from
Product Notice: Pending Obsolescence
Features
- Conforms to UTOPIA level 2, version 1.0, June 1995 specification
- 8-bit or 16-bit UTOPIA bus operation and local bus widths of 8 or 16 bits
- Single physical layer (SPHY) operation, with both octet-level and cell-level handshaking
- Multi-PHY (MPHY) operation, with single clav signal
- Parity generation and detection
- Optional cell discard on parity error detection
- Internal four-cell, FIFO buffers supported for both transmit and receive
- AtlanticTM interface, which is a packet-based interface that is compatible with other Altera® cell and packet MegaCore® functions
- Intellectual property (IP) functional simulation models for use in Altera-supported VHDL and Verilog HDL simulators
- Easy-to-use IP Toolbench interface
- Support for OpenCore Plus evaluation
General Description
The UTOPIA Level 2 Slave MegaCore function is designed for use in PHY layer devices that transfer data to and from Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) devices using the standard UTOPIA bus. The MegaCore function contains a separate transmitter and receiver; both of which support SPHY and MPHY operation modes. The SPHY mode supports octet-level or cell-level handshake; the MPHY mode supports cell-level handshake.
The transmitter is polled by the ATM layer to determine if it is ready to receive data transfers. The transmitter accepts cells from the ATM layer via the UTOPIA bus interface and sends them to the PHY devices. It detects and discards cells that are too short and discards excess bytes from cells that are too long. It also checks for parity errors on the UTOPIA bus. There is an option to discard cells with detected parity errors.
The receiver is polled by the ATM layer to determine if it is ready to transfer data. The receiver accepts cells from the PHY layer and sends them to the ATM layer device via the UTOPIA bus interface. There is an option to generate parity information for the UTOPIA bus.
Figure 1 illustrates data flow using the UTOPIA Level 2 Slave MegaCore function.
Figure 1. UTOPIA Block Diagram

Atlantic Interface
The Atlantic interface allows a consistent interface between all Altera cell and packet MegaCore functions. The Atlantic interface is only designed to support a point-to-point connection. You must choose whether you use the local or Atlantic interface. Figure 2 shows examples of the Atlantic interface.
Figure 2. Atlantic Interface

For more information on the Atlantic interface, refer to FS 13: Atlantic Interface (PDF).
OpenCore Plus Evaluation
Use the Altera OpenCore Plus evaluation flow to test drive this IP core.
Performance
Typical expected performance and utilization figures for this MegaCore function are provided in the UTOPIA Level 2 Slave MegaCore Function User Guide (PDF).
Technical Support
For technical support on this MegaCore function, please visit the Altera mySupport online issue tracking system.
Related Documents
- UTOPIA Level 2 Slave MegaCore Function User Guide (PDF)
- MegaCore IP Library Release Notes and Errata (PDF)
Obsolescence Notice: This product is not recommended for new designs. Please refer to Product Discontinuance Notice PDN0906.
