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Altera transceiver bits swapped

Altera_Forum
Honored Contributor II
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Hi all. 

 

I'm working on a simple transceiver loopback test using a stratixIV GX development kit. 

I instantiated a simple ALTGX function in basic (PMA direct) mode, and i attached the altera loopback connector to the HSMC board. 

The reset sequence was done according to the reference documentation . 

 

The transceiver is fed by a simple counter, but on the receiver side i see the counter with the bits misaligned (eg tx: ABCDEF rx: EFABCD). 

Is this a known issue?What can I do to debug the design? 

 

I can provide as much info as you need, even the whole design. 

 

Thanks in advance 

 

Marco
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Altera_Forum
Honored Contributor II
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this isnt a bug, you need to bitslip the data until it is aligned. generally there is a training sequence that is either spec'ed by the protocol, or is user specific.

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Altera_Forum
Honored Contributor II
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Thanks a lot dwesterg,  

So for a "raw" transmission i need to implement myself a synch word and a FSM to realign the received data, right? 

But if i use a protocol (eg basic x4) i see in the signaltap anlyzer that the bits keep swapping.  

let's say the synch word is "0101111100", is it sent automatically or do i need to inject it periodically in the data? 

 

Thanks again! 

 

Marco 

 

(EDIT) 

the answer was yes, i need to inject the synch word and use an optional port to tell the transceiver when to realign. 

tnx
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