Debugging the 40gbe and 100gbe link, Debugging the 40gbe and 100gbe link -1 – Altera 40-Gbps Ethernet MAC and PHY MegaCore Function User Manual
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Debugging the 40GbE and 100GbE Link
4
2014.12.15
UG-01088
If you are experiencing difficulties bringing up your 40-100GbE IP core link in hardware, Altera suggests
that you begin debugging at the most basic level, with word lock. Then, consider higher level issues.
The following steps should help you identify and resolve common problems that occur when bringing up
a 40-100GbE IP core link:
1. Establish word lock—The RX lanes should be able to achieve word lock even in the presence of
extreme bit error rates. If unable to achieve word lock, check the transceiver clocking and data rate
configuration. Check for cabling errors such as the reversal of the TX and RX lanes. Check the clock
frequency monitors.
2. Establish the alignment marker lock—Virtual lane alignment marker lock requires a moderate quality
transceiver connection. If the lock is completely absent, recheck the alignment marker period. If the
lock is intermittent, recheck the transceiver physical connection and analog settings.
3. Establish lane integrity—When operating properly, the lanes should not experience bit errors at a rate
greater than roughly one per hour per day. Bit errors within data packets are identified as FCS errors.
Bit errors in control information including IDLE frames generally cause errors in XL/CGMII
decoding. The bit interleaved parity (BIP) mechanism is a diagonal parity computation that enables
tracing a protocol error back to a physical lane.
4. Verify packet traffic—The Ethernet protocol includes automatic lane reordering so the higher levels
should follow the PCS. If the PCS is locked, but higher level traffic is corrupted, there may be a
problem with the remote transmitter virtual lane tags.
5. Tuning—You can adjust analog parameters to minimize any remaining bit error rate. IDLE traffic is
representative for analog purposes.
Related Information
•
Transceiver PHY Control and Status Registers
on page 3-80
For more information about the analog parameters for Stratix IV devices, refer to the description of
the 40-100GbE IP core Stratix IV transceiver analog settings register GX_CTRL1 at offset 0x007.
•
For information about the analog parameters for Arria V GZ devices and Stratix V devices.
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