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Stratix II GX Physical Coding Sub-Layer

The Stratix® II GX transceiver FPGAs include specific digital functionality to deliver physical coding sub-layer compliance for a number of key protocols used in backplane, line card, and chip-to-chip applications. The blocks are optimized for enhanced protocol support, reducing the amount of resources required in the FPGA to implement the physical layer of the protocol, while maintaining a low-power solution. The blocks, when combined with specific intellectual property (IP) and reference designs, can provide a complete protocol solution, both simplifying potentially complex designs and reducing project risk. Table 1 shows the key protocols supported by Stratix II GX transceiver FPGAs.

Table 1. Stratix II GX Protocol Support
Protocol Data Rate Complete Solution
PCI-Express 1.1 2.5 Gbps IP
SDH/SONET OC-12 622 Mbps -
SDH/SONET OC-48 2.488 Gbps -
Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) 1.25 Gbps IP
10-Gigabit Ethernet XAUI 3.125 Gbps IP
SD-SDI 270 Mbps (1) Reference Design
HD-SDI 1.488 Gbps Reference Design
SerialLite II 622 Mbps – 6.375 Gbps IP
Serial RapidIOTM 1.25 Gbps, 2.5 Gbps, 3.125 Gbps IP
OIF CEI-6LR/SR 6.25 Gbps Reference Design

Note:

  1. Data rate supported using oversampling

Physical Coding Sublayer Block

The physical coding sublayer (PCS) block simplifies protocol support by including specific hard logic within the transceiver. Figure 1 shows a block implementation of the Stratix II GX PCS architecture.

Figure 1. Stratix II GX PCS Architecture

Figure 1. Stratix II GX PCS architecture
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The Stratix II GX PCS provides key features to deliver protocol compliance within the transceiver block. In addition, dedicated state machines are included to support the PCI Express, GbE, and XAUI protocols. The state machines both configure and control the various PCS sub-blocks to support the specified protocol, further simplifying implementation. Tables 2 and 3 show PCS support by protocol.

Table 2. PCS Implementation by Protocol (8b/10b Encoding)
Required PCS Functions PCI Express
(Gen. 1)
GbE XAUI Serial RapidIO SerialLite II
Data Rates (Gbps) 2.5 1.25 3.125 3.125 0.622 – 6.375
Channel Bonding 1, 4, 8 1 4 1, 4 up to x16
Possible Reference Clock Values (MHz) 100 125 156.25 156.25 62.2-622.08
FPGA Bus Width (bits) 8 or 16 8 16 16 8, 10, 16, 32
Dedicated Sync State Machine Check Check Check    
Word Align Check Check Check Check Check
Rate Match Check Check Check Check  
Byte Serialize/Deserialize Check   Check Check Check
Phase Comp FIFO Buffer Check Check Check Check Check
Byte Re-Ordering          
Single Bit Slip         Check
Special Interface PIPE-1.0 GMII Like (2) XGMII Like (3)    

Table 3. PCS Implementation by Protocol (Scrambled Encoding)
Required PCS Functions CEI-6G SDH/SONET Scrambled Backplane SD-SDI HD-SDI
Data Rates (Gbps) 6.375 0.622 2.488 0.270 (1) 1.485
Channel Bonding 1 1 1 1 1
Possible Reference Clock Values (MHz) 155.52 - 622.08 62.2, 311.04 77.76, 155.52, 311.04, 622.08 67.5 74.25
FPBA Bus Width (bits) 32 8 16 10 10
Word Align   Check Check Check Check
Rate Match          
Byte Serialize/Deserialize Check   Check    
Phase Comp FIFO Buffer Check Check Check Check Check
Byte Re-Ordering     Check    
Single Bit Slip Check        

Notes to Tables 2 and 3:

  1. Data rate achieved by oversampling
  2. GMII support for Gigabit Ethernet only
  3. XGMII has SDR instead of DDR interface

Each block within the transceiver is highly configurable to support both industry standard and customer proprietary protocols. Transceiver implementation is simplified within the Quartus® II development tool. The tool automatically configures the transceiver PCS block, to the support the selected protocol, speeding up implementation and reducing design risk. The development tools also provide basic configuration modes for proprietary and non-standard protocols.

Built-In Self Test (BIST)

The BIST provides a powerful set of diagnostic capabilities to the transceiver. It includes a pattern generator and checker for pseudo-random binary sequence (PRBS) and others. The BIST also features four loopback configurations that can be used for system diagnostics, allowing interrogation of the physical media attachment (PMA), the PCS, or both the PMA and PCS layers of the transceiver into the FPGA.

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