPC Builder) Host Computer JTAG to Avalon Master Bridge Avalon-ST Data Pattern Generator Avalon-ST Data Pattern Cecker Avalon-ST Data Pattern Generator Custom PHY IP Core or Low Latency PHY IP Core Loopback on board Loopback on board Avalon-ST Data Pattern Cecker Avalon-ST Data Pattern Generator Loopback on board Avalon-ST Data Pattern Cecker Avalon-ST Data Pattern Generator Loopback on board Avalon-ST Data Pattern Cecker Te design examples use te Qsys system integration tool and contain te ollowing components: Quartus II Handbook Version 11.1 November 2011 Altera Corporation

5 Capter 11: Transceiver Link Debugging Using te System Console 11 5 Transceiver Link Debugging Design Examples Custom PHY IP Core or Low Latency PHY IP Core Avalon-ST Data Pattern Generator Avalon-ST Data Pattern Cecker JTAG-to-Avalon Master Bridge For a quick guide to set up tests or link debugging wit te Transceiver Toolkit, reer to Working wit Design Examples on page Custom PHY IP Core You can use te Custom PHY IP core to test all possible parallel data widts o te transceivers in tese design examples. You can conigure te Custom PHY IP core as 8, 10, 16, 20, 32 or 40-bit. Te sweep tools disable word alignment during sweep, wic is enabled to simpliy timing closure. You can also use te Data Format Adapter IP component as required. You can ave one or multiple cannels in your design. You use Qsys to deine and generate te Custom PHY IP core. Te Custom PHY IP core in te design examples tat you can download rom te On-Cip Debugging Design Example page o te Altera website are generated or Stratix IV and Stratix Vdevices. To use te Custom PHY IP core wit te Transceiver Toolkit, perorm te ollowing steps: 1. Set te ollowing parameters to meet your project requirements: Number o lanes Bonded group size Serialization actor Data rate Input clock requency 2. Turn on Avalon data interaces. 3. Disable 8B/10B 4. Set Word alignment mode to manual 5. Disable rate matc FIFO 6. Disable byte ordering block For more inormation about te protocol settings used in te Custom PHY IP core, reer to te Custom PHY IP User Core section o te Altera Transceiver PHY IP Core User Guide. Transceiver Reconiguration Controller Tis IP is necessary to control PMA settings and modiy oter transceiver settings in Stratix V devices. It must be connected to all PHY IP (custom or low_latency) to be controlled by te Transceiver Toolkit. Te reconig_rom_xcvr and reconig_to_xcvr ports sould be connected togeter. November 2011 Altera Corporation Quartus II Handbook Version 11.1

6 11 6 Capter 11: Transceiver Link Debugging Using te System Console Transceiver Link Debugging Design Examples For urter inormmation, reer to te Altera Transceiver PHY IP Core User Guide. Tese settings must be turned on: Enable Analog controls Enable EyeQ block Enable AEQ block Low Latency PHY IP Core Use Low Latency PHY IP Core as ollows: To get more tan 8.5 gbps in GT devices. To use PMA direct mode, suc as wen using six cannels in one quad. To meet your project requirements, use te same set o parameters tat you would use wit te Custom PHY IP core. Te pase compensation FIFO mode must be set to embedded above certain data rates. Te Transceiver Toolkit provides a warning wen you exceed te data rate. To be in PMA direct mode, you must set te pase compensation FIFO mode to none, wic supports a smaller range o data rates. Te Low Latency PHY must ave te loopback setting set to serial loopback mode. Oterwise, te serial loopback controls witin te tool do not unction. For more inormation about te protocol settings used in te Low Latency PHY IP core, reer to te Low Latency PHY IP User Core section o te Altera Transceiver PHY IP Core User Guide. Avalon-ST Data Pattern Generator Te generator produces standard data patterns tat you can use or testing. Te patterns supported include prbs7, prbs15, prbs23, prbs31, ig requency, and low requency. Tis component produces data patterns in te test low. You can use a variety o popular patterns to test transceiver signal integrity (SI). Te data pattern generator component is provided as an Altera IP core component. You can use any pattern, but you must ave a cecker to veriy tat you receive tat pattern properly. Wen you use te Avalon -ST Data Pattern Generator, te widt may be dierent tan te widt te Custom PHY IP core or Low Latency PHY IP core is conigured wit, so you may need to use a data ormat adaptor. Te Avalon-ST Data Pattern Generator component is available in te Qsys component library tree. Te Avalon-ST Data Pattern Cecker is available under Debug and Perormance in te Qsys component library tree. Te adaptor can be automatically inserted and properly conigured by Qsys wit te Insert Avalon-ST Adapters command. Te Avalon-ST Data Pattern Generator generates industry-standard data patterns. Data patterns are generated on a 32-bit or 40-bit wide Avalon streaming source port. For more inormation about bot SOPC Builder and Qsys interconnect abric, reer to te System Interconnect Fabric or Streaming Interaces capter in te SOPC Builder User Guide. Quartus II Handbook Version 11.1 November 2011 Altera Corporation

