Series 7 Kintex and Aurora 64b66b: how to change swing control

[andrewngo]

Hi all,

- I am working on Aurora64/64b on Kintex 7 xc7z030, and so far it work as expected. We want to manage its swing control, however this is not supported by Aurora GUI settings.

- I found this from forum which show us how to modify source to value we want https://forums.xilinx.com/t5/Networking-and-Connectivity/How-to-set-transceiver-settings-with-Aurora-64-66b-core/td-p/656539

However, we can not modify inside Vivado due to "read only" mode. Modify that file by external editor will cause Vivado reload the file but not invalidate the synthesis nor implementation process. We try to force it rerun synthesis/implementation but our new modified value seem not take effect in new bit file.

Any help/hint are appreciated!

Andrew

Andrew

[karnanl]

Hello @andrewngo 
# Giving you my two cents.

Could you please try to set IS_MANAGED = false to the IP before doing any modification ?
set_property IS_MANAGED false [get_files AURORA_64B_66B.xci]

Thanks & regards
Leo

Note:
This question is more about IP rather than transceiver. Perhaps posting this question to other boards is better. 

[guozhenp]

The following AR has the details on how to modify IP core.

https://www.xilinx.com/support/answers/57546.html

[andrewngo]

@karnanl @guozhenp ,

Thank for your help, I did found AR#57546 but it doesn't  work on Vivado 2018.3.

Click on IS_MANAGED check box cause an error

set_property IS_MANAGED 0 [get_files C:/..../ip/design_1_aurora_64b66b_0_0/design_1_aurora_64b66b_0_0.xci]
ERROR: [filemgmt 56-10] Setting is_managed is not permitted for the source file 'C:/...../sources_1/bd/design_1/ip/design_1_aurora_64b66b_0_0/design_1_aurora_64b66b_0_0.xci' because its parent is managed. Unmanage the parent source file first.
ERROR: [Common 17-39] 'set_property' failed due to earlier errors.

Its parent should be design_1.bd? so I apply same cmd to its parent and get critical warning

set_property IS_MANAGED false [get_files C:/..../sources_1/bd/design_1/design_1.bd]
CRITICAL WARNING: [filemgmt 20-1673] Unlinking is not permitted for the source file: 'C:/..../sources_1/bd/design_1/design_1.bd'

so it  still not work!!!

Andrew

[karnanl]

Hello @andrewngo , @guozhenp 

Hmmm, I do not have a good idea now.
But, since Aurora 64B66B is not an Encrypted-IP, perhaps you can create a custom IP using RTL from Aurora 64/44 ?

https://www.xilinx.com/video/hardware/packaging-custom-ip-integrator.html

Thanks
Leo

[andrewngo · Accepted solution]

@karnanl , @guozhenp 

Thank for you help, I found an alternative solution:

- When customize Aurora IP, check the box "Additional tranceiver control and status port" which will generate one more port TRANCEIVER_DEBUG0

- Connect TRANCEIVER_DEBUG0.gt0_txdiffcontrol_in[3:0] to micro blaze's AXI interconnect to micro blaze, then I can change swing control on the fly from uBlaze :)

Andrew