Agilent Technologies E2969A User manual

Agilent E2969A Protocol Compliance Test Card
for PCI Express
User Manual
Agilent Technologies

E2969-91020
Important Notice
© Agilent Technologies, Inc. 2004
Manual Part Number
E2969-91020
Revision
Revision 2.0, December 2004
Printed in Germany
Agilent Technologies,
Deutschland GmbH
Herrenberger Str. 130
71034 Boeblingen, Germany
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Safety Notices
CAUTION
A CAUTION notice denotes a
hazard. It calls attention to an
operating procedure, practice, or the
like that, if not correctly performed
or adhered to, could result in
damage to the product or loss of
important data. Do not proceed
beyond a CAUTION notice until the
indicated conditions are fully
understood and met.
WARNING
A WARNING notice denotes a
hazard. It calls attention to an
operating procedure, practice, or the
like that, if not correctly performed
or adhered to, could result in
personal injury or death. Do not
proceed beyond a WARNING notice
until the indicated conditions are
fully understood and met.
Specific Cautions
Do not use the test card for any
other purposes or in any other way
than described in this manual.
The test card may become hot
during use. Do NOT touch any of the
components on the test card. Do
NOT place the test card on
flammable surfaces during or after
operation.
Trademarks
Windows®, Windows 2000®, and
Windows XP® are U.S. registered
trademarks of Microsoft
Corporation.
Safety Symbols on the E2969A:
Indicates that antistatic precautions
should be taken.
Indicates hot surfaces, please do not
touch.
This product complies with the
relevant legal directives.

E2969-91020 Content-1
Contents
Introduction 1-1
Test Modes 1-3
Installation 2-1
Prerequisites 2-1
Installing the Software 2-3
Installing the Hardware 2-8
Testing the Installation 2-10
Working with the PTC 3-1
Setting up the Test Hardware for Add-In Card Mode 3-1
Setting up the Test Hardware for Topology Test Mode 3-3
Using the Test Software for AIC Tests under Linux 3-4
Using the Test Software for AIC Tests under Windows 3-7
Using the Test Software for Topology Mode Tests under
Windows 3-8
Administering the PTC 3-10
Troubleshooting 4-1
Appendix 5-1
Hardware Description 5-1
Technical Specifications 5-8
Declaration of Conformity 5-10

Content-2 E2969-91020

E2969-91020 1-1
Introduction
The Agilent E2969A protocol test card (PTC) is a combination of software
and plug-in card that can be used for PCI Express compliance tests.
The PTC performs tests to verify and ensure compliance with PCI
Express as defined by the PCI-SIG.
The card runs on a PCI Express x1 lane at 2.5 Gbit/s. It is plugged into
one of the PCI Express slots of the target platform.
As an R&D engineer, you can use the PTC to validate the functional
compliance of your PCI Express-based designs, including chips, add-in
cards or systems.
The PTC provides a set of automated pre-programmed compliance tests
for testing both transaction layer and data link layer as well as power
management and configuration space. Furthermore, it monitors the

Introduction Test Modes
1-2 E2969-91020
behavior of the DUT (device under test) in response to certain error
conditions.
For more detailed analysis, the PTC provides a connector to Agilent’s
E2960 protocol analyzer. With the analyzer, you can monitor and analyze
captured PCI Express traffic between an adapter card and a system, for
example.
Further features include
• Field-upgradeable FPGA-based card
• USB 2.0 interface for programming and topology simulation mode
• Can act either as a PCI Express standalone add-in card, or as a PCI
Express interposer card for x1 operation
• Card supplied with two different software packages:
– The AIC test mode software which runs under Linux Operating
system with the PCI Express compliance tests for Add-In-Cards
– A windows software package that contains the AIC Tests for
Windows as well as the Topology Tests. This package contains also
some additional tools for checking and updating the Protocol Test
Card, which runs under Windows via the USB connector.

Test Modes Introduction
E2969-91020 1-3
Test Modes
The protocol test card provides three test modes:
• Add-In-Card test mode
• Known Endpoint test mode
• Topology test mode
The test software provides a list of tests for each of these modes. You can
select the mode and execute the tests from the graphical user interface.
The current version of the PTC only supports the Add-In-Card test mode
and Topology Test Mode. Known Endpoint test mode will be supported by
one of the next releases.
Add-In-Card Test Mode
In the Add-In-Card test mode, the PTC acts as a switch device between
the target platform and another PCI Express add-in card (DUT). The DUT
is plugged into the PCI Express slot on top of the PTC.
Though the upper slot of the PTC is capable of accepting up to x16 cards,
only x1 links are supported.
The tests in this mode check the correct behavior of the add-in card. The
test software communicates with the PTC using PCI Express commands
and performs various tests with the DUT.
In this mode it is necessary to power the PTC through the external power
connector. Any standard ATX Power Supply can be used for this purpose.
NOTE
NOTE