7 Capter 11: Transceiver Link Debugging Using te System Console 11 7 Transceiver Link Debugging Design Examples Figure 11 3 sows te wizard page tat you use to set parameters or te Avalon-ST Data Format Adapter. Figure Avalon-ST Data Format Adapter Data Cecker Te Avalon-ST Data Pattern Cecker is provided as a Qsys component. It cecks te incoming data stream against standard test patterns, wic include PRBS7, PRBS15, PRBS23, PRBS31, Hig Frequency, and Low Frequency. It is used in conjunction wit te Avalon-ST Data Pattern Generator to test transceiver links. Te Avalon-ST Data Pattern Cecker is available under Debug and Perormance in te Qsys component library tree. Te cecker is te core logic or data pattern cecking. Data patterns are accepted on 32-bit or 40-bit wide Avalon streaming sink ports. For more inormation, reer to Avalon Streaming Data Pattern Generator and Cecker Cores capter in te Embedded Periperals User Guide. Use te design examples as a starting point to work wit a particular signal integrity development board. You can also modiy and customize te design examples to matc your intended transceiver design. Wen you use te Transceiver Toolkit, you can ceck your transceiver link signal integrity witout te completed inal design. November 2011 Altera Corporation Quartus II Handbook Version 11.1

8 11 8 Capter 11: Transceiver Link Debugging Using te System Console Transceiver Link Debugging Design Examples Use te design examples to quickly test te unctionality o te receiver and transmitter cannels in your design witout creating any custom designs wit data generators and ceckers. You can quickly cange te transceiver settings in te design examples to see ow tey aect transceiver link perormance. You can also use te Transceiver Toolkit to isolate and veriy te transceiver links witout aving to debug oter logic in your design. Compiling Design Examples Once you ave downloaded te design examples, open te Quartus II sotware version 10.0 or later and unarcive te project in te example. I you ave access to te same development board wit te same device as mentioned in te readme.txt ile o te example, you can directly program your device wit te provided programming ile in tat example. I you want to recompile te design, you must make your modiications to te coniguration in Qsys, re-generate in Qsys, and recompile te design in te Quartus II sotware to get a new programming ile. I you ave te same board as mentioned in readme.txt ile, but a dierent device on your board, you must coose te appropriate device and recompile te design. For example, some early development boards are sipped wit engineering sample devices. I you ave a dierent board, you must edit te necessary pin assignments and recompile te design examples. Canging Pin Assignments You can edit pin assignments or various development kits. Te ollowing paragraps are examples o pin assignments or Stratix IV GX development kits. For urter inormation about oter development kits, read te readme.txt ile wic comes wit te design examples. For more inormation on te pinouts reer to teir respective user guide ound on te All Development Kits page o te Altera website. Table 11 1 sows te pin-assignment edits or te Stratix IV Transceiver Signal Integrity Development Kit (DK-SI-4SGX230N). You must make tese assignments beore you recompile your design. Table Stratix IV GX Top-Level Pin Assignments (DK-SI-4SGX230N) Top-Level Signal Name I/O Standard REFCLK_GXB2_156M25 (input) 2.5 V LVTTL/LVCMOS PIN_G38 S4GX_50M_CLK4P (input) 2.5 V LVTTL/LVCMOS PIN_AR22 GXB1_RX1 (input) 1.4-V PCML PIN_R38 GXB1_TX1 (output) 1.4-V PCML PIN_P36 Pin Number on DK-SI-4SGX230N Board Quartus II Handbook Version 11.1 November 2011 Altera Corporation

9 Capter 11: Transceiver Link Debugging Using te System Console 11 9 Transceiver Toolkit Link Test Setup Table 11 2 sows te pin-assignment edits or te Stratix IV GX development kit (DK-DEV-4SGX230N). You must make tese assignments beore you recompile your design. Table Stratix IV GX Top-Level Pin Assignments (DK-DEV-4SGX230N) Top-Level Signal Name I/O Standard REFCLK_GXB2_156M25 (input) LVDS PIN_AA2 S4GX_50M_CLK4P (input) 2.5 V LVTTL/LVCMOS PIN_AC34 GXB1_RX1 (input) 1.4-V PCML PIN_AU2 GXB1_TX1 (output) 1.4-V PCML PIN_AT4 Pin Number on DK-DEV-4SGX230N Board Similarly, you can cange te pin assignment or your own board and recompile te design examples. Transceiver Toolkit Link Test Setup To set up testing wit te Transceiver Toolkit, perorm te ollowing steps: 1. Ensure te device board is turned on and is available beore you start te System Console or te Transceiver Toolkit. Te connections are detected at startup o te tool. 2. Program te device eiter wit te programming ile provided wit te.zip ile or wit te new programming ile ater you recompile your project. 3. Open te Transceiver Toolkit rom te Tools menu in te Quartus II sotware. 4. Make sure te device is correctly programmed wit te programming ile in step 1 and tat board settings, suc as te jumper settings, are correct. Loading te Project in System Console From te Transceiver Toolkit, load te Quartus project ile (*.qp) by going to te File menu and selecting Load Project. Weter you ave recompiled te design or not, te unzipped contents o te examples contain tis ile. Ater te project is loaded, you can review te design inormation under System Explorer in te System Console. Linking te Hardware Resource Expand te devices tree in te System Explorer pane and ind te device you are using. Rigt click on a design and coose a device to link to. Tis is only necessary i you do not use te usercode or automatic linking. I you are using more tan one Altera board, you can set up a test wit multiple devices linked to te same design. Tis is useul wen you want to perorm a link test between a transmitter and receiver on two separate devices. November 2011 Altera Corporation Quartus II Handbook Version 11.1

