[realtek] what the best chip for embedded

[John Tully]

Sorry,

PCI bus is needed.


> > I am planning an embedded board and would like to know what is the best of
> > the low-cost 10/100 Ethernet chips.
>
>PCI or another bus?
>
> > Important for consideration:
> >
> > - power usage
> >        (this will use POE and it allows about 13 watts plus a little)
>
>You mean 1.3W right?  Even that number is easy to meet.
>
> > - good linux drivers (of course)
> > - board realestate
> >        (the size of the chip and how much area it requires on the board)
>
>The Realtek chips have been excellent at integration.  You can't make a
>$6 board when you have 100+ additional components, even if they
>are surface mount.  (Compare with some of the "modern" 3com board.)
>
> > - minimum load on CPU, as the CPU will not be so fast
> >        (this is a low cost embedded board)
>
>This rules out everything before the C+ chip.  The 'C' and previous
>chips required an extra copy on both transmit and receive.
>
> > - cost
>
>Realtek has always been the low-cost vendor.  You might compare to
>NatSemi (natsemi.c), ADMtek (tulip.c) and Alta (sundance.c).  3Com and
>Intel are premium products and are usually higher priced.
>
>--
>Donald Becker                           becker@scyld.com
>Scyld Computing Corporation             http://www.scyld.com
>410 Severn Ave. Suite 210               Second Generation Beowulf Clusters
>Annapolis MD 21403                      410-990-9993