Linked Partner Test

In Linked-Partner mode, the transmit packet are constructed and sent by an external network device, such as a PC or another Ethernet-enabled system. The AXI4-Stream loop-back is enabled in this mode, allowing the core to receive and re-transmit incoming packets directly through the enabled AXI4-Stream loop-back path without using the internal MAC or a UDP pattern generator.

This mode demonstrates the MAC RX or TX datapath integration with an external Ethernet partner and verifies successful bi-directional data transfer between the FPGA and a real network device.

Figure 1. Linked Partner Mode Data Flow
The test is a 'PASS' when the following conditions are achieved:
  • aFramesTransmittedOK and aFramesReceivedOK counters are equal.
  • The ifInErrors counter remains at 0.
  • The packets captured using Wireshark match the packets transmitted by the external device.

Figure 2. Linked Partner Mode Sample Telnet Session Output
Note: You can use any terminal program (such as Putty, Termite, or the built-in Eclipse Terminal to monitor the statistic counters - aFramesTransmittedOK and ifOutErrors.