Introduction Test Modes
1-4 E2969-91020
Known Endpoint Test Mode
In the Known Endpoint test mode, the PTC behaves like a known
endpoint device.
This mode is used for system testing. No other card can be plugged into
the PTC in this mode. The software runs various KEP tests to test the
systems behavior on certain error conditions.
The KEP mode will be supported by one of the next software releases.
Topology Mode
The Topology mode is used to test BIOS settings.
Controlled by software running on an external host connected through
USB, the PTC pretends to behave like a variety of PCI Express devices. No
other card can be plugged into the PTC in this mode.
All configuration accesses are handled via the software connected
through the USB link. No other accesses or transactions are supported in
this mode.
In this mode it is necessary to power the PTC through the external power
connector. Any standard ATX Power Supply can be used for this purpose.
NOTE

E2969-91020 2-1
Installation
Test setups using the Agilent E2969A protocol test card (PTC) include the
following components:
• E2969A Protocol Test Card (PTC) card plugged into the target platform
• Add-In-Card Tests: PTC software running on the target platform
providing a graphical user interface used for controlling the tests and
monitoring the test results
• Topology Mode Tests: PTC software running running on an extra
controlling host PC connected to the test card through USB to run the
tests. This software package is also used for administration purposes.
This chapter shows how to install these components and verify their
operation.
Prerequisites
The PTC supports the PCI Express Specification 1.0a.
It is intended to be used standalone or as part of Intel’s Product
Development Kits (PDKs) for PCI Express Technology. The PTC integrates
into the PDK Software environment and tests.
For the Add-In-Card test mode as well as the Topology test mode, the PTC
must be plugged into a target platform, for example, the one provided
with the Intel PDK.

Installation Prerequisites
2-2 E2969-91020
PCI Express traffic must be scrambled as described in the PCI Express
specification. Unscrambled data transfer is not supported.
The Add-In-Card (AIC) tests run under the operating system Linux and
Windows. In case of AIC Tests under Linux, the target platform must
fulfill the following prerequisites:
• Red Hat Linux 9 installed, running the uniprocessor kernel
• “Kernel Development” package installed, including the Tk GUI toolkit
for Tcl, with shared libraries
• at least one free PCI Express slot that can be configured to run as x1
PCI Express connection
• CD-ROM drive available
In case of AIC Tests under Windows, the target platform must fulfill the
following prerequisites:
• Windows 2K or Windows XP installed
• at least one free PCI Express slot that can be configured to run as x1
PCI Express connection
• CD-ROM drive available
The controlling host for the Topology tests and administrative purposes
must fulfill the following prerequisites:
• 1 GHz PC with a Pentium 4 or equivalent
• Windows 2000 or Windows XP installed
• USB connector available
• CD-ROM drive available

Installing the Software Installation
E2969-91020 2-3
Installing the Software
The PTC comes with two software packages.
• A Linux version of the Software supporting the AIC Tests to perform
PCI Express compliance tests with plugged in test cards.
• Windows Software for AIC Tests under Windows and Topology mode
Test used with USB connection from an external host also under
Windows. The software package also contains administration utilities.
Both software packages are on the shipped CD.
AIC Test Mode Software – Linux Installation
The AIC mode tests for PCI Express run on the target platform itself and
use the operating system Red Hat Linux 9.
Before installing the PTC software on the target platform, check the
following:
• Has the Red Hat Linux 9 operating system been installed properly?
If not, proceed by installing the operating system. This software can be
downloaded from
http://ftp.redhat.com/pub/redhat/linux/9/en/iso/i386
During installation, be sure to install the “Kernel Development”
package, including the Tk GUI toolkit for Tcl, with shared libraries.
• At an existing installation of Red Hat Linux 9, check whether the
“Kernel Development” package has been installed.
Select “Add or Remove Packages” and look for the “Kernel
Development” package in the “Development” group.

Installation Installing the Software
2-4 E2969-91020
• When booting an existing installation of Red Hat Linux 9, be sure to
start the uni-processor kernel.
To check this at a running system, open a terminal window and type
uname -a. If the output shows SMP, the multi-processor kernel has been
started.

Installing the Software Installation
E2969-91020 2-5
To install the target platform software:
1 Power up the target platform.
2 When Linux is being booted, start the uni-processor kernel.
At a multi-processor system, you are queried to select the kernel.
3 Log in to the system as root.
4 Open a terminal window to start installation.
5 Enter mount /mnt/cdrom to mount the CD-ROM drive.
6 Insert the PTC CD and enter the following command in the terminal
window: tar xvzf /mnt/cdrom/ptcgui-1.0.0.tar.gz.
7 Enter cd ptcgui-1.0.0.
In this directory, you will find the files
install.sh and a README.TXT .
Check the readme file for latest information.
8 Enter ./install.sh to start the installation.
The target platform software (graphical user interface) for controlling the
tests is now ready to run.
After installation, make sure that the directory
/usr/local/bin is included
in your
path variable.

