The Transceiver Toolkit GUI allows you to perform real-time tests of high-speed serial links to improve the signal integrity of the link. The toolkit allows you to transmit a data pattern across the transceiver link and report the signal quality of the received data in terms of bit error rate, bathtub curve, or EyeQ diagram for supported device(Arria V GT, Arria V GZ, Cyclone V, Cyclone V SoC, Stratix IV GT, Stratix IV GX, Stratix V)  families.

The toolkit automatically identifies the transceiver links in your design, or you can manually create transceiver links. While running link tests on the Transceiver Links tab, the color of the channel link indicates the link status for the receiver channel or transmitter channel. The following table explains the meaning of the color of the link for the respective receiver channel or transmitter channel.

You can then run the auto sweep test to help you quickly identify the best physical media attachment (PMA) settings for each link. You can directly control the transmitter/receiver channels to experiment with various settings suggested by auto sweep. The EyeQ graph allows you to visualize the estimated horizontal and vertical eye opening at the receiver.

You can also view the data in the Report pane of the Transceiver Toolkit and export the data in Comma-Separated Value (.csv) format for further analysis. The Transceiver Toolkit runs in the Quartus II System Console.

For applications that require high data rate channels, you can enable the 28-Gbps transceivers for Stratix V GT devices.

Working with the Transceiver Toolkit involves the following high level steps:

1. Use Qsys to edit the transceiver configuration to match your application.

2. Use the Pin Planner to assign target device I/Os to match your board.

3. Compile your design in the Quartus II software.

4. Program the Altera FPGA with your design.

5. Click Tools > System Console > Transceiver Toolkit.

6. Run auto sweep to sweep ranges for your transceiver analog PMA settings.

7. Control and monitor the transceiver channels to apply and test the PMA settings.