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Intel® 82540EM Gigabit Ethernet Controller
Overview
Key Applications | Features and Benfits | Characteristics

82540EM The Intel® 82540EM Gigabit Ethernet Controller is a single, compact component with integrated Gigabit Ethernet MAC and PHY layer functions. Packaged in a 15x15 mm TFBGA, the Intel 82540EM Gigabit Ethernet controller is footprint compatible with the Intel® 82551QM and 82551ER Fast Ethernet Controllers (same package size, same number and pattern of pins and similar signal layout), allowing for a flexible, Gigabit Ethernet or 10/100 Ethernet design.

The Intel 82540EM integrates Intel's fourth generation Gigabit MAC design with fully integrated, physical-layer circuitry to provide a standard IEEE 802.3 Ethernet interface for 1000Base-T, 100Base-TX, and 10Base-T applications (802.3, 802.3u, 802.3ab). The controller is capable of transmitting and receiving data at 1000 Mb/s, 100 Mb/s, or 10 Mb/s data rates. In addition, the controller provides a direct Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) 2.2 compliant bus up to 66 MHz.

The Intel 82540EM's on-board SMBus port enables enhanced manageability and system health monitoring via the LAN. With SMBus, management packets can be routed to or from a management processor. The SMBus port enables industry standards such as IPMI (Intelligent Platform Management Interface) to be implemented with the 82540EM. In addition, ASF 1.0 (Alert Standard Format) circuitry provides alerting and remote control capabilities with standardized interfaces.

The Intel 82540EM Gigabit Ethernet Controller architecture is optimized to deliver both high performance and PCI bus efficiency with the lowest power and smallest die size. Using state logic design with a pipelined DMA Unit and 128 bit wide buses for the fastest performance, the Intel 82540EM controller handles Gigabit Ethernet traffic with low network latency and minimal internal processing overhead. The controller's architecture includes independent transmit and receive queues to limit PCI bus traffic, and a PCI interface that maximizes the use of bursts for efficient bus usage. The Intel 82540EM Gigabit Ethernet Controller prefetches up to 64 packet descriptors in a single burst for efficient PCI-bandwidth usage. A 64 KB on-chip packet buffers maintain superior performance as available PCI bandwidth changes. Advanced interrupt moderation hardware manages interrupts generated by the Intel 82540EM controller to further improve system efficiency. In addition, using hardware acceleration, the controller also offloads tasks from the host processor, such as TCP/UDP/ IP checksum calculations and TCP segmentation.
Key Applications
The Intel 82540EM Gigabit Ethernet Controller is designed for use in the following applications:

