Dolphin IXH610 User manual

IXH610 Users Guide –Dolphin Interconnect Solutions Page 1
Dolphin PCI Express IXH610
Adapter card users guide
Version 1.12
Date: 5th May 2015

IXH610 Users Guide –Dolphin Interconnect Solutions Page 2
Table of contents
Table of contents ......................................................................................................................................................2
DISCLAIMER............................................................................................................................................................3
Quick install guide.....................................................................................................................................................4
IXH610 operating modes......................................................................................................................................4
Cable connections ................................................................................................................................................5
Overview...................................................................................................................................................................6
Dolphin Express adapter card - IXH610...................................................................................................................7
IXH610 high level specification.............................................................................................................................7
LEDs.....................................................................................................................................................................8
Use cases.................................................................................................................................................................8
Use case A: Transparent IO.................................................................................................................................8
Use case B - 2 Node configuration - NTB mode (unbalanced)............................................................................8
Use case C - 2 Node Configuration –NTB Mode (Balanced)..............................................................................9
Use case D - Switch configuration........................................................................................................................9
Use case E –Downstream target...................................................................................................................... 10
Configuration and DIP-switches ............................................................................................................................ 11
DIP switch bank SW 1 - SWMODE................................................................................................................... 12
DIP switch bank SW 2 –configuration .............................................................................................................. 13
Use cases summary and settings...................................................................................................................... 14
Installation.............................................................................................................................................................. 15
Changing the PCI Express bracket ................................................................................................................... 15
Installing the adapter card ................................................................................................................................. 15
Installing and removing the cable...................................................................................................................... 15
EEPROM Programming......................................................................................................................................... 15
Software installation............................................................................................................................................... 16
Identifying the card ................................................................................................................................................ 16
Support .................................................................................................................................................................. 17
Technical information............................................................................................................................................. 18
Compliance and regulatory testing........................................................................................................................ 20
EMC compliance................................................................................................................................................ 20
RoHS compliance.............................................................................................................................................. 20
Flammability standard............................................................................................................................................ 20
Limited warranty .................................................................................................................................................... 21
Warranty Period................................................................................................................................................. 21
Coverage ........................................................................................................................................................... 21
Service procedure.............................................................................................................................................. 21
Limitations.......................................................................................................................................................... 21

IXH610 Users Guide –Dolphin Interconnect Solutions Page 3
DISCLAIMER
DOLPHIN INTERCONNECT SOLUTIONS RESERVES THE RIGHT TO MAKE CHANGES WITHOUT
FURTHER NOTICE TO ANY OF ITS PRODUCTS TO IMPROVE RELIABILITY, FUNCTION, OR DESIGN.
DOLPHIN INTERCONNECT SOLUTIONS DOES NOT ASSUME ANY LIABILITY ARISING OUT OF THE
APPLICATION OR USE OF ANY PRODUCT.
LIFE SUPPORT POLICY
DOLPHIN INTERCONNECT SOLUTIONS’ PRODUCTS ARE NOT AUTHORIZED FOR USE AS CRITICAL
COMPONENTS IN LIFE SUPPORT DEVICES.
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
Dolphin is minimizing the amount of printed documentation and software CDs in its shipments, please download
additional documentation and software from www.dolphinics.com/support.

IXH610 Users Guide –Dolphin Interconnect Solutions Page 4
Quick install guide
The IXH610 can be installed in any compliant PCI Express x8 or x16, Gen1, Gen2 or Gen3 slot. The IXH610
does not support slot sizes less than an x8 slot.
Note: Static electricity from your clothes or work environment can damage your PCI Express adapter card or
your PC. Always wear a grounded antistatic wrist strap while opening the PC and when the card is removed
from the anti-static bag.
IXH610 operating modes
The Dolphin PCI Express IXH610 card has two
main operational modes, transparent and NTB
mode. The mode is controlled by the BOOT
EEPROM SELECT DIP-switch labeled SW2
that can be found close to the upper edge of
the board. The two mode configuration options
are found in the table below. DIP-switch
position 1 controls setting the board in
transparent or non-transparent mode (NTB).
The DIP-switch can be seen on the picture
below.
Picture 1: DIP Switch SW2 location
Setting
SW2 DIP view
Configuration
ON
Transparent mode
OFF
NTB mode
Table 1: Main configuration settings, BOOT EEPROM Select, SW2
All other DIP-switches should normally be left in the factory default setting. More details on DIP-switch settings
can be found on page 10 in this document.

