DocID018909 Rev 11
RM0090
Ethernet (ETH): media access control (MAC) with DMA controller
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configured for 96 bit times, the MAC follows the rule of deference specified in Section
4.2.3.2.1 of the IEEE 802.3 specification. The MAC resets its IFG counter if a carrier is
detected during the first two-thirds (64-bit times for all IFG values) of the IFG interval. If the
carrier is detected during the final one third of the IFG interval, the MAC continues the IFG
count and enables the transmitter after the IFG interval. The MAC implements the truncated
binary exponential backoff algorithm when it operates in Half-duplex mode.
Transmit flow control
When the Transmit Flow Control Enable bit (TFE bit in ETH_MACFCR) is set, the MAC
generates Pause frames and transmits them as necessary, in Full-duplex mode. The Pause
frame is appended with the calculated CRC, and is sent. Pause frame generation can be
initiated in two ways.
A pause frame is sent either when the application sets the FCB bit in the ETH_MACFCR
register or when the receive FIFO is full (packet buffer).
•
If the application has requested flow control by setting the FCB bit in ETH_MACFCR,
the MAC generates and transmits a single Pause frame. The value of the pause time in
the generated frame contains the programmed pause time value in ETH_MACFCR. To
extend the pause or end the pause prior to the time specified in the previously
transmitted Pause frame, the application must request another Pause frame
transmission after programming the Pause Time value (PT in ETH_MACFCR register)
with the appropriate value.
•
If the application has requested flow control when the receive FIFO is full, the MAC
generates and transmits a Pause frame. The value of the pause time in the generated
frame is the programmed pause time value in ETH_MACFCR. If the receive FIFO
remains full at a configurable number of slot-times (PLT bits in ETH_MACFCR) before
this Pause time runs out, a second Pause frame is transmitted. The process is
repeated as long as the receive FIFO remains full. If this condition is no more satisfied
prior to the sampling time, the MAC transmits a Pause frame with zero pause time to
indicate to the remote end that the receive buffer is ready to receive new data frames.
Single-packet transmit operation
The general sequence of events for a transmit operation is as follows:
1.
If the system has data to be transferred, the DMA controller fetches them from the
memory through the AHB Master interface and starts forwarding them to the FIFO. It
continues to receive the data until the end of frame is transferred.
2. When the threshold level is crossed or a full packet of data is received into the FIFO,
the frame data are popped and driven to the MAC core. The DMA continues to transfer
data from the FIFO until a complete packet has been transferred to the MAC. Upon
completion of the frame, the DMA controller is notified by the status coming from the
MAC.
Transmit operation—Two packets in the buffer
1.
Because the DMA must update the descriptor status before releasing it to the Host,
there can be at the most two frames inside a transmit FIFO. The second frame is
fetched by the DMA and put into the FIFO only if the OSF (operate on second frame)
bit is set. If this bit is not set, the next frame is fetched from the memory only after the
MAC has completely processed the frame and the DMA has released the descriptors.
2. If the OSF bit is set, the DMA starts fetching the second frame immediately after
completing the transfer of the first frame to the FIFO. It does not wait for the status to
be updated. In the meantime, the second frame is received into the FIFO while the first