Re: [LAD] AVB not so dead after all

Few comments inline.

Eric Mann / OpenAVB contributor ...

-----Original Message-----
From: Linux-audio-dev [mailto:linux-audio-dev-bounces@email-addr-hidden] On Behalf Of Len Ovens
Sent: Tuesday, June 09, 2015 6:08 AM
To: Fernando Lopez-Lezcano
Cc: LAD
Subject: Re: [LAD] AVB not so dead after all

On Mon, 8 Jun 2015, Fernando Lopez-Lezcano wrote:

> An Intel I210 Gigabit Ethernet PCI express Card will set you back
> about $70 on Newegg, it does have the hardware support that AVB needs
> and a driver in the OpenAVB project. I have a couple and they seem to
> work just fine. A 24 output AVB Motu box is $995.

The Intel I210 Gigabit Ethernet PCI express Card has gone up they are $90 now, but still reasonable.

Ekm> IMO you should be able to get a card for <$70 - and I've seen them one in a while on amazon for much less (we sell 5-packs which resellers can unbundle and sell individually for a discount). http://ark.intel.com/products/68668/Intel-Ethernet-Server-Adapter-I210-T1 .

This one (at $30) I might stay away from:
http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=27_1048_1052&item_id=55856U
It says it is an "Intel I210T1 Comp." The comp. meaning compatible. It actually has the intel 82574 in it not the I210T1. The Intel documentation does not mention AVB support as it does for the above cards.

Ekm> The 82574 does not support the AVB features - the I210 replaced functionally the 82574 ...

The intel card at the top looks like it has a coax connector on the board.

Ekm> no coax on any I210 cards I am aware of. The I210 itself comes in three versions - a 'standard' (AT) version with an integrated 1GBASE-T PHY (aka an RJ-45), an 'industrial temp' (IT) 1GBASE-T version which is rated for -40 to +70 C, and an SGMII version (which is only interesting if you are building your own boards ...). There is also the I211, which is basically the same design except the AVB features (and other things) have been fused off (disabled) in manufacturing. The I211 adapters are usually lower price, as it doesn't need external FLASH for configuration among other things.

The intel site does not make any mention of it though. The I210 chip does have 4 GPi/o, I wonder if it is connected to one of these (can be made to provide word clock or a multiple). Though I would guess it defaults to PPS?

Ekm> If you buy the Intel manufactured I210-AT card, there is a header on the board - the top two pairs of pins are connected to 'timed' GPIOs (GND/SDP1 and GND/SDP2) on the I210 - either pin can either be configured as an input or an output. Some use it to sample edges and converts to the internal 'gPTP' time, while others drive out a clock on some period - either PPS or whatever frequency you want.

> First goal would be a simple jack client that can stream samples, end game
> would be a jack backend so this can be treated as a soundcard. We'll see...

Ekm> There is a gstreamer plug-in on the OpenAVB website - which either sends or receives AVB streams already. The receiver AFAIK records the stream to a file. I thought there was a jack plug-in or sorts as well ... but ... maybe it was only in staging and not the main branch ...

Hths.

Eric Mann / Intel Networking Division
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Received on Thu Jun 11 00:15:01 2015