ETC SURELINK

SureLINK
Ultra160 Domain Validation
SURELINK TECHNOLOGY OFFERS SERVERS, STORAGE
SUBSYSTEMS AND WORKSTATIONS THE INDUSTRY’S
NEWEST AND MOST ADVANCED METHOD OF
ENSURING ULTRA160 SCSI INTEGRITY
OVERVIEW
LSI Logic’s SureLINK™ domain validation technology offers the most
comprehensive and reliable method available today for enhancing Ultra160
SCSI performance. A significant advancement in system manageability,
SureLINK technology ensures robust and low-risk Ultra160 implementations
by optimizing the interoperability of SCSI devices. SureLINK domain validation is integrated in the Storage Device Management System (SDMS™) software solution. SDMS software provides the software control for the manageability enhancements in LSI Logic’s highly integrated LSI53C1010 PCI-Dual
Channel Ultra160 SCSI controller, as well as the LSI53C180, the industry’s
first Ultra160 SCSI bus expander. The groundbreaking SureLINK domain
validation technology, backed by LSI Logic’s long history of providing innovative
SCSI I/O solutions, can enable OEMs, designers and system integrators to
deliver a highly competitive Ultra160 SCSI offering for servers, storage subsystems and workstations.
SureLINK domain validation, performed at boot time as well as throughout system operation, verifies that the system is capable of transferring data
at Ultra160 speeds, allowing it to renegotiate to lower speed and bus width
if necessary. SureLINK technology. Extends the domain validation guidelines
documented in the SPI-3 Annex. SureLINK technology performs basic,
enhanced and margined domain validation. SureLINK domain validation
significantly improves system manageability by assuring that the system has
margin at its given operating speed. This cable plant margining capability,
exclusive to LSI Logic’s Ultra160 solution, includes end-to-end margining
from the LSI53C1010 controller through the LSI53C180 bus expander to the
target device. Also, key to the LSI53C180 bus expander is its ability to couple bus segments together without any impact to SCSI protocol or software,
for entirely transparent communication.
The domain validation capability of SDMS software is available as an
independent application, as well as integrated in the DMI-based (Desktop
Management Interface) system management solution for enterprise class
implementations, providing the network administrator remote management
capability. SureLINK technology’s SDMS software also enables and manages
Asynchronous Information Protection (AIP), which safeguards all non-data
BENEFITS
SureLINK domain validation
technology ensures robust
Ultra160 SCSI performance
through a variety of capabilities:
• Verifies Ultra160 link integrity
• Ensures system operation at
Ultra160 speeds
• Reduces system downtime
• Identifies marginal cabling
environments
• Enables seamless integration
with SDMS software
• Improves boot reliability
FEATURES
• Implementation of the SPI-3
Domain Validation Annex
guidelines
• Basic Integrity Check
(Level 1)
• Enhanced Integrity Check
(Level 2)
• Extension of domain validation
to Margined Integrity Check
(Level 3)
• Detects marginal cable and
backplane configurations that
may limit performance
SureLINK
Ultra160 Domain Validation
FEATURES (Continued)
• Includes drive strength margining
and programmable REQ/ACK
skew test
• Supported by industry’s only
Ultra160 SCSI bus expander
phases and augments the CRC feature of LSI Logic’s Ultra160 SCSI solutions.
Additionally, the SCSI BIOS component of SureLINK technology enables
improved boot reliability by assuring optimum data transfer rates and bus
widths through successive INQUIRY results.
Applications
• Separate SCSI target validation
• Servers - Internet/Intranet network, video, e-mail, printing,
database management, etc.
• Target-specific SCSI settings
• Workstations - CAD/CAM, industrial simulation, etc.
• Bus width
• Data transfer mode/rate
• Graphical User Interface (GUI)
for control and configuration
• Event-initiated alerts
• On-screen notification of SCSI
bus status
• Host-attach for RAID and JBOD mass storage subsystems - Anywhere data
access is the bottleneck
Integrity-Checking Methods
The advanced SureLINK technology provides software control that
enables LSI Logic’s Ultra160 SCSI controllers to perform domain validation
to verify successful Ultra160 transfers. Verifying Ultra160 processes is done
through integrity checking-that is, a means for assuring that the physical
layer is able to transfer data between the initiator and the target at the
negotiated speed and width. SureLINK technology provides all three levels
of integrity checking (as defined in the ANSI T10 SPI-3 Annex), unprecedented
in the Ultra160 SCSI arena:
• Basic Domain Validation (Level 1) - Detects transfer errors and thus
determines if the initiator/target connection can operate at the maximum
speed and width;
• Enhanced Domain Validation (Level 2) - Assesses the stress placed on the
physical layer when known data patterns are sent and received;
• Margined Domain Validation (Level 3) - Provides information on the amount
of margin in a given system.
LEVEL 1: BASIC DOMAIN VALIDATION
Basic domain validation is performed by first issuing two INQUIRY
commands with the timing parameters set to asynchronous and narrow. The
data that is returned by the INQUIRY is stored so it can be compared later.
Next, a second INQUIRY command is issued with the period and width set
to the desired transfer rate. This second INQUIRY data is then compared to
that of the first. If the data does not match, the initiator falls back to a lower
speed/width and tries the INQUIRY again. If the data does match, the
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initiator and target can successfully communicate at the negotiated speed
and these settings are kept. Basic domain validation is used to find problems
with cabling (for example, narrow cable on wide device or bad cables),
expanders that are not capable of transferring at the negotiated period or
width, damaged transceivers and improper termination.
