[ixp1200] IXP4XX datasheets/developers manual

[Vijay Lakamraju]

Hi Sebastian, 

   Thanks for the input.

  Well, basically, we have been trying to make a case for the 
use of IXPs in some application which require good 
performance but are low on the power budget. The 
IXP1200's 3.5-5.0 Watt seems to be a bit too much for the 
system that we are considering. So, we have tried to consider 
the IXP425 but I just felt there was room for further power saving
by switching off one of the NPEs which might not be needed.

  I hope I am not wrong in surmising that the microengines of 
the IXP1200 and the NPEs of the IXP425 are structurally quite the same.
  Looking at the IXP1200, it seems like the microengines are
the real power hungry components. The StrongARM consumes less 
than 100mW and the rest of the components (memory interfaces, 
PCI unit and FBI unit) *might* not be consuming more than 1 W. 
So, does this mean that each of the microengines consumes 
around 0.5 W during normal operation? And, considering that there is 
no way to switch off individual microengines, how much lesser power 
might a microengine consume if it were not running any code 
(or put in reset mode)??

Thanks for any help,

Vijay
--
Post-Doctoral Research Associate,
Architecture & Real-time Systems (ARTS) Lab,
310 Knowles Engineering Bldg,
University of Massachusetts, Amherst MA 01003
Tel: (413)-545-0715 (O)
http://arts.ecs.umass.edu/~vlakamra/

On Tue, 6 May 2003, Richter, Sebastian wrote:

> Hi Vijay,
> 
> maybe I can help you with more information. You can't get any more
> accurate numbers for the power dissipation and unfortunately currently
> there's no way to disable parts of the IXP425.
> 
> thanks,
> 
> Sebastian
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vijay Lakamraju [mailto:vlakamra at ecs.umass.edu] 
> Sent: 06 May 2003 14:35
> To: ixp1200 at CS.Princeton.EDU
> Subject: RE: [ixp1200] IXP4XX datasheets/developers manual
> 
> 
> maybe I wasnt able to discern properly the location of the 
> IXP4XX datasheets. But all that I had found earlier was a 
> white paper on the IXP425. 
> 
> Well, what I am hoping to get from the datasheets are real 
> power dissipation numbers. While the product brief just 
> simply says "1.0 to 1.5 Watt typical", I was wondering what 
> would be the dissipation if the XScale or the whole chip 
> was clocked slower. Moreover, is there a way to clock gate 
> or switch off any of the Ethernet NPEs?
> 
> Any info on this would be helpful.
> Thanks
> Vijay
> --
> 
> On Tue, 6 May 2003, Jimmy Brian Christanthio wrote:
> 
> > http://www.intel.com/design/network/products/npfamily/index.htm
> > 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: owner-ixp1200 at CS.Princeton.EDU
> > [mailto:owner-ixp1200 at CS.Princeton.EDU] On Behalf Of Vijay Lakamraju
> > Sent: Tuesday, May 06, 2003 1:46 AM
> > To: ixp1200 at CS.Princeton.EDU
> > Subject: [ixp1200] IXP4XX datasheets/developers manual
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > Hi, 
> >   I was wondering if anyone have access to the 
> > IXP4XX processor datasheets and the developers manual. 
> > I know this request might not be the most appropriate 
> > for this mailing list but just thot I would try. 
> > I have tried contacting the Intel tech support for this 
> > but it was in vain.
> > 
> > Thanks for any help,
> > Vijay
> > --
> > Post-Doctoral Research Associate,
> > Architecture & Real-time Systems (ARTS) Lab,
> > 310 Knowles Engineering Bldg,
> > University of Massachusetts, Amherst MA 01003
> > http://www.ecs.umass.edu/ece/realtime/
> > http://arts.ecs.umass.edu/~vlakamra/
> > 
> > 
> > 
>