RTL8208

2001/01/07

2

Rev.1.923

1. Features

Supports 8-port integrated physical layer and

transceiver for 10Base-T and 100Base-TX

Up to 8 ports support of 100Base-FX

Reduced 100Base-FX interface (patented)

Robust baseline wander correction for improved

100BASE-TX performance

Fully compliant with IEEE 802.3/802.3u

IEEE 802.3u compliant Auto-negotiation for 10/100

Mbps control

Hardware controlled Flow control advertisement ability

Supports RMII/SMII/SS-SMII interfaces

Multiple driving capabilities of RMII/SMII/SS-SMII

Supports 25MHz crystal as clock source for RMII with

50MHz REFCLK output for MAC

Very low power consumption

Supports port-pair loop mode (PP-LPBK mode)

Supports two Power reduction methods:

1. Power saving mode (cable detection)

2. Power down mode

Power-on auto reset function eliminates the need for

external reset circuits

Flexible LED display modes through 2-wire serial

LED control interface

128-pin PQFP

2.5V/3.3V power supply

0.25µm, CMOS technology

2. General Description

The RTL8208 is a highly integrated 8 port, 10Base-T/100Base-TX/FX, Ethernet transceiver implemented in 0.25µm CMOS

technology. It is currently the world’s smallest Octal-PHY chip package with many special patented features. Traditional SD pins

in 100Base-FX are omitted by Realtek patent to obtain fewer pin-count. Flexible hardware settings are provided to configure the

various operating modes of the chip. The RTL8208 consists of 8 separate and independent channels. Each channel consists of an

RMII/SMII/SS-SMII interface to MAC controller, and hardware pins are used to configure the interface for RMII, or SMII, or

SS-SMII mode. In RMII mode, another hardware pin is used to set port-pair loop mode (PP-LPBK mode), which can extend

physical transmission length or perform physical media transport operations without any switch controller. In addition, the

RTL8208 features very low power consumption, as low as 1.8 W (max.). Additionally, pin-outs are designed to provide

optimized direct routing can be implemented, which simplifies the layout work and reduces EMI noise issues.