10 11 10 Capter 11: Transceiver Link Debugging Using te System Console Transceiver Toolkit Link Test Setup 1 For Transceiver Toolkit version 11.1 and later, to automatically instantiate and link designs ater tey ave been loaded in to te System Console, click Assignments on te main menu o te Quartus II sotware, click Device on te Device and Pin Options dialog box, and ten turn on Auto usercode. Wen te project is loaded any devices programmed wit tis project will automatically be linked. Prior to Transceiver Toolkit version 11.1, you you must manually load your design as described in te previous paragraps. To set up te transmitter cannels, receiver cannels, and transceiver links, go to te Tools menu and select Transceiver Toolkit, or rom te Welcome to te Transceiver Toolkit tab, click on te Transceiver Toolkit to open te main Transceiver Toolkit window. You can ten create te cannels, as described in te ollowing section. Creating te Cannels Ater you open te Transceiver Toolkit, tere are tree tabs in te System Console, including Transmitter Cannels, Receiver Cannels, and Transceiver Links tabs. Te Transmitter Cannel and Receiver Cannel tabs are automatically populated wit te existing transmitter and receiver cannels in te design, respectively. However, you can create your own additional transmitter and receiver cannels in a situation were te expected coniguration was not automatically populated. Te situation may occur i in te Link Cannel tab you create a link between a transmitter and receiver cannel. Links deine connectivity between a particular transmitter cannel and a receiver. Te link orms te main logical unit tat you test wit te Transceiver Toolkit. Links are automatically created wen a receiver cannel and transmitter cannel sare a transceiver cannel. However, i you are not actually looping data back, but using it to transmit or receive to anoter transceiver cannel, you must deine and create a new link. For example, in Figure 11 4, a link is created in te Link Cannel tab between a transmitter and receiver cannels o te same device. Figure Creating a Link Cannel in Transceiver Toolkit Quartus II Handbook Version 11.1 November 2011 Altera Corporation

11 Capter 11: Transceiver Link Debugging Using te System Console Transceiver Toolkit Link Test Setup You can also perorm a pysical link test witout loopback by connecting one device transmitter cannel to anoter device receiver cannel. In tis cannel you would deine tat connection into a link, and tests would run o tat link. For example, as sown in Figure 11 2, use te transmitter and receiver cannels o te same device and loop tem back on te ar side o te board trace to ceck te signal integrity o your ig-speed interace on te board trace. You can select te link tat you created in te Transceiver Toolkit and use te dierent buttons to start and control link tests. 1 You can also communicate wit oter devices tat ave te capability to generate and veriy test patterns tat Altera supports. Running te Link Tests Use te Link Cannel tab options to control ow you want to test te link. For example, use te Auto Sweep eature to sweep various transceiver settings parameters troug a range o values to ind te results tat give te best BER value. You can also open Transmitter, Receiver and Link Control panels to manually control te PMA settings and run individual tests. You can cange te various controls in te panels to suit your requirements. To perorm an auto sweep link test, perorm te ollowing steps: 1. Select te link to test and click Auto Sweep to open te auto sweep panel or te selected link. 2. Set te test pattern to test. 3. Select eiter Smart Auto Sweep or Full Auto Sweep. Full Auto Sweep runs a test o every combination o settings tat alls witin te bounds tat you set. 1 Smart Auto Sweep minimizes te number o tests run to reac a good setting, wic saves you time. Smart Auto Sweep does not test every possible setting, so may not acieve te very best setting possible; owever, it can quickly ind an acceptable setting. 4. Set up run lengts or eac test iteration. Te run lengt limits you set are ignored wen you run a smart sweep. 5. Set up te PMA sweep limits witin te range you want to test. 6. Press Start and let te sweep run until complete. Ater an Auto Sweep test as inised at least one iteration, you can create a report by clicking Create Reports, wic opens te Reports tab. Te report sows data rom all tests tat you ave completed. You can sort by columns and ilter data by regular expression in te Reports tab. You can also export te reports to a.csv ile by rigt clicking on a report. I you ound a setting wit te Smart Sweep mode, use te reported best case PMA settings, and apply a +/- 1 setting to tem, returning te test to Full Auto Sweep mode. Tis elps you determine i te settings you cose are te best. You can ten coose your own runtime conditions, reset te Auto Sweep eature by pressing Reset, and re-running te tests to generate BER data based on your own run lengt conditions. Tis procedure allows you to obtain a good setting or PMA aster. Review te BER column at te end o te ull sweep to determine te best case. November 2011 Altera Corporation Quartus II Handbook Version 11.1