LAN on Motherboard (LOM) in desktop, mobile and other space constrained designs
Communications and networking devices, requiring improved performance over 10/100 Ethernet
Gigabit Ethernet connectivity for embedded clients, such as Web kiosks and POS terminals
Features and Benefits
PCI Bus Features
PCI revision 2.2, 32-bit, 33/66 MHz Application flexibility in LOM or embedded use
Algorithms that optimally use advanced PCI MWI, MRM, MRL commands Efficient bus operations
MAC Specific Features
64KB configurable RX and TX packet FIFO
No external FIFO memory requirements
FIFO size tunable to the application
Low-latency transmit and receive queues Network packets handled without waiting or buffer overflow
IEEE 802.3x compliant flow control support with software controllable pause times and threshold values
Control over the transmission of Pause frames through software or hardware triggering
Reduced frame loss due to receive FIFO overrun
Caches up to 64 packet descriptors in a single burst Efficient PCI-bandwidth usage
Programmable host memory receive buffers (256B to 16KB)
Programmable cache line size from 16B to 256B
Efficient usage of PCI bandwidth
128-bit internal data path architecture
Low latency data handling
Superior DMA transfer rate performance
Optimized descriptor fetching and write-back mechanisms Efficient system memory and PCI bandwidth usage
Gigabit PHY Specific Features
Integrated PHY for 10/100/1000 Mb/s full and half duplex operation Reduced board space and lower power dissipation compared to multi-chip MAC/PHY solutions
IEEE 802.3ab Auto-Negotiation Automatic link configuration including speed, duplex, and flow control
Proven PHY technology compatible with IEEE 802.3ab Robust operation over the installed base of CAT-5 twisted pair cabling at lengths greater than 100m
State-of-the-art DSP architecture implements digital adaptive equalization, echo cancellation, and cross-talk cancellation, baseline wander cancellation Robust 1000 Mb/s performance in noisy environments and despite severe cable installation problems
PHY detects polarity, MDI-X, 2 pair vs. 4 pair cables, and cable length
Easier network installation and maintenance
No need to know the difference between crossover and non-crossover cables
End to end wiring tolerance
Host Offloading Features
Transmit TCP segmentation Increased throughput and lower CPU utilization. Compatible with large send offload feature found in Windows*2000 and Windows* XP
IP, TCP, and UDP checksum off-loading capabilities on RX and TX Reduced host CPU utilization
Advanced packet filtering
16 exact matched (unicast or multicast)
4096-bit hash filter for multicast frames
Promiscuous (unicast/multicast) transfer mode
Optional filtering of erred frames
IEEE 802.1Q VLAN support with VLAN tag insertion and stripping and packet filtering for up to 4096 VLAN tags Enables IT staff to easily create multiple virtual LAN segments
Descriptor ring management hardware for TX and RX Optimized fetching and write-back mechanisms for efficient system memory and PCI bandwidth usage
Jumbo frame support up to 16KB High throughput for large data transfers on networks supporting jumbo frames
Interrupt Management Features
Interrupt moderation controls
Reduces the number of interrupts generated by receive and transmit operations
Maximizes system performance and throughput
Small Packet Interrupt Fast detection of TCP ACKs for improved small packet throughput
Manageability Features
On-chip SMBus 2.0 port
Enables IPMI, and ASF implementations
Allows packets to be routed to and from either LAN port and a server management processor
ASF 1.0 alerting Provides alerting and remote control capabilities with standardized interfaces
Pre-boot eXecution Environment (PXE) 2.1 Compatible with Intel® Boot Agent software
Compliance with PCI Power Management v1.1/ACPI v2.0 PCI power management capability requirements for PC and embedded applications
SNMP and RMON statistic counters Easy system monitoring with industry standard consoles
SDG3.0, WfM 2.0, PC2001 Compliance Remote network management capabilities via DMI 2.0 and SNMP software
Wake on LAN (WoL) support Packet recognition and wakeup for network adapter and LOM applications without software configuration
Automatic link speed switching from 1000 Mb/s down to 10 or 100 Mb/s in standby
Low power in standby states
Supports power down states without software assistance
Smart Power Down mode when no signal is detected on the wire
90% of chip powered down until activity on LAN is detected
Enables very low power mobile or battery powered implementations
Diagnostic capabilities including loop back, reporting cable length, cable polarity, number of symbol errors, and incorrectly punched down cables Provide IT managers with meaningful information used to analyze the health and state of their LAN infrastructure
Additional Device Features
Four programmable LED outputs
Indications for link speed, activity, duplex, collisions, pause by flow control, PCI speed, PCI width, and port ID on each port
Allows design customization without affecting software drivers
Four software definable pins Additional flexibility for LED's or other low speed I/O
Internal PLL for clock generation can use a 25 MHz crystal or a 25 MHz oscillator Lower component count and system cost
JTAG (IEEE 1149.1) Test Access Port built in Simplified testing using boundary scan
On-chip power regulator control circuitry
Fewer on-board power supply regulators
Simplified power supply design
Characteristics
Electrical
PCI Signaling
Power Dissipation
3.3V and 5V
1.8W (typical)
Environmental
Operating temperature

Storage temperature
0° C to 70° C (maximum), does not require a heat sink or forced airflow
-65° C to 140° C
Physical
Package
Footprint compatible with Intel® 82551QM Fast Ethernet Controller
196 pin TFBGA, 1mm ball pitch
15 X 15 mm (simplifies LOM board designs)
Enables a Gigabit Ethernet or 10/100 LOM implementation on the same board

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