P-Tile Avalon® Streaming Intel® FPGA IP for PCI Express* User Guide

ID 683059
Date 4/04/2024
Public
Document Table of Contents

7.2.4. Using the P-Tile Debug Toolkit

The following sections describe the different tabs and features available in the Debug Toolkit.

A. Main View

The main view tab lists a summary of the transmitter and receiver settings per channel for the given instance of the PCIe IP.

The following table shows the channel mapping when using bifurcated ports.
Table 118.  Channel Mapping for Bifurcated Ports
Toolkit Channel X16 Mode 2X8 Mode 4x4 Mode
Lane 0 Lane 0 Lane 0 Lane 0
Lane 1 Lane 1 Lane 1 Lane 1
Lane 2 Lane 2 Lane 2 Lane 2
Lane 3 Lane 3 Lane 3 Lane 3
Lane 4 Lane 4 Lane 4 Lane 0
Lane 5 Lane 5 Lane 5 Lane 1
Lane 6 Lane 6 Lane 6 Lane 2
Lane 7 Lane 7 Lane 7 Lane 3
Lane 8 Lane 8 Lane 0 Lane 0
Lane 9 Lane 9 Lane 1 Lane 1
Lane 10 Lane 10 Lane 2 Lane 2
Lane 11 Lane 11 Lane 3 Lane 3
Lane 12 Lane 12 Lane 4 Lane 0
Lane 13 Lane 13 Lane 5 Lane 1
Lane 14 Lane 14 Lane 6 Lane 2
Lane 15 Lane 15 Lane 7 Lane 3

B. Toolkit Parameters

The Toolkit parameters window has the following sub-tabs.

B.1. P-Tile Information

This lists a summary of the P-Tile PCIe IP parameter settings in the PCIe IP Parameter Editor when the IP was generated, as read by the P-Tile Debug Toolkit when initialized. If you have port bifurcation enabled in your design (for example, x8x8), then this tab will populate the P-tile information for each core (P0 core, P1 core, etc.).

All the information is read-only.

Use the Refresh button to read the settings.

Table 119.  P-Tile Available Parameter Settings
Parameter Values Descriptions
Intel Vendor ID 1172 Indicates the Vendor ID as set in the IP Parameter Editor.
Device ID 0 This is a unique identifier for the device that is assigned by the vendor.
Protocol PCIe Indicates the Protocol.
Port Type Root Port, Endpoint 5 Indicates the Hard IP Port type.
Intel IP Type intel_pcie_ptile_ast, intel_pcie_ptile_avmm Indicates the IP type used.
Advertised speed Gen3, Gen4 Indicates the advertised speed as configured in the IP Parameter Editor.
Advertised width x16, x8, x4 Indicates the advertised width as configured in the IP Parameter Editor.
Negotiated speed Gen3, Gen4 Indicates the negotiated speed during link training.
Negotiated width x16, x8, x4 Indicates the negotiated link width during link training.
Link status Link up, link down Indicates if the link (DL) is up or not.
LTSSM State Refer to Hard IP Status Interface. Indicates the current state of the link.
Lane Reversal True, False Indicates if lane reversal happens on the link.
Retimer 1 Detected, not detected Indicates if a retimer was detected between the Root Port and the Endpoint.
Retimer 2 Detected, not detected Indicates if a retimer was detected between the Root Port and the Endpoint.
Tx TLP Sequence Number Hexadecimal value Indicates the next transmit sequence number for the transmit TLP.
Tx Ack Sequence Timeout Hexadecimal value Indicates the ACK sequence number which is updated by receiving ACK/NAK DLLP.
Replay Timer Timeout Green, Red

Green: no timeout

Red: timeout

Malformed TLP Status Green, Red

Green: no malformed TLP

Red: malformed TLP detected

First Malformed TLP Error Pointer
  • AtomicOp address alignment
  • AtomicOp operand
  • AtomicOp byte enable
  • TLP length mismatch
  • Max payload size
  • Message TLP without TC0
  • Invalid TC
  • Unexpected route bit in Message TLP
  • Unexpected CRS status in Completion TLP
  • Byte enable
  • Memory address 4KB boundary
  • TLP prefix rules
  • Translation request rules
  • Invalid TLP type
  • Completion rules
  • Application
 
Figure 72. Example of P-Tile Parameter Settings

B.2. Event Counter

This tab allows you to read the error events like the number of receiver errors, framing errors, etc. for each port. You can use the Clear P0 counter/Clear P1 counter to reset the error counter.

Figure 73. Example of P-Tile Event Counter Tab

B.3. P0/P1 Configuration Space

This tab allows you to read the configuration space registers for that port. You will see a separate tab with the configuration space for each port.

Figure 74. Example of P-Tile PCIe Configuration Settings
Note: The per-lane information under the Configuration Space tab for each port corresponds to the logical lanes.

C. Channel Parameters

The channel parameters window allows you to read the transmitter and receiver settings for a given channel. It has the following 3 sub-windows. Use the Lane Refresh button to read the status of the General PHY, TX Path, and RX Path sub-windows for each channel.