12 11 12 Capter 11: Transceiver Link Debugging Using te System Console Transceiver Toolkit Link Test Setup 1 Wen setting smart sweep ranges, try to include te 0 setting as oten as possible, as tat setting oten provides te best results. Viewing Results in te EyeQ Feature Advanced FPGA devices suc as Stratix IV ave built-in EyeQ circuitry, wic is used wit te EyeQ eature in Transceiver Toolkit. Te EyeQ eature allows you to estimate te orizontal eye opening at te receiver o te transceiver. Wit tis eature, you can tune te PMA settings o your transceiver, wic results in te best eye and BER at ig data rates. Stratix V EyeQ circuitry adds te ability to see te vertical eye opening in addition to te orizontal eye opening at te receiver o te transceiver. Wit tis view o te eye, you ave a better idea o wat is going on as you tune te PMA settings. For more inormation about te EyeQ eature, reer to AN 605: Using te On-Cip Signal Quality Monitoring Circuitry (EyeQ) Feature in Stratix IV Transceivers. To use te EyeQ eature in te Transceiver Toolkit to view te results o te link tests, perorm te ollowing steps: 1. Select a Transceiver Link or Receiver Cannel in te main Transceiver Toolkit panel tat you want to run EyeQ against. 2. Click Control Link or Control Cannel to open control panels. Use tese control panels to set te PMA settings and test pattern tat you want te EyeQ eature to run against. You can ceck te report panel or Best Case column rom an Auto Sweep run or te settings wit te best BER value and enter tose PMA values troug te Transmitter and Receiver control panels. 3. Click EyeQ to open te EyeQ eature. 4. Review te test stop conditions and set tem to your preerence. 5. Coose a mode to run EyeQ. Eye Contour sows a BER contour grap o te eye. You can select a speciic target bit error rate tat te Transceiver Toolkit uses asa means to try to ind te boundary. You can also select All, wic allows te range o BER targets to be simultaneously ound and sown. Battub only inds te orizontal widt o te eye. You can coose options or a particular vertical step to sweep. You can also set te Transceiver Toolkit to sweep all vertical steps and get an overlay o multiple slices troug te eye. Wen at least one run as completed, you can click Create Report to view details o completed iterations o te sweep in a report panel. 6. Coose a orizontal and vertical interval, wic allows you to skip steps to get a aster toug rouger view o te eye. I time is critical tis can elp speed up te eye generation process, but results in less resolution as to te actual point o BER crossover. Quartus II Handbook Version 11.1 November 2011 Altera Corporation

13 Capter 11: Transceiver Link Debugging Using te System Console Using Tcl in System Console 7. Click Run. Te EyeQ Feature gaters te current settings o te cannel and uses tose settings to start a sweep to create te eye. As te run is active you can view te status troug te progress bar. Depending on te mode you cose, you will see a battub curve or eye contour. Te widt and eigt (i applicable) o te eye is displayed once te run is completed. I te eye is un-centered or alls o te edge and wraps around te oter side, click Center Eye to center te data or easier viewing. 8. You can cange run options suc as BER target, vertical pase step, or intervals, and run again to collect more data. Switcing between tese options can sow previously run data so you can easily compare. I you click Create Report, all data collected so ar is sown in table ormat. I you cange PMA settings, you must click Reset to clear all data and take in te new PMA settings to be used or testing. You can also click Reset to clear te data and collect a new set o data due to canging conditions or circumstances. I you want to cange PMA settings and re-run te EyeQ eature, make sure you irst stop and reset te EyeQ eature. I you do not reset, te EyeQ eature continues testing based on te original PMA settings o te current test and overwrites any setting you may ave canged troug te control panel. Ater you stop and reset te EyeQ eature, cange settings in te link or receiver cannel control panel. Ten click Start on te EyeQ eature to start a new set o tests. Wen you can see tat you are running good PMA settings, te battub curve is wide, wit sarp slopes near te edges. Te curve may be up to 30 units wide. I te battub is narrow, maybe as small as two units wide, ten te signal quality may be poor. Te wider te battub curve, te wider te eye you ave. Conversely, te smaller te battub curve, te smaller te eye. For more inormation about ow to use te EyeQ eature, including te dierences between Stratix IV and Stratix V devices, reer to Working wit te Transceiver Toolkit in Quartus II Help. Using Tcl in System Console System Console is te ramework in te Quartus II sotware tat supports te Transceiver Toolkit. System Console provides a number o Tcl commands tat you can use to build a custom test routine script to test te transceiver link using te data generator and cecker. System Console allows you to tune PMA parameter, suc as tose or canging DC gain. To get elp on te Tcl commands available, type elp in te Tcl console in System Console. To run a transceiver link test low, perorm te ollowing.you can perorm all te tasks wit Tcl commands in System Console. 1. Load te Quartus II project. 2. Find and link te design and service pat. 3. Find and open links to transmitter cannels and receiver cannels. 4. Set up PRBS patterns to run on te link. 5. Set up PMA settings on transmitter and receiver cannels. 6. Use PIO logic to generate a rising edge to enable te word aligner. November 2011 Altera Corporation Quartus II Handbook Version 11.1

