Intel EtherExpress 16 Specifications

• Microsoft Windows for Workgroups version 3.1

SUMMARY

The following information describes the Intel EtherExpress 16 Network card specifications. For more information about this Network card, contact Intel Corporation.

PHYSICAL SPECIFICATIONS

The Intel EtherExpress 16 is a half-slot board. It is short enough to allow an adjacent board to use a piggyback card that is also half length. The board is 4.2 inches tall and 6.5 inches long.

CONNECTORS

The board has two external connectors:

DIX:    A 15-pin, D-shaped connector for AUI interfaced to thick
        Ethernet cables

BNC:    A cylindrical, bayonet connector for interfacing to thin Ethernet
        or Cheapernet cables

FCC COMPLIANCE

The board is an FCC Class B device, making it suitable for use in both commercial and residential applications.

ENVIRONMENTAL SPECIFICATIONS

The board can operate under the following environmental conditions:

   Operating Temperature:  0 to 50 degrees centigrade
   Operating Humidity:     10 to 90 percent, non-condensing

MEMORY ON BOARD

The board has 32K bytes of RAM on it. While this memory is used to buffer the communications between the board and the network (whether you select memory-mapped or I/O-mapped buffering), Intel recommends using I/O-mapped buffering.

ELECTRICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Bus Characteristics

The board works in 8- or 16-bit Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) busses. This is the same bus that is used on IBM PCs (8 bit) and IBM PC/ATs (8-bit or 16-bit). The board also works in EISA computers (because EISA computers are designed to accept both ISA and EISA boards).

Slot Characteristics

Use a 16-bit slot whenever possible because it provides faster transfer of data between the computer and the network. If a 16-bit slot is not available, an 8-bit slot works, but at lower performance.

WORST-CASE POWER CONSUMPTION

Power consumption depends upon the kind of connector being used. The table below shows worst-case power consumption.

   Connector                    Worst-Case Consumption in mA
   ---------------------------------------------------------

   BNC                          610 @ +5V
                                215 @ +12V
   DIX                          610 @ +5V
                                *variable @ +12V

  at +12V. It simply passes it through to power any external
  transceiver connected to the AUI cable. To provide you with a means
  of estimating the amount of power likely to be consumed, the following
  table shows the power consumption for external transceivers made by
  three different manufacturers:

   Manufacturer         Model                   Power Consumed
   -----------------------------------------------------------

   Intel                External                150 mA
   Synoptics            508 10BASE-T            420 mA
   HP                   ThinMAU 28641A          270 mA

CABLE SPECIFICATIONS

Each connector requires a different kind of cable. Here are the specifications for the cable required for each kind of connector.

Cable for DIX Connectors

DIX connectors use the standard transceiver cable or AUI cable conforming to the 10BASE-5 specification. An example suitable cable is Belden 9898. The maximum distance between the computer and the transceiver on the thick Ethernet cable is 50 meters.

Cable for BNC Connectors

BNC connectors require RG-58 coaxial cable conforming to the 10BASE-2 specification. This is sometimes called thin Ethernet or Cheapernet cable. The layout of the network must conform to the following specifications:

• Maximum trunk length with repeaters in the network: 300 meters
• Maximum trunk length without repeaters in the network: 185 meters
• Minimum distance between nodes: 1 meter

The products included here are manufactured by vendors independent of Microsoft; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding these products' performance or reliability.