OS DRIVERS WITH
SURELINK TECHNOLOGY
SureLINK technology is supported
by an SDMS driver suite, which
includes:
®
LEVEL 2: ENHANCED DOMAIN VALIDATION
Enhanced domain validation expands on basic domain validation by
providing the ability to send and receive a particular pattern. Enhanced
domain validation is performed by issuing several WRITE/READ BUFFER
commands and comparing the data sent and received. First, a WRITE
BUFFER is issued with a desired data pattern. Next, a READ BUFFER is
issued to the same buffer. The data of the READ BUFFER is compared to the
data sent during the WRITE BUFFER. If the data does not match, the initiator
renegotiates for a lower speed. If the data does match, the process can be
repeated with another data pattern. Several data patterns can be used to
check for different types of failures. The use of specific data patterns in
enhanced domain validation makes it possible to find problems such as
crosstalk, system noise, weak or strong transceivers, improper termination,
incorrect device spacing and cables with the wrong impedance.
®
• Microsoft Windows NT
and Windows 2000
®
®
®
• Novell NetWare 4.11 and 5.0
®
• Sun Solaris™ 7.0
• SCO UnixWare™ 7.x
• Linux™
LEVEL 3: MARGINED DOMAIN VALIDATION
Margined domain validation provides information on whether a given
system has margin. Margined domain validation uses the same
WRITE/READ BUFFER with data patterns as enhanced domain validation
while altering the electrical characteristics of the SCSI signals in the
LSI53C1010 Ultra160 SCSI controller. The electrical characteristics of the
signal are changed to verify the degree of margin in a system, which
ensures proper communication. One of the electrical characteristics that can
be altered is low voltage differential (LVD) drive strength. The drive current
for the SCSI signals can be set to nominal (Figure A), 120% of nominal
(Figure B), or 80% of nominal (Figure C). Setting the drive strength to 80%
or 120% of nominal is done to verify that the bus is not too heavily loaded
and that it does not have an impedance mismatch that may cause failures
when large amounts of data are sent. The LSI53C1010 controller can also
modify data to match the REQ/ACK time (Figure D and Figure E) of the
SCSI data signals. This is another way to verify that the domain has some
degree of margin to account for skew that may be introduced due to impedance and wire length differences between data signals and REQ/ACK that
may not be found with the drive strength modification.
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SureLINK
Ultra160 Domain Validation
Figure A: Shows a peak-to-peak value of 503 mV for the ACK# signal with
drive strength set to nominal
Figure B: Shows a peak-to-peak value of 594 mV for the ACK# signal with
drive strength set to 120% of nominal
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Figure C: Shows a peak-to-peak value of 400 mV for the ACK# signal with
drive strength set to 80% of nominal.
Figure D: Shows a setup time of 6.363 ns with the REC#/ACK# to data skew
set to nominal
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SureLINK
Ultra160 Domain Validation
Figure E: Shows a setup time of 7.454 ns with the REC#/ACK# to data skew set
to the maximum value.
SYSTEM MANAGEMENT SUPPORT WITH SURELINK TECHNOLOGY
SureLINK domain validation supports system manageability applications
with the following tests:
• READ/WRITE testing of legacy target devices
• SCSI bus testing
• REQ/ACK skew testing
• SCSI data bus drive current margining
• Transfer rate downshifting
For DMI component instrumentation:
• Standardized event reporting
• Standardized Management Information Format (MIF) implementation
• Remote analysis of SCSI cable plant
• Console manager snap-in browser
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CONCLUSION
LSI Logic’s SureLINK technology exceeds the industry’s standard domain
validation, making it the most effective way to ensure the integrity of bus
performance by not only testing the validity of the data transfer, but also by
varying the LVD drive strength and testing for marginal Ultra160 SCSI systems. Through incorporating all three levels of domain validation into the
SureLINK technology, LSI Logic is able to exclusively offer this Ultra160 SCSI
advancement, ensuring customers highly competitive and robust Ultra160
system operation.
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SureLINK
Ultra160 Domain Validation
ABOUT LSI LOGIC
LSI Logic Corporation (NYSE: LSI) is a leading designer and manufacturer
of communications and storage semiconductors for applications that access,
interconnect and store data, voice and video. In addition, the company supplies storage network solutions for the enterprise. LSI Logic is headquartered
at 1551 McCarthy Boulevard, Milpitas, CA 95035, 408-433-8000,
http://www.lsilogic.com.
For more information please visit
the LSI Logic web site at:
http://storageio.lsilogic.com
LSI Logic Corporation
North American Headquarters
Milpitas, CA
Tel: 866 574 5741
LSI Logic Europe Ltd.
European Headquarters
United Kingdom
Tel: 44 1344 426544
Fax: 44 1344 481039
LSI Logic KK Headquarters
Tokyo, Japan
Tel: 81 3 5463 7165
Fax 81 3 5463 7820
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SDMS and SureLINK are trademarks of LSI Logic
Corporation. All other brand and product names
may be trademarks of their respective companies.
LSI Logic Corporation reserves the right to make
changes to any products and services herein at
any time without notice. LSI Logic does not
assume any responsibility or liability arising out of
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described herein, except as expressly agreed to
in writing by LSI Logic; nor does the purchase,
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Logic convey a license under any patent rights,
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intellectual property rights of LSI Logic or of third
parties.
Copyright ©2001 by LSI Logic Corporation.
All rights reserved.
Order No. S15007
6/01-1M – Printed in USA
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