14 11 14 Capter 11: Transceiver Link Debugging Using te System Console Usage Scenarios 7. Start te link test. 8. Poll te receiver or BER data. 9. Wen te test is inised, stop te link test. 10. Close te link. For more inormation about Tcl commands, reer to te Analyzing and Debugging Designs wit te System Console capter in volume 3 o te Quartus II Handbook. Wen you read te Tcl scripts provided wit te design examples, tey elp you understand ow te Tcl commands are used. Running Tcl Scripts Usage Scenarios Te tasks tat you perorm wit te Transceiver Toolkit GUI or setting up your test environment you can also save as Tcl scripts. For example, you can save te steps you perorm or loading your project in te Transceiver Toolkit by clicking Create Tcl setup script on te File menu. You can save your steps at various stages, suc as wen you add projects, create design instances, link designs to devices, and create transceiver links. You can run tese scripts to reac te initial setup you created to get your speciic coniguration ready or debugging. All te saved scripts are sown under te Scripts in te System Explorer.You can execute a script by rigt-clicking on Scripts under te System Explorer in te Transceiver Toolkit, and ten clicking Run, or you can double-click on te script. You can also execute scripts rom te System Console command line. You can use te Transceiver Toolkit i you are debugging one device on one board or more tan one device on a single or multiple boards. Usually or a device you ave a single Quartus II design or project, but you can ave one design targeted or two or more similar devices on te same or dierent boards. Possible scenarios or ow you can use te Transceiver Toolkit in tose situations ollow. Te scenarios assume tat you ave programmed te device you are testing wit te relevant.so. Linking One Design to One Device Connected By One USB Blaster Cable on page Linking Two Designs to Two Separate Devices on Same Board (JTAG Cained), Connected By One USB Blaster Cable on page Linking Two Designs to Two Separate Devices on Separate Boards, Connected to Separate USB Blaster Cables on page Linking Same Design on Two Separate Devices on page Linking Unrelated Designs on page Saving Your Setup As a Tcl Script on page Veriying Cannels Are Correct Wen Creating Link on page Using te Recommended DFE Flow on page Quartus II Handbook Version 11.1 November 2011 Altera Corporation

15 Capter 11: Transceiver Link Debugging Using te System Console Usage Scenarios Running Simultaneous Tests on page Enabling Internal Serial Loopback on page For urter inormation on ow to use te Transceiver Toolkit GUI to perorm te ollowing scenarios, reer to Working wit te Transceiver Toolkit in Quartus II Help. Linking One Design to One Device Connected By One USB Blaster Cable Te ollowing describes ow to link one design to one device by one USB Blaster cable. 1. Load te design or all te Quartus II project iles you migt need. 2. Link eac device to an appropriate design (Quartus II project) i it as not auto-linked. 3. Create te link between cannels on te device to test. Linking Two Designs to Two Separate Devices on Same Board (JTAG Cained), Connected By One USB Blaster Cable Te ollowing describes ow to link two designs to two separate devices on te same board, connected by one USB Blaster cable. 1. Load te design or all te Quartus II project iles you migt need. 2. Link eac device to an appropriate design (Quartus II project) i it as not auto-linked. 3. Open te project or te second device. 4. Link te second device on te JTAG cain to te second design (unless it auto-links). 5. Create a link between te cannels on te devices you want to test. Linking Two Designs to Two Separate Devices on Separate Boards, Connected to Separate USB Blaster Cables Te ollowing describes ow to link two designs to two separate devices on separate boards, connected to separate USB Blaster cables. 1. Load te design or all te Quartus II project iles you migt need. 2. Link eac device to an appropriate design (Quartus II project) i it as not auto-linked. 3. Create te link between cannels on te device to test. 4. Link te device you connected to te second USB Blaster cable to te second design. 5. Create a link between te cannels on te devices you want to test. Linking Same Design on Two Separate Devices Te ollowing describes ow to link te same design on two separate devices. November 2011 Altera Corporation Quartus II Handbook Version 11.1