Installation Installing the Software
2-6 E2969-91020
The installation and the program itself can only be run by the root user. If
you want other users to execute the tests, you have to manually set the
necessary permissions on
/dev/ttpi_proxy_device ,
usr/local/bin/ptcgui.tcl , and /usr/local/lib/ptcgui/*
No uninstall script is available for the target platform software. To
uninstall the program, you have to manually delete all installed files. The
files are installed in the following directories:
• /usr/local/bin
• /usr/local/lib
• /usr/local/lib/ptcgui
• /dev
AIC Mode Software and Topology Mode
Software – Windows Installation
The AIC Mode and Topology Mode Software is installed by starting the
executable: “Agilent E2969A Series for PCI Express <version> - Build
<date>.exe”. The installation script does install all drivers and performs
necessary system changes.
The software must be installed on a PC running Windows 2000 or
Windows XP. In case of Topology mode the software must be installed on
a different computer (controlling host) than the device under Test and
communicates with the PTC through a USB connection. Minimum
requirement for the topology mode tests to function correctly is a 1 GHz
PC with a Pentium 4 or equivalent.
Be sure to install the software before connecting the controlling PC and
the PTC with the USB cable.
For the AddInCard Drivers it is necessary that the PTC is plugged in, in
the AddInCard Mode, properly installed in the system as two PCI-to-PCI
NOTE
NOTE
NOTE
NOTE

Installing the Software Installation
E2969-91020 2-7
Bridges and no DUT is plugged in.
To ensure if the PTC is installed as 2 PCI-to-PCI Bridges, do following:
1 Go to Control Panel->System->Hardware->Device Manger
2 Select System Devices. Look for 2 “PCI standard PCI-to-PCI bridge”
Devices with following PCI bus numbers. It should look like this:
If you install only the AIC tests and drivers it may be useful to install the
USB-Driver for maintenance

Installation Installing the Hardware
2-8 E2969-91020
The BootDisk, you are able to create while the installation, send a “Boot
completed” command to the PTC and restarts the DUT. So you don’t have
to Power cycle the DUT manually.
To install the software on the controlling host PC:
1 Log in to the PC.
You need administrator rights to install the software.
2 On the CD, look for the zip file named “Agilent E2969A Series for PCI
Express <version> - Build <date>.exe”. and start it.
3 Run the executable
This install script installs all necessary software components and
drivers onto your system.
4 Connect the PC with the PTC through the USB cable and power up the
PTC (which means, power up the target platform).
The card should now be detected automatically (depending on the system
speed this may take a while).
Installing the Hardware
The test card may become hot during use. Do NOT touch any of the
components on the test card. Do NOT place the test card on flammable
surfaces during or after operation.
To install the PTC in the target platform:
1 Power down the target platform.
CAUTION

Installing the Hardware Installation
E2969-91020 2-9
2 Plug the test card into a free PCI Express slot.
This slot must be configured to run as an x1 PCI Express connection.
For the Add-In-Card test mode, it is necessary to power the PTC
through the external power connector. For topology mode tests the
PTC can either get powered by the system directly or via the external
power connector.
3 Connect the external power connector of the PTC to any free standard
ATX Power Connector in the target platform.
Target Platform
PTC
DUT
Power
Supply
The above picture displays the setup for AIC test Mode. Topology test
mode does not need a DUT card plugged into the PTC.
Next, proceed to check the installation as described in the following
section.
As described above, the test card is usually powered through a standard
ATX Power Connector provided by the target platform. If you attempt to
connect the test card to an external power supply, only use power
supplies that adhere to the industry standard ATX power supply
specifications.
NOTE

Installation Testing the Installation
2-10 E2969-91020
Testing the Installation
After installing hardware and software as described above, you should
test the installation before starting to test your devices. This section
provides some hints:
• When powering up the target platform, watch the four-digit display on
the test card. The numbers indicate the states of the internal link state
machine.
After some state switching, the four-digit should settle showing “xx10”.
The two digits on the right indicate the state of the link between the
test card and the target platform. The digits “10” show that the link
could be established.
If the display settles at any other number, an error has occurred (see
“Troubleshooting” on page 4-1).
The left two digits indicate the state of the line between the test card
and an add-in card plugged into the test card. If there is no card
plugged onto the test card, this state is not relevant.
Linux
• While Linux boots up, make sure to start the uni-processor kernel and
log in as root.
Open a terminal window and enter lspci to get a list of all PCI devices
found in the system. This list should contain two unknown devices
with the vendor ID 1855, indicating the two bridges contained in the
PTC:

Testing the Installation Installation
E2969-91020 2-11
• To test the communication between the PTC and the controlling host
PC, connect both devices using the USB cable and use the
“Maintenance” menu entry to retrieve a status message.
Windows AIC Drivers
1 Go to Control Panel->System->Hardware->Device Manger
2 Select System Devices. Look for 2 “Intel(R) Protocol Test Card PCI-to-
PCI bridge” Devices with following PCI bus numbers and a “PCIE
Configuration Space Access Tool” Device. Be sure, that there are no
exclamation marks on this Devices. It should look like this:

Installation Testing the Installation
2-12 E2969-91020
If the installation was successfully you may now shutdown Windows,
plug in the DUT, start Windows, select the DUT and begin with the AIC
Tests.