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Cable connections
The IXH610 requires a x8 iPass™ or PCI Express standard cable. A single x8 cable is used to connect to other
devices including transparent I/O devices, another PC with an IXH610 or IXH620 card, or an IXS600 8 port
switch.
To install they cable, match the male portion on the x8 cable with
the female connector on the IXH610 board. Use even pressure to
insert the connector until it is secure. Adhere to ESD guidelines
when installing the cable ensure not to damage the board. The
IXH610 supports both copper and active fiber cables.
The Dolphin Express IXH610 adapter card is compliant with
Dolphins extensive software package for the IXH adapter card and
the IDT Demo software. Please visit
http://www.dolphinics.com/support to download the latest
documentation and software. Dolphin provides software and
documentation for several product families; please remember to
select the IX product family before downloading.
Picture 2: iPass connector on IXH610

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Overview
This document describes the new Dolphin PCI Express IX interconnect family and the IXH610 PCI Express
Gen2 adapter card. The card is based on the PES24NT6G2 PCI Express Gen2 chipset from IDT. The IX product
family consists of the following products:
IXH610 PCI Express Gen2 x8 Host adapter card
IXH611 PCI Express Gen2 x8 Host and Target adapter card
IXH620 XMC PCI Express Gen2 Host and Target adapter card
IXS600 8 port PCI Express Gen3 rack mount switch
IXE60X PCI Express expansion products (contact Dolphin for details)
Information on the cabling infrastructure is available at
http://www.dolphinics.com/products/IX_PCI_Express_cables.html
The IXH610 adapter can be used to connect to any of the above products or to any compliant existing PCI
Express downstream device having a standard PCI Express x8 connector (PCI Express Gen 1 or Gen2, auto
detect).
All Dolphin PCI Express IXH adapters support the complete suite of Dolphin NTB Software including Dolphin
SuperSockets™, optimized TCP/IP drivers, and SISCI Embedded software. It is also compliant with the PXImc
software specification.
Dolphin SuperSockets is a Berkeley compliant Sockets library which provides socket latency below 2
microseconds and close to the wire speed streaming bandwidth for networked applications. SuperSockets™is
currently available on Linux and Windows. It is a 100% transparent plug and play solutions for commercial and
embedded applications. More on SuperSockets can be found at http://www.dolphinics.com/products/dolphin-
supersockets.html
Dolphin’s optimized TCP/IP driver enables PCI Express to be used as a traditional 10G Ethernet / 40G Ethernet
replacement for e.g. NFS sharing and legacy networking that does not need the low latency provided by
SuperSockets. The TCP/IP driver supports gateway functionality.
The SISCI software provides well defined, easy to use shared memory programming API for PCI Express over
cable. More on SISCI can be found at http://www.dolphinics.com/products/embedded-sisci-developers-kit.html
More information about the software provided for the Dolphin IXH adapter cards can be found on
http://www.dolphinics.com/products.