16 11 16 Capter 11: Transceiver Link Debugging Using te System Console Usage Scenarios 1. In te Transceiver Toolkit, open te Quartus II project ile (.qp) you are using on bot devices. 2. Link te irst device to tis design instance. Follow te same linking metod tat you used on previous steps. 3. Link te second device to te design. Follow te same linking metod tat you used on previous steps. 4. Create a link between te cannels on te devices you want to test. Linking Unrelated Designs Use a combination o te above steps to load multiple Quartus II projects and make links between dierent systems. You can perorm tests on completely separate systems tat are not related to one anoter. All tests run troug te same tool instance. 1 Do not attempt to start multiple instances o te Transceiver Toolkit. You can only control multiple devices and run multiple tests simultaneously troug te same instance o te Transceiver Toolkit. Saving Your Setup As a Tcl Script Ater you open projects and deine links or te system so tat te entire pysical system is correctly described, use te command Save Tcl Script to create a setup script. Close and reopen te Transceiver Toolkit. Open te scripts older in System Explorer and double-click te script to reload te system. You can also rigt-click and coose Run Script, or use te menu command Load Script to run te appropriate script. Veriying Cannels Are Correct Wen Creating Link Ater you load your design and link your ardware, you sould veriy tat te cannels you ave created are correct and looped back properly on te ardware. You sould be able to send te data patterns and receive tem correctly. Perorm te ollowing steps beore you perorm Auto Sweep or EyeQ tests to veriy your link and correct cannel, wic may save time in te work low. 1. Assuming tat you ave completed te system setup, coose te transmitter cannel, and click Control Transmitter Cannel. 2. Set te test pattern to prbs Start te pattern generator, press Start. 4. Navigate to te control panel, coose te receiver cannel, and click Control Receiver Cannel. 5. Set te test pattern to prbs Press Start. Quartus II Handbook Version 11.1 November 2011 Altera Corporation

17 Capter 11: Transceiver Link Debugging Using te System Console Usage Scenarios 7. Veriy cannels tat te cannels are correct, based on te ollowing conditions: a. I te Run status is good (green), te receiver is receiving data. To veriy tat te data is coming rom te expected transmitter, you can navigate to te transmitter and do eiter o te ollowing: Click Stop on te transmitter and see i Data Locked on te receiver turns o. I te receiver sows 0 error bits, click Inject Error on te transmitter and see i tat error sows up on te receiver. b. I te Run status is bad (yellow wit lasing exclamation point), do eiter o te ollowing: Te data quality is too poor to lock. You can manually adjust te PMA settings to see i you can get a lock. I not, use te Auto Sweep tool i you are certain te cannel is correct. Te receiver and transmitter are not connected togeter. You eiter picked te wrong pair, or you ave not made te pysical connection between te pair. Ater you ave veriied tat te transmitter and receiver are talking to eac oter, create a link in te link tab wit tese two transceivers so tat you can perorm Auto Sweep and EyeQ tests wit tis pair. Using te Recommended DFE Flow To use te DFE low recommended by Altera, perorm te ollowing steps: 1. Use te Auto Sweep low to ind optimal PMA settings wile leaving te DFE setting OFF. 2. Take te best PMA setting acieved, i BER = 0. Ten you do not ave to do anyting i you use tis setting. 3. I BER > 0, ten use tis PMA setting and set minimum and maximum values in te Auto Sweep tool to matc tis setting. Set te DFE MAX range to limits or eac o te tree DFE settings. 4. Run te Auto Sweep tool to determine wic DFE setting results in te best BER. Use tese settings in conjunction wit te PMA settings or te best results. Running Simultaneous Tests To run link tests simultaneously in one instance o te Transceiver Toolkit, perorm te ollowing steps: 1. Set up your system correctly wit one o te previous set-up scenarios. 2. In te control panel or te link you work on, run eiter te Auto Sweep or EyeQ tool. 3. Ater you start te test, return to te Transceiver Toolkit control panel. 4. Select te control panel tab. 5. Open te Tools menu and click Transceiver Toolkit, wic returns you to te control panel. November 2011 Altera Corporation Quartus II Handbook Version 11.1