Note: To refresh channel parameters for more than one lanes simultaneously, select the lanes under the Collection tab, right click and select Refresh.
Note: The per-lane information under the Channel Parameters tab corresponds to the physical lanes.

C.1. General PHY

This tab shows the reset status of the PHY.

Table 120.  General PHY Settings
  Parameters Values Descriptions
PHY Status PHY reset Normal, Reset

Indicates the PHY is in reset mode.

Normal: PHY is out of reset.

Reset: PHY is in reset.

Event Counter 6 to clear the counter values. Elastic buffer overflow Hex value Indicates elastic buffer overflow errors.
Elastic buffer underflow Hex value Indicates elastic buffer underflow errors.
Decode error Hex value Indicates decode errors.
Running disparity error Hex value Indicates running disparity errors.
SYNC header error Hex value Indicates SYNC header errors.
RX valid deassertion without EIEOS Hex value Indicates errors when RX valid deassertion occurs without EIEOS.

C.2. TX Path

This tab allows you to monitor the transmitter settings for the channel selected.

Table 121.  Transmitter Settings
  Parameters Values Descriptions
TX Status TX Reset Normal, Reset

Indicates if TX (TX datapath, TX settings) is in reset or normal operating mode.

Normal: TX is in normal operating mode.

Reset: TX is in reset.

TX Electrical Idle True, False

Indicates if TX is in electrical idle.

True: indicates TX is in electrical idle.

False: indicates TX is out of electrical idle.

TX PLL TX PLL lock Green, Red

Indicates if TX PLL is locked. This is dependent on the PLL selected as indicated by TX PLL select.

There is one set of PLLs per Quad. The TX path of each channel reads out the PLL status corresponding to that Quad.
  • TX path for Ch0 to 3: Status of PLLs in Quad0
  • TX path for Ch4 to 7: Status of PLLs in Quad1
  • TX path for Ch8 to 11: Status of PLLs in Quad2
  • TX path for Ch12 to 15: Status of PLLs in Quad3

Green: TX PLL is locked.

Red: TX PLL is not locked.

TX VOD Iboost level

Gen3: 15

Gen4: 15

Indicates the transmitter current boost level when the TX amplitude boost mode is enabled.

Vboost en

Gen3: Enable

Gen4: Enable

Indicates if the TX swing boost level is enabled.

Enable: TX swing boost is enabled.

Disable: TX swing boost is disabled.

Vboost level

Gen3: 5

Gen4: 5

Indicates the TX Vboost level.
TX Equalization TX Equalization Status Not attempted, Completed, Unsuccessful Indicates transmitter equalization status. The TX local and remote parameters are valid only when the value of Equalization status is returned as completed, indicating equalization has completed successfully.
TX Local Preset P0 to P10 Indicates the P-tile transmitter driver preset value as requested by the link partner during the Equalization phase of link training. If the preset is not one of these values, then no value is shown.
Local Pre-shoot coefficient

Depends on the coefficient requested by the link partner.

Indicates P-tile transmitter driver output pre-emphasis (pre-cursor coefficient value).

Local main coefficient

Depends on the coefficient requested by the link partner.

Indicates P-tile transmitter driver output pre-emphasis (main cursor coefficient value).

Local post coefficient

Depends on the coefficient requested by the link partner.

Indicates P-tile transmitter driver output pre-emphasis (post-cursor coefficient value).

Remote Pre-shoot coefficient (†) Depends on the transmitter driver output of the link partner.

Indicates link partner's transmitter driver's output pre-cursor coefficient value, as received by P-tile during the Equalization phase of link training. When P-tile is configured in Endpoint mode, this value corresponds to the coefficient received during Phase 2 of Equalization.

Remote main coefficient (†) Depends on the transmitter driver output of the link partner.

Indicates link partner's transmitter driver's output main cursor coefficient value, as received by P-tile during the Equalization phase of link training. When P-tile is configured in Endpoint mode, this value corresponds to the coefficient received during Phase 2 of Equalization.

Remote post coefficient (†) Depends on the transmitter driver output of the link partner. Indicates the link partner's transmitter driver's output post-cursor coefficient value, as received by P-tile during the Equalization phase of link training. When P-tile is configured in Endpoint mode, this value corresponds to the coefficient received during Phase 2 of Equalization.
Remote full swing (fs) (†) Depends on the device capability of the link partner. Indicates the full swing value used by the link partner during the Equalization phase of link training.
Remote low frequency (lf) (†) Depends on the device capability of the link partner.

Indicates the low frequency value used by the link partner during the Equalization phase of link training.

Note: (†) Refer to the following sections of the PCI Express* Base Specification Revision 4.0: 4.2.3 Link Equalization Procedure for 8.0 GT/s and Higher Data Rates and 8.3.3 Tx Voltage Parameters.
Figure 75. Example of Transmitter Settings

C.3. RX Path

This tab allows you to monitor and control the receiver settings for the channel selected.

Table 122.  Receiver Settings
  Parameters Values Descriptions
RX Status RX Reset Normal, Reset

Indicates if RX (RX datapath, RX settings) is in reset or normal operating mode.

Normal: RX is in normal operating mode.

