CertusPro-NX SerDes/PCS Usage Guide
Preliminary
Technical Note
FPGA-TN-02245-0.81
© 2020-2021 Lattice Semiconductor
101
All rights reserved. CONFIDENTIAL
PMA Only Mode
The PMA Only mode of CertusPro-NX SerDes/PCS is intended for applications without 8B/10B coding and decoding. In
PMA Only mode, the PMA EPCS data bus is accessed by user logic with very low latency. Only Tx FIFO, Rx FIFO and Rx
Lane-to-lane Deskew modules are implemented between the PMA Controller and fabric.
The width of user data bus in PMA Only mode can be configured as 8-bit, 10-bit, 16-bit or 20-bit data. Refer to
for detailed information about PMA Only mode data bus.
Ethernet Mode
1000BASE-X (GigE) Mode
The 1000BASE-X (or Gigabit Ethernet, GigE) mode of CertusPro-NX SerDes/PCS fully supports from the serial I/O to the
GMII/SGMII interface of the IEEE 802.3 1000BASE-X Gigabit Ethernet standard.
In 1000BASE-X mode, CertusPro-NX SerDes/PCS supports the clock compensation and auto-negotiation features. The
auto-negotiation control logic should be implemented in FPGA fabric to work with CertusPro-NX SerDes/PCS.
Idle pattern insertion is required for clock compensation and auto-negotiation. The mpcs_anxmit_i signal should be
asserted by auto-negotiation control logic to indicate the current state is GigE auto-negotiation state. In this state, the
/C1/ and /C2/ ordered sets are replaced by /I2/ ordered sets periodically at Rx path, so that the Elastic Buffer gets the
opportunity to perform clock compensation functionality. While auto-negotiating, the link partner transmits /C1/ and
/C2/ ordered sets continuously.
The cordisp bit of mpcs_tx_data is used on the transmit side of the PCS to ensure that an Inter-Packet Gap (IPG) begins
in the negative disparity state. Note that at the end of an Ethernet frame, the current disparity state of the transmitter
can be either positive or negative, depending on the size and data content of the Ethernet frame.
However, from the FPGA fabric side of the PCS, the current disparity state of the PCS transmitter is unknown. This is
where the cordisp bit signal comes into play. If the cordisp bit signal is asserted for one clock cycle upon entering an
IPG, it forces the Tx path PCS to insert an /I1/ ordered set into the transmit data stream when the current disparity is
positive. If the current disparity is negative, then no change is made to the transmit data stream.
From the FPGA fabric side of the PCS, the IPG is typically characterized by the continuous transmission of the /I2/
ordered set.
Note that in the PCS channel, /I2/ ordered set means the current disparity is to be preserved, and /I1/ ordered set
means the current disparity state should be flipped. Therefore, it is possible to ensure that the IPG begins in a negative
disparity state. If the disparity state before the IPG is negative, then a continuous stream of /I2/ ordered sets are
transmitted during the IPG. If the disparity state before the IPG is positive, then followed by a continuous stream of /I2/
ordered sets, a single /I1/ ordered set is transmitted.
At the FPGA fabric side of the PCS, the IPG is always driven into the PCS with /I2/ ordered sets. The cordisp bit signal is
asserted for one clock cycle, when the IPG first begins. If necessary, the PCS converts this /I2/ ordered set into an /I1/
ordered set. For the remainder of the IPG, /I2/ ordered sets should be driven into the PCS and the cordisp bit signal
should remain de-asserted.
For example, if a continuous stream of 512 bytes of Ethernet frames and 512 bytes of /I/ ordered sets are set, the
following can be observed:
During the first IPG, all negative disparity /I2/ ordered sets are seen.
During the next IPG, the period begins with positive disparity /I1/ ordered set. Then all the remaining ordered sets
are negative disparity /I2/ ordered sets.
During the next IPG, all negative disparity /I2/ ordered sets are seen.
During the next IPG, all period begins with positive disparity /I1/ ordered set. Then all remaining ordered sets are
negative disparity /I2/ ordered sets.
shows the definition of the configuration ordered sets and IDLE ordered sets for Ethernet 1000BASE-X
(GigE).