LVDS Tunneling Protocol and Interface (LTPI) IP User Guide: Agilex™ 3 and Agilex™ 5 FPGAs and SoCs

ID 844310
Date 8/15/2025
Public
Document Table of Contents

6.4. Data Channel

Figure 37. Data Mapping in LTPI Data Channel

The data channel allows tunneling standardized read and write requests to addressable memory spaces like Avalon® memory-mapped or Wishbone interfaces, which can interconnect IP blocks within the FPGA or CPLD. For other memory-mapped interfaces, specific mapping and encoding must be defined or added as an extension to the DC-SCM LTPI specification.

The data bus interface issues read and write requests to the addressable memory interface. LTPI converts these requests into encoded LTPI frames and tunnels them via an LVDS link to the CPLD or FPGA device, where they are decoded and directed to the appropriate IP block. This method provides flexibility and allows interfacing with remote IP without duplicating the same IP in both CPLD or FPGA devices on SCM and HPM.

There are two data channel options:
  • With mailbox (DATA_CHANNEL_MAILBOX_EN = 1)—The data channel controller uses mailbox registers and supports multiple outstanding transactions through FIFOs. However, only one transaction can be outstanding over the LVDS link at a time.
  • Without mailbox (DATA_CHANNEL_MAILBOX_EN = 0)—The data channels are directly connected to external interfaces, which is simpler and uses fewer logic elements. This option supports only one outstanding transaction on the Avalon® memory-mapped data channel.
Figure 38. Overview of LTPI Data Channel with Mailbox Option