Re: Wakeup from a PCI device

[sigma@brentwood.bc.ca (Sigma Seven Systems Ltd.)]

>I'll chime in here on this thread.  What relationship or involvement
>will the wake-up pin have with the hot-swap (live insertion)  PCI
>efforts underway in the SIG?  It seems that the wake-up pin could
>serve the purpose of notifying an OS that a new board has been
>inserted into the system for hot swap boards.

>>I would think desktops and servers might use it also, so there is no
>>reason to restrict the wakeup pin to laptops.
>>
>>Bruce Young's message suggested that only comm devices (modems, NICs)
>>would use this. I'm not sure one should limit one's thinking. For example,
>>an external data collection device might collect a sample only every 15
>>minutes. A data collection box running on batteries or solar power could
>>benefit also.

Due to the limited number of reserved pins I would suggest defining the new
wakeup pin as having a (possibly reserved) secondary purpose when the
system is operating.

The reserved purpose should be a potential synchronous signal as most other
PCI signals.

Otherwise, two high speed capable reserved pins will be consumed for low
speed asynchronous signals that could have easily been implemented with a
comparatively cheap separate connector.

I speculate two pins as it seems to me that once you add a wake-up pin, you
also ought to provide a power during sleep pin, although one might elect to
use the wake-up pin for power too.

James

James MacPhail
uo957@freenet.victoria.bc.ca    "Think not of engineering as art,
Sigma Seven Systems Ltd.            but of art as engineering"
sigma@brentwood.bc.ca

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