There are four channel request signals for transmit operation:
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tx_macif_ts_id_req_rdy - Indicates the DCMAC Subsystem is ready for ID requests.
-
tx_macif_ts_id_req_vld - Indicates a valid id request by the user logic.
-
tx_macif_ts_id_req[5:0] - The channel ID being requested.
-
tx_macif_ts_id_req_sic[5:0] - SIC adjustment amount for the indicated channel.
The rdy signal is the only output from the
DCMAC Subsystem and its purpose is to indicate
that the MAC I/F is ready to accept new valid ID requests. The rdy signal is asserted when the core is out of reset and is deasserted
whenever the channel/ID request pipeline between the MAC I/F and the channelized AXI I/F
exceeds an internal non-programmable threshold.
The system designer is responsible for implementing MAC I/F user logic that feeds all
downstream network/line ports at their specified rate. Correspondingly, it is expected
that the DCMAC Subsystem core and AXI logic be provided with clocks
that are fast enough to meet or exceed the bandwidth demands. The result is that the
rdy signal should always be asserted after reset; the DCMAC Subsystem in such applications will not be the bandwidth
bottleneck. If, however, the DCMAC Subsystem core clock is set at a
frequency intended to provide rate limiting backpressure to the MAC I/F client (not
recommended), the rdy signal could be used to indicate an overage of
channel requests. The response of the client in such cases should be to halve the input
request rate until rdy is reasserted or until further requests are not
needed. The following diagram illustrates the operation of the MAC I/F.
The left side of the diagram (clock cycles 1 through 5) illustrates the expected
behavior, with the MAC I/F user logic issuing channel requests after
rdy is asserted, and moderating incoming data rate through
deassertion of vld. This pattern is expected to continue indefinitely
without the deassertion of rdy.
The supplemental idle count (sic) field is
used for providing the MAC with network-side fine-tuning adjustment of its idle
accumulation state. When a non-zero sic value is
provided alongside vld, the indicated channel has its
SIC accumulator adjusted by the indicated amount. With a six-bit value, adjustment can
range from 0 (do nothing) to an adjustment of 63 (the maximum possible for each
occurrence of the channel within the user logic calendar). The diagram illustrates
non-zero sic adjustment requests in cycles labeled 5,
7, and 11.
The right side of the diagram (clock cycles 6 through 12) illustrates a point
in time where the MAC I/F user logic has presented more channel requests back-to-back
than the ID request pipeline in the DCMAC Subsystem
can handle. The result is rdy deassertion, which must
have a user logic response of lowering the incoming channel request (vld) rate to at least half. When rdy is once again asserted, the user logic can resume presenting vld requests at its desired rate.