18 11 18 Capter 11: Transceiver Link Debugging Using te System Console Quick Guide to Using te Transceiver Toolkit in te Quartus II Sotware 6. Repeat step 2 until all tests are run. 7. Te control panel sows wic links and cannel resources are in use to elp identiy wic cannels already ave tests started and teir current run status. Enabling Internal Serial Loopback You can use te Transceiver Toolkit GUI control or serial loopback. In te Transceiver Toolkit version 11.1 and later to enable te serial loopback, ceck te box Serial Loopback. To enable te serial loopback in Tcl, use te System Console commands. For more inormation, reer to Working wit te Transceiver Toolkit in Quartus II Help. Quick Guide to Using te Transceiver Toolkit in te Quartus II Sotware Tis section provides a quick guide or using te Transceiver Toolkit, and includes te ollowing: Preparing to Use te Transceiver Toolkit on page Working wit Design Examples on page Modiying Design Examples on page Setting a Link in te Transceiver Toolkit or Hig-Speed Link Tests on page Running Auto Sweep Tests on page Running EyeQ Tests on page Running Manual Tests on page Using a Typical Flow on page Following te Online Demonstration on page For more inormation about ow to use te Transceiver Toolkit, reer to te Altera Training page o te Altera website. Preparing to Use te Transceiver Toolkit Following is a list o recommended prerequisites to get you prepared or using te Transceiver Toolkit: You sould know ow to use te Quartus II sotware. For urter inormation on ow to use te Quartus sotware, reer to te Introduction to Quartus II Sotware. Become amiliar wit an overview description o te Transceiver Toolkit as described in Transceiver Toolkit Overview on page Design examples you may download rom te Altera website were created using Qsys sotware, suc tat you sould ave knowledge o Qsys. Prior to Qsys, design examples were created wit SOPC Builder. Knowledge o SOPC Builder will elp wit your understanding o Qsys. Quartus II Handbook Version 11.1 November 2011 Altera Corporation

19 Capter 11: Transceiver Link Debugging Using te System Console Quick Guide to Using te Transceiver Toolkit in te Quartus II Sotware You need some experience working wit Altera ig-speed transceiver devices, especially Stratix IV GX and Stratix V devices. Working wit te Transceiver Toolkit GUI is described in urter detail in te Quartus II Help. For more inormation, reer to Working wit te Transceiver Toolkit in Quartus II Help. You can ind urter reerence materials, including Quartus II design examples, on te Altera website. Working wit Design Examples You can download design examples rom te Altera website, as described in Transceiver Link Debugging Design Examples on page Tese design examples elp you get started quickly using te Transceiver Toolkit witout aving to make your own designs to perorm ig-speed link tests. Te design example is a Qsys designed system using various components. Te components include JTAG to Avalon Master Bridge, Custom PHY IP core, Low Latency PHY IP core, and data generator and ceckers wit teir own data ormat and adapters. Tese components can be ound in a Qsys library. Te Qsys system is wrapped in a top-level HDL ile in Verilog. Te online design examples are targeted or device-speciic signal integrity boards. You can use tese design examples wit oter boards by canging assignments. Te irst design example is a one-cannel design wit an 8-bit interace and a Custom PHY IP core data rate o 1.25 mbps. Tis example contains one JTAG to Avalon Master Bridge, one Custom PHY IP core, one data generator, one data cecker, and timing and data ormat adapters or eac cecker and generator. Te second design example is a our-cannel bonded design wit a 10-bit interace and a Custom PHY IP core data rate o 2.5 gbps. 1 Some device amilies ave a dierent set o examples tan tis our-cannel bonded design. Te design contains one JTAG to Avalon master, one Custom PHY IP core, our data generators and data ceckers, and timing and data ormat adapters or eac cecker and generator. To use tese examples, perorm te ollowing: 1. Download te examples rom te Altera website. Download te Transceiver Toolkit design examples rom te On-Cip Debugging Design Examples page o te Altera website. 2. Unzip te examples iles. 3. You can directly program te device wit te design provided, or you can modiy te design. November 2011 Altera Corporation Quartus II Handbook Version 11.1

20 11 20 Capter 11: Transceiver Link Debugging Using te System Console Quick Guide to Using te Transceiver Toolkit in te Quartus II Sotware 4. I you modiy te design you must ten recompile te program to get a new programming ile. Use te new programming ile to program your device. 5. Open te Transceiver Toolkit rom te Tools menu o te Quartus II sotware. You do not need to create links because a deault set is automatically created or you. For more inormation, reer to Transceiver Toolkit Window in Quartus II Help. 6. You can cange settings or te links manually or you can use te Transceiver Auto Sweep panel. 7. Run te Auto Sweep and EyeQ tests rom te Transceiver Toolkit window to ind te optimal settings. For more inormation about running Auto Sweep and EyeQ tests and te dierence between Stratix IV GX and Stratix V testing, reer to Working wit te Transceiver Toolkit in Quartus II Help. Modiying Design Examples You may want to modiy te design examples to cange te data rate o te Custom PHY IP core, add more cannels to te Custom PHY IP core, or cange te device. Online training on te Altera website provides urter detailed descriptions o ow to modiy te design examples. For more inormation about te online training, reer to Following te Online Demonstration on page To modiy te design examples tat you download rom te Altera website, open te existing project in te Qsys tools in te Quartus II sotware. Qsys as a grapical interace tat is sown in te online training, so tat ollowing te instructions is straigtorward. You can make canges to te design examples so tat you can use a dierent development board or dierent device. You make pin assignment canges and ten recompile te design, as sown in te online training. You eiter create a new programming ile wit te Programmer in te Quartus II sotware, or use te existing programming ile tat comes wit te zipped design examples. Te Programmer must complete its programming unction 100% wit no errors. Wen you recompile te design a new programming ile is created. I you do not cange te design you can use te included programming ile. For more inormation about programming a device, reer to Programming Devices in Quartus II Help. Quartus II Handbook Version 11.1 November 2011 Altera Corporation

