Ethernet technology has been a cornerstone of network communications since its inception at Xerox PARC in the mid-1970s. Over the years, Ethernet has evolved significantly, with data transfer rates increasing from the original 2.94 Mbit/s to the latest 400 Gbit/s and even up to 1.6 Tbit/s under development. This evolution has been driven by the need for faster data transfer rates to support the growth of the Internet and the increasing demands of network applications.
Ethernet technology has advanced with the development of Triple-Speed Ethernet (TSE), designed to support three speeds: 10 Mbps, 100 Mbps, and 1 Gbps. This allows for a versatile network interface that can adapt to various network environments and bandwidth requirements.
What is Triple-Speed Ethernet?
Triple-Speed Ethernet refers to an Ethernet media access control (MAC) and physical coding sublayer (PCS) Intellectual Property (IP) core that can operate at 10/100/1000 Mbps. This IP core, employed in Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), interfaces with an external Ethernet PHY device, which subsequently links to the Ethernet network. Users can configure the IP in MAC-only mode or combine it with MAC+PHY mode, implementing the PHY using on-chip transceivers or LVDS I/O with dynamic phase alignment logic capable of operating up to 1.25 Gbps.
The Triple-Speed Ethernet IP core offers flexibility and customization, providing options for various applications and sizes, including a small MAC option that utilizes as few as 900 logic elements. It also supports IEEE 1588 v2 Precision Time Protocol (PTP) packet encapsulation for time-sensitive applications.
Interfaces and Driver Support
The Triple-Speed Ethernet MAC can come with different interfaces, such as the AHB interface CoreTSE_AHB, which provides a gigabit media independent interface (G/MII) and serial GMII (SGMII) for physical layer (PHY) interfacing. This core includes several data transfer and management interfaces, including AHB-master and AHB-slave port interfaces, a management interface, and PHY interfaces.
The Linux kernel driver for the Altera Triple-Speed Ethernet MAC provides software support, utilizing soft DMA IP components for data transfer. However, users should note certain limitations: the deprecation of the SGDMA component in favor of MSGDMA, the absence of support for scatter-gather DMA and jumbo frames, and the current limitation of PHY operations to 10/100Mbps. The driver also includes support for ethtool, which allows for retrieving driver statistics and internal errors.
Design Examples and Resources
Intel provides design examples and resources for implementing Triple-Speed Ethernet, including a scatter-gather direct memory access core (SGDMA) for both transmission and reception, a Nios II/f core with a JTAG debug module, and various other peripherals such as DDR3 SDRAM controller, flash memory interface, and system timers.
Conclusion
Triple-Speed Ethernet is a versatile technology that enables FPGAs to communicate over Ethernet networks at varying speeds, making it suitable for various applications. Its flexibility and support for different interfaces and protocols ensure that it can meet the needs of modern network environments. As Ethernet technology advances, Triple-Speed Ethernet will likely remain an important tool for network communication.
