Friday, 1 November 2013

Understanding Mini-PCIe

Mini PCIe is a scaled down version of PCIe which uses 1 lane for connecting to an external card. This interface mainly used in notebooks, tablets, laptops is used for connecting Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Cellular broadband, Ethernet cards to the processor.

The following figures show the Mini PCIe connectors and cards available in the market:




The following are the signals in mini PCIe connector:
  • PCIe x1
  • Reference Clock
  • USB2.0
  • SMBus
  • LED's for diagnosis and signalling
  • SIM card connectivity
  • 1.5V/3.3V power (1 pin for 3.3 V Aux, 2 pins for +3.3 V main, 3 pins for +1.5 V main, 12 GND pins)
  • Some slots for future PCIe lane expansion
What may not be possible with Mini PCIe slot?
  • Graphics cards 
  • Video cards
This is because with the existing lanes in Mini PCIe band-width will not be enough for handling graphics content.

Mini PCIe Connector specifications:
  • 52-pin edge connector used
  • Staggered with 2 rows
  • 0.8mm pitch
  • Dimensions: 30 x 50.95 mm
Other important considerations in Mini PCIe:
  • Mini PCIe uses a differential clock of 100 MHz
  • Wake mechanism (in band) which helps module to be in stand-by mode during idle states
  • With the 52-pin staggered edge connector used, angled insertion and removal of add-in cards is done
  • Some add-in card connectivity can be screwed for mechanical support
  • Maximum power supported is 2.3 W
  • With +3.3 V power lane, peak current supported is 1 A 
  • With +1.5 V power lane, peak current supported is 1.5 V
  • +3.3 V is mainly used for I/O requirements, +1.5 V is only to avoid any on-board regulation
  • LED's used in Mini PCIe must be 9 mA sink capable
  • If you have Mini PCIe card and on board PCIe connectivity is only available, then, adapters are available for use in the market
Targeted applications for Mini PCIe:
  • Wireless Personal Area network (BT, UWB cards)
  • Local Area network cards (10/100/1G/10G cards)
  • Wireless Local Area network (802.11a/b/g cards)
  • Wireless Area Network (xDSL, Cable modem)
  • Wireless Wide Area Network (GSM/GPRS/UMTS/CDMA cards)

No comments:

Post a Comment