Dell R210 Chipset, Overview, Direct Media Interface, PCI Express Interface, SATA Interface, Ahci

Dell

8 Chipset

8.1 Overview

The PowerEdge R210 planar incorporates the Intel Ibex Peak as PCH chipset. The Ibex Peak is a highly integrated I/O controller. The high-level features supported by the chipset and implemented on the PowerEdge R210 are detailed in the sections that follow.

8.2 Direct Media Interface

Direct Media Interface (DMI) is the chip-to-chip connection between the processor and Ibex Peak chipset. This high-speed interface integrates advanced priority-based servicing allowing for concurrent traffic and true isochronous transfer capabilities. Base functionality is completely software-transparent, permitting current and legacy software to operate normally.

8.3 PCI Express Interface

The Ibex Peak provides up to 8 PCI Express Root Ports, supporting the PCI Express Base Specification, Revision 2.0. Each Root Port supports 2.5 GB/s bandwidth in each direction (5 GB/s concurrent). PCI Express Root Ports 1-4 can be statically configured as four x1 Ports or ganged together to form one x 4 ports. Ports 5 and 6 can only be used as two x 1 port.

8.4 SATA Interface

The Ibex Peak has two integrated SATA host controllers that support independent DMA operation on up to six ports and supports data transfer rates of up to 3.0 GB/s (300MB/s). The SATA controller contains two modes of operation – a legacy mode using I/O space, and an AHCI mode using memory space. Software that uses legacy mode will not have AHCI capabilities.

The Ibex Peak supports the Serial ATA Specification, Revision 1.0a. The Ibex Peak also supports several optional sections of the Serial ATA II: Extensions to Serial ATA 1.0 Specification, Revision 1.0 (AHCI support is required for some elements).

8.5 AHCI

The Ibex Peak provides hardware support for Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI), a new programming interface for SATA host controllers. Platforms supporting AHCI may take advantage of performance features such as no master/slave designation for SATA devices—each device is treated as a master—and hardware-assisted native command queuing. AHCI also provides usability enhancements such as Hot-Plug. AHCI requires appropriate software support (e.g., an AHCI driver) and for some features, hardware support in the SATA device or additional platform hardware.

8.6 PCI Interface

The Ibex Peak PCI interface provides a 33 MHz, Revision 2.3 implementation. The Ibex Peak integrates a PCI arbiter that supports up to four external PCI bus masters in addition to the internal Ibex Peak requests. This allows for combinations of up to four PCI down devices and PCI slots.

PowerEdge R210 Technical Guide 34