High Performance Two Port 10/100 Managed Ethernet Switch with 32-Bit Non-PCI CPU Interface
Datasheet
Revision 1.4 (08-19-08)
272
SMSC LAN9312
DATASHEET
7:6
BackOff Limit (BOLMT)
The BOLMT bits allow the user to set the back-off limit in a relaxed or
aggressive mode. According to IEEE 802.3, the Host MAC has to wait for a
random number [r] of slot-times(see note) after it detects a collision, where:
(eq.1)0 <
r
<
2
K
The exponent K is dependent on how many times the current frame to be
transmitted has been retried, as follows:
(eq.2)K = min
(n,
10) where
n
is the current number of retries.
If a frame has been retried three times, then K = 3 and r= 8 slot-times
maximum. If it has been retried 12 times, then K = 10, and r = 1024 slot-
times maximum.
An LFSR (linear feedback shift register) 20-bit counter emulates a 20 bit
random number generator, from which r is obtained. Once a collision is
detected, the number of the current retry of the current frame is used to
obtain K (eq.2). This value of K translates into the number of bits to use from
the LFSR counter. If the value of K is 3, the Host MAC takes the value in
the first three bits of the LFSR counter and uses it to count down to zero on
every slot-time. This effectively causes the Host MAC to wait eight slot-
times. To give the user more flexibility, the BOLMT value forces the number
of bits to be used from the LFSR counter to a predetermined value as in the
table below.
Thus, if the value of K = 10, the Host MAC will look at the BOLMT if it is 00b,
then use the lower ten bits of the LFSR counter for the wait countdown. If the BOLMT
is 10b, then it will only use the value in the first four bits for the wait countdown,
etc.
Note:
Slot-time = 512 bit times. (See IEEE 802.3 Spec., sections 4.2.3.25
and 4.4.2.1)
R/W
0b
5
Deferral Check (DFCHK)
When set, enables the deferral check in the Host MAC. The Host MAC will
abort the transmission attempt if it has deferred for more than 24,288 bit
times. Deferral starts when the transmitter is ready to transmit, but is
prevented from doing so because the CRS is active. Deferral time is not
cumulative. If the transmitter defers for 10,000 bit times, then transmits,
collides, backs off, and then has to defer again after completion of back-off,
the deferral timer resets to 0 and restarts. When this bit is cleared, the
deferral check is disabled in the Host MAC and the Host MAC defers
indefinitely.
R/W
0b
4
RESERVED
RO
-
3
Transmitter enable (TXEN)
When set, the Host MAC’s transmitter is enabled and it will transmit frames
from the buffer.
When cleared, the Host MAC’s transmitter is disabled and will not transmit
any frames.
R/W
0b
2
Receiver Enable (RXEN)
When set, the Host MAC’s receiver is enabled and will receive frames.
When cleared, the MAC’s receiver is disabled and will not receive any
frames.
R/W
0b
1:0
RESERVED
RO
-
BITS
DESCRIPTION
TYPE
DEFAULT
BOLMT Value
# Bits Used from LFSR Counter
00b
10
01b
8
10b
4
11b
1