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9.11.2.2
RGMII Implementation
Peripheral Section
In silicon version 2.0, the RMII reference clock is an input. An external clock source should provide an
aligned reference clock to the TCI6482 RMII reference clock input and to the RMII device connected to the
other side of the interface.
Refer to the latest TCI6482 errata sheet for details.
The RGMII interface is compliant with the RGMII version 2.0 specification found at the following link:
http://www.hp.com/rnd/pdfs/RGMIIv2_0_final_hp.pdf
The electrical signaling is compatible to JEDEC specification JESD8-6:
http://www.jedec.org/download/search/jesd8-6.pdf
Although the JEDEC specification specifically details 1.5V HSTL signaling, the TCI6482 and most other
RGMII v2.0 devices support operation at 1.8V. Some devices support RGMII v1.3 (LVCMOS levels) but
not RGMII v2.0 levels. An application note on how to do voltage translation from the TCI6482 1.5V/1.8V
interface to an LVCMOS 2.5V/3.3V interface that operates at Gigabit speeds (125MHz) is given in the
Appendix A
.
The RGMII interface operates at 125MHz and clocks data on both edges of the clocks. This connection
should be routed with high speed interface routing rules. The RGMII specification provides timing
information at both the receiver and the transmitter. The user must verify that the timing variations due to
board topology are not more than allowed by the RGMII specification. TCI6482 HSTL IBIS models are
provided to aid in this analysis.
The TCI6482 implements an internal delay (referred to as RGMII-ID in the RGMII specification) on the
transmit signals but not on the receive signals. So the connected device should use normal mode on the
transmit side (no delay) and internal delay mode on the receive side. If the connected device does not
support internal delay on the receive side, the proper delay needs to be created at the board level by
routing the RXC signal longer than the receive data signals. The RGMII specification calls for this trace
delay to be between 1.5nS and 2.0nS. Assuming a trace flight time of 170pS/inch, the clock should be
routed about 10.3 inches longer than the data and control. Flight time is dependent on board stackup and
this length should be adjusted for the flight time of the specific board design.
The TCI6482 silicon version 1.1 RGMII implementation relies on the in-band signaling as defined in
section 3.4.1 of the RGMII v2.0 specification in order to get link status, link speed and duplex information.
Until link status “UP” is indicated on this in-band signaling the TCI6482 will not transmit. It is therefore
required that the connected device support the transmission of all the in-band signaling and that this
feature is enabled before attempting to use the RGMII interface. Silicon version 2.0 offers a feature to
force the internal state of: link status, link speed, and duplex so that the in-band signaling will not be
required.
Some RGMII v2.0 devices have the MDIO interface implemented as 2.5V/3.3V LVCMOS. If RGMII is
selected on the TCI6482 only the HSTL MDIO interface is active. The circuit shown in
Figure 13
has been
tested for this purpose. For more information and additional voltage translation options refer to the
following application note: Selecting the Right Level Translation Solution (
SCEA035
)
34
TMS320TCI6482 Design Guide and Migration from TMS320TCI100
SPRAAC7B – April 2006
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