TSE 1000BASE-X/SGMII PCS only w/LVDS I/O

[Altera_Forum]

Hey Guys, 

 I know this has been discussed a few times, but I couldn't find the answer I was looking for. I'm using a Stratix IV GX board with the Marvell Phy. I have a stripped down version of a MAC that is working on a Stratix III board using the GMII interface.. We're now trying to use the SGMII interface (ON the IV) with the PCS and PMA (I'm assuming this to be the case when I use the transceiver block with LVDS i/o - please correct me if I'm mistaken). We have a separate MDIO interface and I can read and set the Registers in the PHY (which is AN disabled, Speed 1g, Transmit Enable and SGMII (default).   I have the PCS setup as AN disabled, SGMII and Speed 1G (IF_MODE = 0x09) The PCS Control Register is ( full Duplex, 1G) (Control = 0x140) The PCS Status Register is ( Extened Capability, LINK_STATUS, AN ABILITY) (STATUS = 0x09) - not sure why link_status is set - but this doesn't seem to change..   So my problem is nothing seems to pass through the pcs - and I've been floundering for a couple of weeks trying to figure out why.. Any HINTS?   Fyi - I inherited all this - so I'm learning as I'm going..   Thanks Much, Elmer.

[Altera_Forum]

If it were me, I would drop in the full MAC implementation with a NIOS and test that your LVDS interface is actually working correctly. Once you've verified the interface works, then you can move on to working with the just the PCS block. 

 Jake

[Altera_Forum]

yeah, I've been staring at the reference design that seems to work with the mac/pcs/lvds (it naturally works), but am really curious if anyone has actually got the PCS only to work.. All the PCS status and control registers seem to only reflect info if you have a full blown mac (with mdio) connected to it.. 

  May have to go that route anyway... thanks.

[Altera_Forum]

I have not used the PCS block in isolation yet but I considered it once. The biggest caveat I observed was that the interface uses a clock enable which becomes active in 10Mbps and 100Mbps mode. However, it sounds like you're running in 1Gbps mode so that would not be an issue. 

 Jake

[Altera_Forum]

yeah, if I were to run at the lower speeds I believe I would need to Enable the SGMII bridge.. but I just need the 1 speed (and traffic is actually minimal). 

 so if you get bored.... thks.

[Altera_Forum]

hi, i also use this ip,but i used alt2gxb,but i do not know how to config the ff_tx_clk and ff_rx_clk, i used internal fifo withe 8 bit width,if i used 100M mac,ff_tx_clk=25M?or 50M?and ff_rx_clk=100M? 

or when i use 1000Mac,should i used ff_rx_clk=1000M?  can you tell me?thank you very much

[Altera_Forum]

what are you using to read/write to the fifo's? ff_x are the read and writes to the FIFO yes? the PCS generates rx and tx clocks not sure if they're related to the various rates.. Something you probably have to play around with.. 

 Elmer.

[Altera_Forum]

Well, just in case anybody is wondering...  

 if you're using the Marvell phy and PCS only option of the TSE it does work if you switch over to 1000BASE-X.   Key is to have Auto-Negotiation Enabled (PCS), and set the FD bit in the dev_ability register (PCS).   Make sure 1000BASE-X in the if_mode (PCS) register is set too.   On the Marvell Phy enable the same (GBIC mode with AN enabled).   Gave up on SGMII mode.   Elmer.

[Altera_Forum]

How to get the PCS/PMA to work in SGMII mode? 

 I've done everything but still can't get the MAC with PCS/PMA to work in SGMII mode, external is a Marvell PHY 88E1111.  I always get same values for the dev_ability and partner ability register: 0x41a0 which means everything is correct for Base1000-X mode. The funny thing is if i hold the reset of PHY ==> also having same values. haha!!! Control Register of PCS: 0x1140 Status: 0x2d (done negotiation)  But if i use reference design from Altera (TSE mac is instantiated in SOPC), without doing anything, just read back those PCS values, I have correct value for Partner Ability register, in SGMII mode which is 0xd801. ...  What else can i do?  Jeff

[Altera_Forum]

Well I do know that the MAC comes up in 1000-baseX mode. It has to be placed in SGMII mode by writing to a register within the MAC. 

 Jake

[Altera_Forum]

This might seem obvious but it bit me in the rump, Do you have a valid license for the TSE? - Seems the thirty day trial expires as soon as it's not tethered.. Elmer.

[Altera_Forum]

--- Quote Start ---  This might seem obvious but it bit me in the rump, Do you have a valid license for the TSE? - Seems the thirty day trial expires as soon as it's not tethered.. Elmer.  --- Quote End ---    I use evaluation version ... I presume everythign would be okay except the fact the it will not work after sometime.   I tried enable the bit in IF_MODE and restart negotiation, no hope. I took the example design, same TSE MAC settings. I do nothing, just boot up and read the partner ability register, it's all right... 0xd801 which means ... GigE mode, copper link is up ... etc ... The IF_MODE register is still 0 though. Without any writing.   Very weird.

[Altera_Forum]

--- Quote Start ---  I use evaluation version ... I presume everythign would be okay except the fact the it will not work after sometime.   I tried enable the bit in IF_MODE and restart negotiation, no hope. I took the example design, same TSE MAC settings. I do nothing, just boot up and read the partner ability register, it's all right... 0xd801 which means ... GigE mode, copper link is up ... etc ... The IF_MODE register is still 0 though. Without any writing.   Very weird.  --- Quote End ---    I deleted everything and started all over again. It worked.  I had to change the "Loopback" option to "No loopback". The default is loopback when i first instantiate the TSE Core.  Very weird!

[Altera_Forum]

is the 88e1111 marvell phy programmable through hardware or need software?

[Altera_Forum]

Does anyone know how to config the Marvell phy? Does the TSE MAC automatically configs it through the MDIO interface, or I need to access the PHY registers (starting address 0x280)?

[Altera_Forum]

The TSE won't do anything automatically. You have to access the PHY registers yourself through the MAC to configure the PHY.

[Altera_Forum]

Thanks Daixiwen 

How do I know how to configure the PHY registers? I didn't find a spec of the Marvell phy that contains the registers map.

[Altera_Forum]

The Marvell datasheet isn't public. You need to contact Marvell and sign an NDA to get it. 

Alternatively you can have a look at Altera's driver for the Niche stack and see what registers they configure there.

[Altera_Forum]

Thanks again! 

 Do you know to what address space the Marvell PHY is connected to in the Stratix IV GX development board? From the TSE spec I understand that if I use PCS/PMA, addresses 0x200-0x220 are allocated to the PCS. So I assume the PHY is connected to MDIO1, and it's address space in the MAC registers starts at 0x280. But when I try to read from this address space, it looks like I'm not reaching the PHY's registers. I tried to play with the definition of MDIO_ADDR1 (register 0x40 in the MAC), without a success. Any idea how is the PHY connected to the FPGA?  Zoe

[Altera_Forum]

You need to write the PHY address in the MDIO_ADDR1 register before you can access the registers themselves. You have 3 ways to find out which address the PHY is using:[list][*]look at the schematic and check the connections to the PHY chip that hard wire the address[*]try all the addresses from 0x00 to 0x1f until you get a response (this is what the Interniche driver does)[*]run a design example with a Nios CPU and the Interniche stack, and look for the address in the console output[/list]