82598EB Datasheet, PDF (110/596 Pages) Intel Corporation – Intel® 82598EB 10 Gigabit Ethernet Controller Datasheet

Intel^® 82598EB 10 GbE Controller - Manageability Interfaces (SMBus/NC-SI)
—No-teaming - The 82598 dual LAN ports act independently of each other and no fail-over is
provided by the 82598. The BMC is responsible for teaming and failover.
—Teaming - The 82598 is configured to provide fail-over capabilities, such that manageability
traffic is routed to an active port if any of the ports fail. Several modes of operation are
provided.
Note: These services are not available in NC-SI mode.
For more information on the SMBus and NC-SI manageability interfaces, refer to the Intel® 82598 10
GbE Controller System Manageability Interface application note.This document is available from your
Intel representative.
3.1.2.2 NC-SI
The NC-SI interface in the 82598 is a connection to an external BMC. It operates in one of two modes:
• NC-SI-SMBus mode – In conjunction with an SMBus interface, where pass-through traffic passes
through NC-SI and configuration traffic passes through SMBus.
• NC-SI mode – As a single interface with an external BMC, where all traffic between the 82598 and
the BMC flows through the interface.
3.1.2.2.1 Interface Specification
The 82598 NC-SI interface meets the NC-SI Specification, Rev. 1.2 as a PHY-side device.
The following NC-SI capabilities are not supported by the 82598:
• Collision Detection: The interface supports only full-duplex operation
• MDIO: MDIO/MDC management traffic is not passed on the interface
• Magic Packets: Magic packets are not detected at the 82598 receive end
• Flow Control: The 82598 supports receiving flow control on this interface but no transmission
3.1.2.2.2 Electrical Characteristics
The 82598 complies with the electrical characteristics defined in the DMTF NC-SI specification.
However, the 82598 pads are not 5V tolerant and require that signals conform to 3.3V signaling.
NC-SI behavior is configured by the 82598 at power up:
• The output driver strength for the NC-SI output signals (NC-SI_DV and NC-SI_RX) is configured
by the EEPROM NC-SI Data Pad Drive Strength bit; word 15h, bit 14 (default = 0b).
• The NC-SI topology is loaded from the EEPROM (point-to-point or multi-drop – default is point-to-
point)
The 82598 dynamically drives its NC-SI output signals (NC-SI_DV and NC-SI_RX) as required by the
sideband protocol:
• At power up, the 82598 floats the NC-SI outputs.
• If the 82598 operates in point-to-point mode, then it starts driving the NC-SI outputs at some
time following power up.
• If the 82598 operates in a multi-drop mode, it drives the NC-SI outputs as configured by the
BMC.
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