Reset: RX is in reset.

RX Polarity No polarity inversion, Polarity inversion

Indicates RX polarity inversion for the selected lane.

No polarity inversion: no polarity inversion on RX.

Polarity inversion: polarity inversion on RX.

RX Electrical Idle True, False

Indicates if RX is in electrical idle or not.

True: RX is in electrical idle.

False: RX is out of electrical idle.

Receiver Detected Green, Grey

Green: Far end receiver is detected.

Grey: Far end receiver is not detected.

RX CDR CDR Lock Green, Red

Indicates the CDR lock state.

Green: CDR is locked.

Red: CDR is not locked.

CDR Mode Locked to Reference (LTR), Locked to Data (LTD)

Indicates the CDR lock mode.

LTR: CDR is locked to reference clock.

LTD: CDR is locked to data.

RX Equalization RX ATT

Gen3: 0

Gen4: 0

Indicates the RX equalization attenuation level.

RX CTLE Boost

Gen3: 12

Gen4: 16

Indicates the RX CTLE boost value.

RX CTLE Pole

Gen3: 2

Gen4: 2

Indicates the RX CTLE pole value.

RX VGA1

Gen3: 5

Gen4: 5

Indicates the RX AFE first stage VGA gain value.

RX VGA2

Gen3: 5

Gen4: 5

Indicates the RX AFE second stage VGA gain value.

DFE Enable Enable, Disable

Indicates DFE adaptation is enabled for taps 1 - 5.

Enable: DFE adaptation is enabled for taps 1 - 5.

Disable: DFE adaptation is disabled for taps 1 - 5.

DFE Tap1 adapted value <-128 to 127>

Indicates the adapted value of DFE tap 1. This is a signed input (two's complement encoded).

DFE Tap2 adapted value <-32 to 31>

Indicates the adapted value of DFE tap 2. This is a signed input (two's complement encoded).

DFE Tap3 adapted value <-32 to 31>

Indicates the adapted value of DFE tap 3. This is a signed input (two's complement encoded).

DFE Tap4 adapted value <-32 to 31>

Indicates the adapted value of DFE tap 4. This is a signed input (two's complement encoded).

DFE Tap5 adapted value <-32 to 31>

Indicates the adapted value of DFE tap 5. This is a signed input (two's complement encoded).

Figure 76. Example of Receiver Settings

D. Eye Viewer

The P-Tile Debug Toolkit supports the Eye Viewer tool that allows you to plot the eye diagram for each channel. The Eye Viewer tool:
  • Provides a pictorial representation of the eye for each channel, both in the bifurcated (e.g., x8x8) and non-bifurcated (e.g., x16) configurations.
  • Provides information on the total eye height, total eye width and the eye margin from the sampling point to the left, right, top, and bottom of the eye for each lane.

    Intel recommends that the margin for each lane on your board be more than the mask in the horizontal and vertical directions to make sure that the channel is good and meets the PCIe specification.

    For more information on the Margin Mask, refer to Margin Masks for the P-Tile Avalon Streaming Intel FPGA IP for PCI Express.

  • Uses fixed step sizes in the horizontal and vertical directions.
  • Performs the eye margin at the following bit error rates (BER):
    • 8.0 GT/s (Gen3) @ e-8, 100% confidence level
    • 16.0 GT/s (Gen4) @ e-9, 90% confidence level
    • 8.0 GT/s (Gen3) and 16.0 GT/s (Gen4) @ e-12, 95% confidence level
Note: The P-Tile Avalon® Streaming Intel FPGA IP for PCI Express eye viewer feature of the Debug Toolkit does not support the independent error sampler for performing eye margining. The eye margining is performed on the actual data path. As a result, the eye margining may produce uncorrectable errors in the data stream and cause the LTSSM to go to the Recovery state. You may mask out all errors (ex. AER registers) while performing the eye margining and reset all error counters, error registers, etc. after margining completes.
  1. In the System Console Tools menu option, click on Eye View Tool.
    Note: The per-lane information under the Eye Viewer tab corresponds to the physical lanes.
    Figure 77. Opening the Eye Viewer
  2. This will open a new tab Eye View Tool next to the Main View tab. Choose the instance and channel for which you want to run the eye view tests.
    Figure 78. Opening the Instance and Channel
  3. Set the Eye Max BER. Two options are available: 1e-9 or 1e-12.
  4. Click Start to begin the eye measurement for the selected channel.
  5. The messages window displays information messages to indicate the eye view tool's progress.
    Figure 79. Eye View Tool Messages
  6. Once the eye plot is complete, the eye height, eye width and eye diagram are displayed.
    Figure 80. Sample Eye Plot for BER = 1e-9
    Figure 81. Sample Eye Plot for BER = 1e-12
    Note: Full eye plot is not drawn for BER = 1e-12.
5 The 22.2 and 22.1 versions of Quartus® Prime support enabling the Debug Toolkit for both Endpoint and Root Port modes, and for the Linux and Windows operating systems only. The 21.4 or earlier versions of Quartus® Prime only support the Debug Toolkit for the Endpoint mode.
6 Use Clear event counter