Article ID: 92406
Article Last Modified on 2/19/2002
APPLIES TO
- Microsoft Windows for Workgroups 3.1
This article was previously published under Q92406
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
* When the DIX connector is used, the board does not consume any power
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
This information was obtained from "The Complete Guide to Installing and Configuring the Intel ExtherExpress 16 and 16TP Network Adapters for ISA Computers." The installation guide is available from Intel Corporation.
The products included here are manufactured by vendors independent of Microsoft; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding these products' performance or reliability.
Additional query words: etherexpress specs nic ether express 3rdparty
Keywords: KB92406
