L- and H-Tile Transceiver PHY User Guide

ID 683621
Date 1/30/2024
Public
Document Table of Contents

8.2.6.1. Running BER Tests

Bit error rate (BER) tests help you assess signal integrity. Different transceiver parameters result in different BER values.

You run BER tests by selecting the RX and TX channel from the status table in the Collection view and then start the test from the Channel Parameters tab.

To run a BER test for transceiver link, follow these steps:

  1. In the status table, select Pin for the TX and RX channels you want to test as shown in the following figure.
    Figure 263. Status Table in Collection View
  2. Right click the TX and RX channel rows to perform actions such as enabling the loopback mode and PRBS pattern. You can also specify the PRBS test pattern in the Channel Parameters tab.
  3. Specify PMA Settings for the TX and RX channels in the Channel Parameters tab as shown in the following figure.
    Figure 264. Channel Parameters Tab
  4. Click Start in the TX Channel and RX Channel panes of the Channel Parameters tab. The BER output appears in Receiver Channel pane, under Hard PRBS Checker. The following table describes the Hard PRBS Checker Running and Hard PRBS Generator Running status color scheme for the RX and TX channels.
    Table 178.  RX and TX Channel Hard PRBS Status Description
    Color Transmitter Channel Receiver Channel
    Red Channel is off or generator clock is not running. Channel is off or checker clock is not running.
    Green Generator is sending a pattern. Checker is checking and data pattern is locked.
  5. To reset the error counter, click Reset in the RX channel pane.
  6. To stop the test, click Stop in TX channel and RX channel panes. Refer to RX and TX Channel Hard PRBS Status Description table for details.
  7. Change the parameters and then click Start if you want to test the error rate with different PMA parameters.