IXH610 Users Guide –Dolphin Interconnect Solutions Page 7
Dolphin Express adapter card - IXH610
The IXH610 is a PCI Express Gen2 x8 adapter card available from Dolphin providing an easy to use, multi
functional solution.
IXH610 high level specification
PCI Express Gen2 5.0 Gbps per lane signaling–40 Gbps total signaling.
PCI Express Gen2 x8 edge connector. The card installs in any PCI Express slot that has a physical x8
or x16 connector.
Compliant with PCI Express Gen1 and Gen3 computers and IO systems, auto detection.
Supports NTB connections to other hosts and transparent connections to IO systems as a transparent
P2P device.
PCI Express Base Specification Rev 2.1
PCI Express External Cabling Specification, Rev. 1.0
One PCI Express Gen2 x8 IPASS Cable connection.
Copper cables tested successfully up to 7 meters
Support for Active Optical Fibers, up to 300 meters.
Low Profile - PCI Express Electromechanical Specification, Rev 2.0
Comes with both low profile and standard profile PCI Express bracket.
PIO and Direct DMA capabilities
Host clock isolation. Automatic support for host running CFC or SSC mode.
Support for hot plugging of the PCI Express cable (NTB mode, SISCI and SuperSockets)
Dual 128 KB EEPROM for boot up configuration data.
Optional Software utility for reprogramming of EEPROM content.
No PCI Express power domain isolation.
Full SuperSockets and SISCI compliance via new PAL. Linux and Windows support.
SMbus support.
Power Consumption: 3,3 Volt - Max 7 Watt.
Operating temperature 0°C to 55°C
Relative Humidity 5% - 95% non-condensing
Weight : 80 Gram
JTAG programming and test
RoHS compliant
Compliant to EN-55022, EN 55024-A1&A2, EN 61000-6-2
CE Mark
Illustration 1: Low profile, single PCI Express Gen2 x8 HBA

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LEDs
The IXH610 cards has two bi-color LEDs visible through the PCI Express front bracket.
LED
Name
Dark
Yellow
Green
Green - blinking
Link
Power off or failure
Power on, Link down
Power on, Link Up
Power on, Link active, data
transmitted
NTB
Transparent Host
mode
NA
NTB mode
(PXImc/SISCI/Super
Sockets/TCP/IP
mode)
NA
Table 2: LED overview
The NTB link LED is controlled by software. Both LEDs depends on GPIO registers initialized by EEPROM. An
incorrect EEPROM can cause dark LEDs. DIP-switch SWMODE set to 0000b will cause all LEDs to be dark.
More details on DIP-switch settings can be found below.
Use cases
The IXH610 card may be used in the following use cases. The use cases are summarized in Table 3 Adapter
use cases on page 10.
Use case A: Transparent IO
The Dolphin IXH610 HCA connects to any standardized PCI Express x8 downstream device. No special device
driver is required for the IXH610 card. Any device in the PCI Express IO system will operate using its standard
device driver.
Use case B - 2 Node configuration - NTB mode (unbalanced)
2 node unbalanced “NTB” mode- The Dolphin PCI Express IXH610 adapter connects to a remote upstream
subsystem (with root complex) that may have a transparent re-driver card only. This configuration is not
supported by Dolphin software.
Illustration 2: IXH610 used to connect to a remote PCI Express IO System

IXH610 Users Guide –Dolphin Interconnect Solutions Page 9
Illustration 3: Adapter card used to connect to a remote host using a re-driver card.
Use case C - 2 Node Configuration –NTB Mode (Balanced)
Each node has a Dolphin PCI Express IXH610 adapter or Dolphin Express IXH620 XMC adapter direct
connection to remote host using a PCI Express Gen2 x8 cable. This configuration is fully supported by all
Dolphin software.
Use case D - Switch configuration
Each node has a Dolphin Express IXH610 adapter or Dolphin Express IXH620 XMC. Up to 8 systems can be
connected to the Dolphin IXS600 8 port PCI Express Gen2 switch.
Illustration 4: Adapter card used to build a two node configuration.
Illustration 4: Switch use

IXH610 Users Guide –Dolphin Interconnect Solutions Page 10
Use case E –Downstream target
The IXH620 XMC adapter or IXH611 PCIe adapter can be used as a downstream target adapter.
Illustration 5: IXS620 as target mode