SMSC LAN91C111 32/16/8-Bit Three-In-One Fast Ethernet Controller

Table 6.2 Little Endian Memory Images

Double Word Value to be Stored = 12345678h

BYTE ADDRESS

3

2

1

0

 

 

 

 

 

DATA VALUES (H)

12

34

56

78

 

 

 

 

 

BINARY VALUES

0001 0010

0011 0100

01010110

0111 1000

 

 

 

 

 

The Intel 80X86 and Pentium and DEC Alpha RISC processors are Little Endian.

6.2.3Bi-Endian

As previously stated, some processors have the ability to switch their modes of operation to accommodate different endian structures. These processors include the DEC Alpha and the PowerPC. The control of their endian structure is done via software; please refer to the processors documentation for details regarding use of the bi-endian features of the particular processor you are working with.

6.3Implications for the LAN91C111

Whether or not design considerations need to be taken regarding the endian issues is an application specific decision. This section will discuss these issues and give examples of how to connect the LAN91C111 to a device that requires byte swapping (Big Endian). By better understanding the issue the design engineer can decide if and how to accommodate the differences in endian structure.

6.4Physical connections for Big Endian

In a design that requires the processor to LAN91C111 connections to be byte swapped you would connect the data bus as displayed in the figure below.

SMSC AN 9.6

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Revision 1.0 (08-14-08)

APPLICATION NOTE