Ethernet Controller

Intel in

Communications

High-performance,

power-optimized Gigabit

connection for mobile and

desktop PCI-based designs

The Intelligent Way to Connect

usage and enhanced power management

remote power control with ASF 2.0

technology and footprint-compatibility

10/100/1000 Connections

provides optimized Gigabit networking for

power-sensitive designs, such as mobile PC

applications. This highly efficient controller, with

enhanced power management, consumes less

than 1.0W of power at Gigabit speeds. When

no signal is detected on the wire, the controller

reduces power consumption by switching to

100 or 10 and powering down the physical-

layer circuitry (PHY). When a signal is detected,

the controller automatically negotiates the con-

nection to Gigabit, if available. To reduce the

battery drain, the controller automatically

switches the link to 100Mbps operation when

on battery power.

The Intel 82541PI Gigabit Ethernet Controller

enhances secure manageability and system

health monitoring over the LAN with support

for IPMI 1.5, ASF 2.0 and Advanced Pass

Through. For IPMI designs, the on-board SMBus

port can pass management traffic through the

controller to a management device, such as

a Baseboard Management Controller (BMC).

Alternatively, ASF 2.0 provides manageability

without the cost burden of external hardware

via standardized interfaces. ASF 2.0 circuitry

provides advanced system health and security

alerting plus authenticated remote power

control capabilities.

The Intel 82541PI combines Intel’s fifth-

generation Gigabit MAC design with fully

integrated PHY to provide a standard IEEE

802.3 Ethernet interface for 1000BASE-T,

100BASE-TX and 10BASE-T applications.

In addition, the controller provides a direct

Peripheral Component (PCI) Interconnect

designed to be compliant with the PCI 2.3

bus up to 66MHz. Packaged in a 15x15mm

PBGA, the Intel 82541PI Gigabit Ethernet

Controller is footprint-compatible with the

Footprint-compatibility, plus Intel SingleDriver

technology allow for a flexible Gigabit Ethernet

or Fast Ethernet implementation on the same

motherboard layout.

With built-in power management capabilities

and enhanced manageability, the Intel 82541PI

Gigabit Ethernet Controller can help extend

battery life for mobile PC users, giving your

designs a competitive edge for tomorrow’s

mobile PCs.

Product Brief