21 Capter 11: Transceiver Link Debugging Using te System Console Quick Guide to Using te Transceiver Toolkit in te Quartus II Sotware Setting a Link in te Transceiver Toolkit or Hig-Speed Link Tests 1. Make sure your development board is properly conigured. a. You must make te proper connections or te links you want to test. b. Your board must be up and running, and programmed wit te correct programming ile. c. Set-up examples are sown in te online training. Reer to te Transceiver Toolkit Online Demo on te Altera website. 2. Open te Transceiver Toolkit rom te Tools menu in te Quartus II sotware, i te panel is not already sowing on te screen. 3. Te System Explorer panel on te let side o te System Console sows design connections, loaded designs, and design instances. Ensure tat your ardware is sown in te System Explorer. 4. Load your design project, wic is a.qp ile, into te System Console wit te Load Design command. 5. Open te Transceiver Toolkit rom te Tools menu in te System Console. You can now view all te design inormation. 6. Link te ardware you want to test to te Quartus II project. Rigt-click on a device and select Link device to. Ten select te Quartus II project name rom te list. 1 In most cases links are automatically loaded, so you may not need to link ardware as described in step 6 i you are working wit design examples. 1 To automatically instantiate and link designs ater tey ave been loaded in to te System Console, click Assignments on te main menu o te Quartus II sotware, click Device on te Device and Pin Options dialog box, and ten turn on Auto usercode. 7. You can save all actions you perorm into a Tcl script. On te File menu o te System Console, click Create Tcl setup script. Tis action creates a Tcl script o your current setup, including receivers, transmitters, and links you created. Te next time you start te Transceiver Toolkit, you can double-click te script to open te setup you saved. 8. All te scripts are listed under Scripts in te System Explorer pane. You can add any Tcl script wen you place te script into your Scripts older. You can ten rigt-click te Scripts older to open te older and add or modiy iles. 9. On te Transceiver Toolkit main window, te Transceiver Links tab is automatically populated wit te cannel inormation in your design. 10. By deault links are created between te transceiver and receiver o te same cannel and are sown in te Transceiver Links tab. 11. You can also create an additional link between a dierent transceiver and receiver cannel. November 2011 Altera Corporation Quartus II Handbook Version 11.1

22 11 22 Capter 11: Transceiver Link Debugging Using te System Console Quick Guide to Using te Transceiver Toolkit in te Quartus II Sotware 12. On te Transceiver Links tab, you click Control Link, Auto Sweep, or EyeQ to run tests. 13. On te Receiver Cannels tab, you click Control Cannel, Auto Sweep, or EyeQ to control and run tests. Running Auto Sweep Tests To use Auto Sweep in te Transceiver Toolkit to perorm ig-speed link tests perorm te ollowing: 1. On te Transceiver Links tab, click Auto Sweep to open te Auto Sweep panel. You use tis panel to perorm Auto Sweep Bit Error Rate (BER) testing. 2. Previous transceiver settings are sown in te Auto Sweep tab. You can select dierent combinations o settings ere beore starting a test. Dierent settings cange te case count. 3. Wen you start te Auto Sweep test te Current column displays te current test results. Te Best column displays te best results so ar obtained during te test. 4. You create reports by clicking Create Report once Auto Sweep is completed or wile te testing is in process. You can export all settings and results to reports in a.csv ormat. Columns in te reports sow various transceiver settings and you can sort te columns, wic simpliies inding te best test cases. For example, wen you sort on te BER column, it gives you te settings tat produce te lowest BER. For more inormation about running Auto Sweep tests and te dierence between Stratix IV GX and Stratix V testing, reer to Working wit te Transceiver Toolkit in Quartus II Help. Running EyeQ Tests To use te EyeQ eature in te Transceiver Toolkit, perorm te ollowing: 1. On te Transceiver Links tab, click EyeQ to open te EyeQ panel. Tis panel sows te transceiver settings. To cange settings you open eiter te Transceiver Links or Receiver Links control panels, make setting canges, and run te EyeQ test again. Tese panels open wen you click eiter Control Links or Control Cannel on te Transceiver Links tab or te Transceiver Cannels tab. 2. Use EyeQ to veriy receiver settings. EyeQ can see ow receiver settings aect eye widt. 3. Click Reset wen you cange settings and want to run te EyeQ test again. 4. Wen te EyeQ test begins and te irst sweep is completed, te battub curve is generated and displays. I you do not see a battub curve at te end o te test run, but see a ill instead, click Center Eye to position te battub curve in te middle o te pane. 5. Click Create Report to generate EyeQ reports. I you sort te report by BER column, te number o rows tat ave a BER value o 0 are considered te unit o widt o te eye rom te speciied PMA settings. Quartus II Handbook Version 11.1 November 2011 Altera Corporation