Altera IP Compiler for PCI Express - Manual (Page 333)

Chapter : B–15
Descriptor/Data Interface
August 2014 Altera Corporation IP Compiler for PCI Express User Guide
Table B–8 describes the advanced data phase signals.
Table B–9 shows the bit information for tx_cred<n>[21:0] for the ×1 and ×4 IP cores.
Table B–8. Advanced TX Data Phase Signals
Signal I/O Description
tx_cred<n>[65:0]
(1)
O
Transmit credit. This signal controls the transmission of transaction layer packets of a
particular type by the application layer based on the number of flow control credits
available. This signal is optional because the IP core always checks for sufficient credits
before acknowledging a request. However, by checking available credits with this signal, the
application can improve system performance by dividing a large transaction layer packet
into smaller transaction layer packets based on available credits or arbitrating among
different types of transaction layer packets by sending a particular transaction layer packet
across a virtual channel that advertises available credits. Each data credit is 4 dwords or 16
bytes as per the PCI Express Base Specification. Refer to
Table B–9 for the bit details.Once
a transaction layer packet is acknowledged by the IP core, the corresponding flow control
credits are consumed and this signal is updated 1 clock cycle after assertion of tx_ack.
For a component that has received infinite credits at initialization, each field of this signal is
set to its highest potential value.
For the ×1 and ×4 IP cores this signal is 22 bits wide with some encoding of the available
credits to facilitate the application layer check of available credits. Refer to
Table B–9 for
details.
In the ×8 IP core this signal is 66 bits wide and provides the exact number of available
credits for each flow control type. Refer to
Table B–10 for details.
Refer to Table B–9 for the layout of fields in this signal.
tx_err<n> I
Transmit error. This signal is used to discard or nullify a transaction layer packet, and is
asserted for one clock cycle during a data phase. The IP core automatically commits the
event to memory and waits for the end of the data phase.
Upon assertion of tx_err, the application interface should stop transaction layer packet
transmission by deasserting tx_dfr and tx_dv.
This signal only applies to transaction layer packets sent to the link (as opposed to
transaction layer packets sent to the configuration space). If unused, this signal can be tied
to zero. This signal is not available in the ×8 IP core.
Note to Table B–8 :
(1) For all signals, <n> is the virtual channel number which can be 0 or 1.
Table B–9. tx_cred0[21:0] Bits for the ×1 and ×4 IP cores (Part 1 of 2)
Bits Value Description
[0]
■ 0: No credits available
■ 1: Sufficient credit available for at
least 1 transaction layer packet Posted header.
[9:1]
■ 0: No credits available
■ 1-256: number of credits available
■ 257-511: reserved
Posted data: 9 bits permit advertisement of 256 credits, which
corresponds to 4 KBytes, the maximum payload size.
[10]
■ 0: No credits available
■ 1: Sufficient credit available for at
least 1 transaction layer packet Non-Posted header.