The Realtek RTL8402-CG 10/100M Ethernet controller combines a 10/100M IEEE 802.3 compatible Media Access Controller (MAC) with a 10/100M Ethernet transceiver, PCI Express bus controller, and embedded One-Time-Programmable (OTP) memory. With state-of-the-art DSP technology and mixed-mode signal technology, the RTL8402 offers high-speed transmission over CAT 5 UTP cable or CAT 3 UTP (10Mbps only) cable. Functions such as Crossover Detection & Auto-Correction, polarity correction, adaptive equalization, and timing recovery are implemented to provide robust transmission and reception capability at high speeds.
The RTL8402 supports the PCI Express 1.1 bus interface for host communications with power management, and is compatible with the IEEE 802.3u specification for 10/100Mbps Ethernet. It also features a built-in PCI Express 1.1 compatible card reader controller; integrating a PCI Express Transceiver, LDO regulator, and memory card access units into a single chip.
The RTL8402 supports Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo, Secure Digital, Secure Digital eXtended Capacity, Multi-Media Card, and xD-Picture Card in a 1-LUN (Logical Unit Number) configuration (which means only one of these memory cards can be inserted into the RTL8402 system at one time). The device also supports an auxiliary power auto-detect function, and will auto-configure related bits of the PCI power management registers in PCI configuration space. The RTL8402 features embedded One-Time-Programmable (OTP) memory to replace the external EEPROM (TWSI).
Advanced Configuration Power management Interface (ACPI)—power management for modern operating systems that are capable of Operating System-directed Power Management (OSPM)—is supported to achieve the most efficient power management possible. PCI MSI (Message Signaled Interrupt) and MSI-X are also supported.
In addition to the ACPI feature, remote wakeup (including AMD Magic Packet and Microsoft Wakeup frame) is supported in both ACPI and APM (Advanced Power Management) environments. To support WOL from a deep power down state (e.g., D3cold, i.e., main power is off and only auxiliary exists), the auxiliary power source must be able to provide the needed power for the RTL8402.
The RTL8402 supports Protocol offload. It offloads some of the most common protocols to NIC hardware in order to prevent spurious wake up and further reduce power consumption. The RTL8402 can offload ARP (IPv4) and NS (IPv6) protocols while in the D3 power saving state.
The RTL8402 supports the ECMA (European Computer Manufacturers Association) proxy for sleeping hosts standard. The standard specifies maintenance of network connectivity and presence via proxies in order to extend the sleep duration of higher-powered hosts. It handles some network tasks on behalf of the host, allowing the host to remain in sleep mode for longer periods. Required and optional behavior of an operating proxy includes generating reply packets, ignoring packets, and waking the host.
The RTL8402 supports IEEE 802.3az-2010, also known as Energy Efficient Ethernet (EEE). IEEE 802.3az-2010 operates with the IEEE 802.3 Media Access Control (MAC) Sublayer to support operation in Low Power Idle mode. When the Ethernet network is in low link utilization, EEE allows systems on both sides of the link to save power.
The RTL8402 is fully compatible with Microsoft® NDIS5, NDIS6 (IPv4, IPv6, TCP, UDP) Checksum and Segmentation Task-offload (Large send and Giant send) features, and supports IEEE 802 IP Layer 2 priority encoding and IEEE 802.1Q Virtual bridged Local Area Network (VLAN). The above features contribute to lowering CPU utilization, especially benefiting performance when in operation on a network server.
The RTL8402 supports Receive Side Scaling (RSS) to hash incoming TCP connections and load-balance received data processing across multiple CPUs. RSS improves the number of transactions per second and number of connections per second, increasing the network throughput.
The device also features interconnect PCI Express technology. PCI Express is a high-bandwidth, low-pin-count, serial, interconnect technology that offers significant improvements in performance over conventional PCI, and also maintains software compatibility with existing PCI infrastructure. The device embeds an adaptive equalizer in the PCI-E PHY for ease of system integration and excellent link quality. The equalizer enables the length of the PCB traces to reach 20 centimeters.
The RTL8402 is suitable for multiple market segments and emerging applications, such as desktop, mobile, workstation, server, communications platforms, and embedded applications.
Integrated 10/100M transceiver
Auto-Negotiation with Next Page capability
Supports PCI Express 1.1
Supports pair swap/polarity/skew correction
Crossover Detection & Auto-Correction
Wake-On-LAN and remote Wakeup support
Customized LEDs
Controllable LED Blinking Frequency and Duty Cycle
Microsoft® NDIS5, NDIS6 Checksum Offload (IPv4, IPv6, TCP, UDP) and Segmentation Task-offload (Large send and Giant send) support
Supports EMAC-393 ECMA ProxZzzy Standard for sleeping hosts
Supports Full Duplex flow control (IEEE 802.3x)
Fully is compatible with IEEE 802.3 and IEEE 802.3u
Supports IEEE 802.1P Layer 2 Priority Encoding
Supports IEEE 802.1Q VLAN tagging
Two-Wire Serial Interface (TWSI) EEPROM
Embedded OTP memory can replace the external EEPROM
Transmit/Receive on-chip buffer support
Supports IEEE 802.3az-2010 (EEE)
XTAL-Less Wake-On-LAN
Supports power down/link down power saving/PHY disable mode/LAN disable mode
Built-in LDO regulator
Supports PCI MSI (Message Signaled Interrupt) and MSI-X
Supports Quad Core Receive-Side Scaling (RSS)
48-pin QFN package (Green package)
Embeds an adaptive equalizer in PCI Express PHY (PCB traces to reach up to 20cm)
Supports 1-Lane 2.5Gbps PCI Express Bus
Memory card interface support:
Secure Digital (SD v3.0, UHS mode), SDXC (up to 2TB), Mini-SD, Micro-SD (T-flash), MultiMediaCard (MMC v4.2), RS-MMC, Mobile-MMC, and MMC-micro
Memory Stick (MS v1.43), Memory Stick PRO (MS-PRO v1.03), MS Duo, MS-PRO Duo, and Micro-MS (M2), MS PRO-HG Duo v1.01 8-bit mode, MSXC (up to 2TB)
xD-Picture Card (xD v1.2) including Type M+, Type M, and Type H
Supports hardware ECC (Error Correction Code) function
Supports hardware CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check) function
On-chip MOSFET with 800mA capability for direct power control of all types of memory cards
PCI Express 10/100M Ethernet on Motherboard, Notebook, or Embedded system