Using the Transceiver Debugger

About this task

This topic assumes you already know how to program an FPGA using the Efinity Programmer. To use the Transceiver Debugger:

Procedure

  1. Connect an Efinix transceiver-capable board, e.g., a board with the Ti375 N1156 FPGA.
  2. Click Refresh USB Target if the USB Target field does not display the board name.
  3. If the FPGA is not programmed already, select a bitstream file and program it as you normally would.
  4. Select JTAG > USERn and connect the Transceiver Debugger. Choose the JTAG user TAP that connects to the the APB bridge. The loopback design provided with the Efinity software uses USER2.
    Note: Disconnect all other debug cores before connecting the Transceiver Debugger.
  5. Review the PCIE Status table in the Status tab. This table shows the link status and speed.
    Important: When the PCIe link is in the polling compliance state, the Transceiver Debugger is not able to read the link width and speed. This behavior is expected.
  6. Review the PHY Status table in the Status tab. This table show whether the lanes are locked and ready.
  7. In the Configuration tab, adjust the settings for the eye diagram plot.
    SettingDescription
    Selected Lane Choose the lane to use in the sys diagram plot, lane 0, 1, 2, or 3.
    Default: 0
    Vertical Offset Value Indicates how many vertical positions there are to the top and bottom of center. Higher values result in a plot with high resolution, at the expense of longer drawing time.
    Default: 40
    Vertical Offset Step Indicates how many vertical positions to include in the same color pixel. For example, for an offset value of 40 and a step of 2, the software plots a total of 20 blocks on each side of the center line. A higher number results in less drawing time.
    Default: 2
    Horizontal Offset Value Indicates how many horizontal positions there are to the right and left of center. Higher values result in a plot with high resolution, at the expense of longer drawing time.
    Default: 40
    Horizontal Offset Step Indicates how many horizontal positions to include in the same color pixel. For example, for an offset value of 40 and a step of 2, the software plots a total of 20 blocks on each side of the center line. A higher number results in less drawing time.
    Default: 2
    Accumulation Period The accumulation period is how long to perform the test for each pixel. A higher value provides more saturated results. Each period in the nanoseconds range.
    Default: 7
  8. When you are finished setting values, click Start. The tool begins sampling data and displaying the results on the plot.