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# Introduction: Broadcom NetXtreme™ 57XX User Guide

Functional Description

Features

Network Link and Activity Indication

## Functional Description

The Broadcom Ethernet controller connects the computer to an Ethernet network. The controller incorporates a technology that transfers data at a maximum rate of 100 Mbit/s for Fast Ethernet controllers, or one gigabit per second (10 times the rate of Fast Ethernet controllers) for Gigabit Ethernet controllers.

The Gigabit Ethernet controller targets the increased congestion experienced at the backbone and server in today's networks and provides a future upgrade path for high-end workstations that require more bandwidth than the Fast Ethernet controller can provide.

## Features

The following is a list of the Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet/Fast Ethernet controller features for all supported operating systems:

- PCI Express x1 Lane Support (BCM5751, BCM5751m, BCM5721)
- Full ASF 1.0 Support (BCM5705, BCM5702)
- Full ASF 2.0 Support with Hardware Random Number Generator (BCM5751, BCM5751m, BCM5721)
- Gigabit Ethernet (IEEE 802.3-1999) for Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet controllers
- Fast Ethernet for Broadcom 57XX 10/100 Integrated controllers
- Logical Link Control (IEEE 802.2)
- Flow Control (IEEE 802.3x)
- Standard Ethernet frame size (1518 bytes)
- Layer 2 Priority Encoding (IEEE 802.1P)
- High-speed on-chip RISC processors (NOTE: Dual RISC processors are supported only on the BCM5702 and BCM5704 devices.)
- Adaptive interrupt frequency
- Programmable rule checking and frame classification
- Up to 16 (4, if no external memory) classes of service (CoS)
- Up to 16 (4, if no external memory) Distribution Rings
- Integrated 96-KB frame buffer memory
- Jumbo frames (9 KB) (only for the BCM5702 device)
- GMI/MII Management Interface
- 16M external SSRAM address space
- Selectable memory protection for external (on-board) memory
- Statistics for SNMP MIB II, Ethernet-like MIB, and Ethernet MIB (IEEE 802.3z, Clause 30)
- Four unique MAC unicast addresses
- Support for multicast addresses via 128-bit hashing hardware function
- Serial EEPROM and Flash Memory
- Supports PXE 2.1 specification (Linux Red Hat PXE Server, Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, Intel APITEST, DOS UNDI, Rembo Technology Auto-Deploy Server, Windows NT 4.0 Remoteboot Server)
- JTAG support
- PCI Power Management Interface (v1.1)
- ACPI and Wake on LAN support
- 3.3V/1.8V CMOS with 5V-tolerant I/Os

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## Network Link and Activity Indication

The state of the network link and activity is indicated by appearance of the LEDs on the RJ-45 connector (see Figure 1). The network link and activity state indicated by the LEDs is described in Table 1.

Figure 1: RJ-45 Connector

Table 1. Network Link/Activity State Indicated by LEDs

LED | LED Appearance | Network State
--- | --- | ---
Link LED | Off | No link (cable disconnected)
Off | 10 Mbit/s link
Yellow | 100 Mbit/s link
Green | 1000 Mbit/s link
Activity LED | Off | No network activity
Blinking green | Network activity

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