Interlaken (2nd Generation) Intel® FPGA IP User Guide

ID 683396
Date 8/04/2023
Public

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4.5.4. Multi-Segment Mode

This section describes the functionality of the multi-segment feature of the Interlaken (2nd Generation) IP. This feature enables you to make better use of the transmit and receive bandwidth. For package sizes smaller than the user data width, this feature becomes important to provide better bandwidth efficiency.

The multi-segment mode feature is not available with Interlaken Look-aside.

Figure 26. Interlaken Protocol Layer (MAC)- TX and RX Block Diagram

The user data interface block contains the multi-segment blocks, RX regroup, and TX transmit buffer. In the TX direction, the TX transmit buffer inserts necessary control words based on the user interface control information before sending downstream for further processing. In the RX direction, the striper strip offs the control words of the data to generate the user data and the extracted control word generates the user interface information.

The bandwidth efficiency of the four-segment case is significantly better than the single-segment case. Each segment supports both Interleaved and Packet transfer modes when you operate the IP in multi-segment mode.

Figure 27. Four Segment versus Single Segment Bandwidth Efficiency Comparison