Pentium
II Processor at 350 MHz, 400 MHz, and 450 MHz
10
Datasheet
—
Volume III: System Programming Guide
(Order Number 243192)
P6 Family of Processors Hardware Developer’s Manual
(Order Number 244001)
Pentium
II Processor I/O Buffer Models
, Quad Format (developer.intel.com)
2.0
Electrical Specifications
2.1
Processor System Bus and V
REF
Most Pentium
II processor signals use a
variation
of the low voltage Gunning Transceiver Logic
(GTL) signaling technology.
The Pentium II processor system bus specification is similar to the GTL specification, but has been
enhanced to provide larger noise margins and reduced ringing. The improvements are
accomplished by increasing the termination voltage level and controlling the edge rates. This
specification is different from the standard GTL specification, and is referred to as
GTL+
. For
more information on GTL+ specifications, see AP-827,
100 MHz GTL+ Layout Guidelines for the
Pentium
II Processor and Intel
440BX AGPset
(Order Number 243735).
The Pentium II processor varies from the Pentium Pro processor in its output buffer
implementation. The buffers that drive most of the system bus signals on the Pentium II processor
are actively driven to V
CC
CORE
for one clock cycle after the low to high transition to improve its
rise times and reduce noise. These signals should still be considered open-drain and require
termination to a supply that provides the high signal level. Because this specification is different
from the standard GTL+ specification, it is referred to as Assisted Gunning Transitistor Logic
(AGTL+) in this document. AGTL+ logic and GTL+ logic are compatible with each other and may
both be used on the same system bus.
AGTL+ signals are open-drain and require termination to a supply that provides the high signal
level. AGTL+ inputs use differential receivers which require a reference signal (V
REF
). V
REF
is used
by the receivers to determine if a signal is a logical 0 or a logical 1, and is generated on the S.E.C
cartridges for the processor core. Local V
REF
copies should be generated on the motherboard for all
other devices on the AGTL+ system bus. Termination (usually a resistor at each end of the signal
trace) is used to pull the bus up to the high voltage level and to control reflections on the
transmission line. The processor contains termination resistors that provide termination for one end
of the Pentium II processor system bus. These specifications assume another resistor at the end of
each signal trace to ensure adequate signal quality for the AGTL+ signals; see
Table 8
for the bus
termination voltage specifications for AGTL+ and the
Pentium
II Processor Developer’s Manual
(Order Number 243502) for the GTL+ bus specification. Solutions exist for single-ended
termination as well, though solution space is affected.
Figure 2
is a schematic representation of
AGTL+ bus topology with Pentium II processors.
The AGTL+ bus depends on incident wave switching. Therefore timing calculations for AGTL+
signals are based on flight time as opposed to capacitive deratings. Analog signal simulation of the
Pentium II processor system bus including trace lengths is highly recommended when designing a
system with a heavily loaded AGTL+ bus, especially for systems using a single set of termination
resistors (i.e., those on the processor substrate) with the Intel
440BX AGPset. Such designs will
not match the solution space allowed for by installation of termination resistors on the
motherboard. See Intel’s World Wide Web page (http://developer.intel.com) to download the buffer
models:
Pentium
II Processor I/O Buffer Models,
Quad Format (Electronic Form
).