INSPECTOR for PCIe

INSPECTOR is an interposer module designed for non-intrusive monitoring, diagnostic, exercizing and debug of PCIe devices. INSPECTOR uses transparent switching technology to connect on the upstream side to a PCIe host platform, and on the downstream side to the device under test (DUT). INSPECTOR supports PCIe 1.x, 2.x, 3.x, and 4.0 interfaces on either ports, and up to 8 lanes (x8). It is typically used for bring-up and diagnostic testing of PCIe 4.0 DUTs at PCIe 4.0 16GT/s speed using existing PCIe hosts operating at PCIe 3.0 8GT/s speed, but can support any link speed/width combination on upstream and downstream ports. INSPECTOR's built-in diagnostic capabilities allows validation engineers to instantly diagnose issues with their PCIe devices, without the need for expensive test equipment. In particular, it enables design, test and validation engineers to:

• Monitor PCIe interface power-on process
• Diagnose PCIe interface PHY and link issues
• Analyze throughput performance in real-time, in production environment 
• Check PCIe interface reliability
• Perform PCIe interface stress tests and random tests via scripting (exercizer functionality)

It also allows firmware/software engineers to develop their devices firmware and software on the actual production system running the Operating System of choice.

INSPECTOR is used as a PCIe 4.0 Host Interoperability platform at PCI-SIG Compliance Workshops (PCIe 4.0 FYI testing).

Diagnostic Features

• Link status/Negotiated speed
• Detected/Active lanes
• Lane polarity
• 8GT/s and 16GT/s equalization status
• Negotiated Max. Payload
• LTSSM state history
• Recovery state counter
• 128b/130b framing errors
• Encoding/Disparity errors
• ASPM L0s status

Throughput Analysis Features

• Host to DUT: throughput per packet type, throughput total, max. throughput
• DUT to Host: throughput per packet type, throughput total, max. throughput

Exercizer Features

• Force Receiver Detect
• Disable low-power negotiation
• Set Loopback Master
• Set initial Equalization presets
• Force entry into L2 power state
• Force entry into L1SS power states (L1.1, L1.2)
• Change initial EQ Presets at 8 GT/s and 16 GT/s 
• Redo equalization

Testsuite Automation

• Python scripting with support for conditional statements
• Logging with time stamping