PCIe course-Basic to advanced – Your VLSI Journey Starts Here

About Course

This course provides a complete, industry-oriented understanding of PCIe (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express), covering fundamentals, architecture, protocol layers, and real-world verification techniques.

#Understand PCIe architecture and protocol stack in depth
#Learn transaction, data link, and physical layer concepts
#Analyze PCIe TLPs, DLLPs, and packet flow
#Design and verify PCIe components using SystemVerilog and UVM
#Debug real-world PCIe issues using simulation tools
#Gain knowledge of PIPE interface and LTSSM states
#Build reusable verification environments
#Understand PCIe generations and performance improvements

Course Content

Module 0.1: The Foundations – Legacy PCI and PCI-X Architecture
Course Description: Establish a solid background by understanding the predecessors to PCIe. This module covers why the industry moved away from parallel buses.

Lecture 1: The Evolution of Peripheral Buses
Lecture 2: PCI Basics and Bus Cycles
Lecture 3: PCI Transaction Models
Lecture 4: The Limitations of Parallel Buses
Lecture 5: Introducing PCI-X

Module 0.2: Introduction to PCI Express (PCIe) Architecture
Course Description: Transition from the parallel shared bus to the high-speed serial point-to-point architecture of PCIe, while maintaining software backward compatibility

Module 0.3: Deep Dive into the PCIe Layers
Course Description: A detailed breakdown of how packets are assembled, transmitted, verified, and disassembled as they move through the PCIe hierarchy.

Module 0.4: Configuration Space and System Enumeration
Course Description: Learn how the system BIOS and OS discover devices, assign addresses, and configure the system at boot.

Module 0.5: Address Space and TLP Routing
Course Description: How data finds its way through the PCIe fabric. This module covers memory allocation and routing rules.

Module 1.1 : Transaction Layer Packet (TLP) Elements

Module 1.2 : Flow Control Protocol

Module 1.3 : Quality of Service (QoS)

Module 1.4 : Transaction Ordering

Module 2.1: Fundamentals of Data Link Layer Packets (DLLPs)

Module 2.2: Deep Dive into DLLP Types and Formats

Module 2.3: The Ack/Nak Protocol – Ensuring Reliable Delivery

Module 2.4: Inside the Transmitter (Tx) Architecture

Module 2.5: Inside the Receiver (Rx) Architecture

Module 2.6: Protocol in Action: Replays and Error Recovery

Module 2.7: Advanced Data Link Layer Concepts

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Course Content

Module 0.1: The Foundations – Legacy PCI and PCI-X Architecture Course Description: Establish a solid background by understanding the predecessors to PCIe. This module covers why the industry moved away from parallel buses.

Lecture 1: The Evolution of Peripheral Buses

Lecture 2: PCI Basics and Bus Cycles

Lecture 3: PCI Transaction Models

Lecture 4: The Limitations of Parallel Buses

Lecture 5: Introducing PCI-X

Module 0.2: Introduction to PCI Express (PCIe) Architecture Course Description: Transition from the parallel shared bus to the high-speed serial point-to-point architecture of PCIe, while maintaining software backward compatibility

Lecture 1: The Shift to Serial Transport

Lecture 2: Differential Signaling

Lecture 3: Links, Lanes, and Bandwidth

Lecture 4: PCIe Topology Elements

Lecture 5: The Layered Architecture

Module 0.3: Deep Dive into the PCIe Layers Course Description: A detailed breakdown of how packets are assembled, transmitted, verified, and disassembled as they move through the PCIe hierarchy.

Lecture 1: The Transaction Layer (TLP)

Lecture 2: Posted vs. Non-Posted Transactions

Lecture 3: Quality of Service (QoS)

Lecture 4: The Data Link Layer and DLLPs

Lecture 5: Reliable Delivery (The Ack/Nak Protocol)

Lecture 6: The Physical Layer

Module 0.4: Configuration Space and System Enumeration Course Description: Learn how the system BIOS and OS discover devices, assign addresses, and configure the system at boot.

Lecture 1: Understanding BDF (Bus, Device, Function)

Lecture 2: Configuration Address Space

Lecture 3: Generating Configuration Transactions

Lecture 4: Type 0 vs. Type 1 Configuration Requests

Lecture 5: The Enumeration Process (Discovery)

Module 0.5: Address Space and TLP Routing Course Description: How data finds its way through the PCIe fabric. This module covers memory allocation and routing rules.

Lecture 1: Memory and IO Address Spaces

Lecture 2: Base Address Registers (BARs)

Lecture 3: Base and Limit Registers

Lecture 4: ID and Address Routing Mechanisms

Lecture 5: Implicit Routing for Messages

Module 1.1 : Transaction Layer Packet (TLP) Elements

Lecture 1: Introduction to Packet-Based Protocol

Lecture 2: TLP Assembly and Disassembly

Lecture 3: Generic TLP Header Format

Lecture 4: Managing Data Payloads and Byte Enables

Lecture 5: Specific TLP Formats

Lecture 6: Message Requests

Module 1.2 : Flow Control Protocol

Lecture 1: Flow Control Concepts.

Lecture 2: Virtual Channel (VC) Buffers and Credits

Lecture 3: Flow Control Initialization.

Lecture 4: Transmitter and Receiver Elements

Lecture 5: Managing Flow Control Updates

Module 1.3 : Quality of Service (QoS)

Lecture 1: Introduction to Differentiated Services.

Lecture 2: Traffic Classes (TC) and Virtual Channels (VC)

Lecture 3: Virtual Channel (VC) Arbitration.

Lecture 4: Port Arbitration

Lecture 5: Isochronous System Support

Module 1.4 : Transaction Ordering

Lecture 1: Transaction Ordering Fundamentals

Lecture 2: The Producer/Consumer Model.

Lecture 3: Simplified Ordering Rules

Lecture 4: Relaxed Ordering (RO)

Lecture 5: ID-Based Ordering (IDO)

Module 2.1: Fundamentals of Data Link Layer Packets (DLLPs)

Lecture 1: Introduction to the Data Link Layer

Lecture 2: What are DLLPs?

Lecture 3: DLLP Core Characteristics

Lecture 4: Receiver Rules for DLLPs

Module 2.2: Deep Dive into DLLP Types and Formats

Lecture 1: Framing and Sending DLLPs

Lecture 2: Ack/Nak DLLPs

Lecture 3: Power Management DLLPs

Lecture 4: Flow Control DLLPs

Lecture 5: Vendor-Specific DLLPs

Module 2.3: The Ack/Nak Protocol – Ensuring Reliable Delivery

Lecture 1: The Goal of Reliable Transport

Lecture 2: Error Detection Mechanisms

Lecture 3: The Golden Rule of Ordering

Module 2.4: Inside the Transmitter (Tx) Architecture

Lecture 1: Generating Sequence Numbers

Lecture 2: The Replay (Retry) Buffer