The DP83826 incorporates an internal PRBS built-in self-test (BIST) circuit to accommodate in-circuit testing and diagnostics. The BIST circuit can be used to test the integrity of transmit and receive data paths. The BIST can be performed using both internal loopbacks (digital or analog) or external loopback using a cable fixture. The BIST simulates pseudo-random data transfer scenarios in format of real packets and inter-packet gap (IPG) on the lines. The BIST allows full control of the packet lengths and the IPG.

The BIST packet length is controlled using bits[10:0] in the BIST Control and Status Register #2 (BICSR2, address 0x001C). The BIST IPG length is controlled using bits[7:0] in the BIST Control and Status Register #1 (BICSR1, address 0x001B).

The BIST is implemented with independent transmit and receive paths, with the transmit clock generating a continuous stream of a pseudo-random sequence. The device generates a 15-bit pseudo-random sequence for BIST. Received data is compared to the generated pseudo-random data to determine pass/fail status. The number of error bytes that the PRBS checker received is stored in bits[15:8] of the BICSR1. PRBS lock status and sync can be read from the BIST Control Register (BISCR, address 0x0016).

The PRBS test can be put in a continuous mode by using bit[14] in the BISCR. In continuous mode, when the BIST error counter reaches the maximum value, the counter starts counting from zero again. To read the BIST error count, bit[15] in the BICSR1 must be set to '1'. This setting locks the current value of the BIST errors for reading. Setting bit[15] also clears the BIST Error Counter.