3Com 3c509



3Com 3c509 is a line of Ethernet IEEE 802.3 network cards for the ISA, EISA, MCA and PCMCIA computer buses. It was designed by 3Com and put on the market in 1992, followed by the improved version 3c509B in 1994.

Features
The 3Com 3c5x9 family of network controllers has various interface combinations of computer bus including ISA, EISA, MCA, and PCMCIA. For network connection, 10BASE-2, AUI and 10BASE-T are used.

B = On ISA and PCMCIA, adapter numbers indicate that these adapters are part of the second generation of the Parallel Tasking EtherLink III technology.

The DIP-28 (U1) EPROM for network booting may be 8, 16, or 32 KB in size. This means EPROMs of type 64, 128, and 256 kbit (2^10) are compatible, like the 27C256.

Boot ROM address is located between 0xC0000 - 0xDE000.

Teardown example, the 3c509B-Combo
The Etherlink III 3C509B-Combo is registered with the FCC ID DF63C509B. The main components on the card are Y1: crystal oscillator 20 MHz, U50: coaxial transceiver interface DP8392, U4: main controller 3Com 9513S (or 9545S etc.), U6: 8 kB 70 ns CMOS static RAM, U1: DIP-28 27C256 style EPROM for boot code, U3: 1024 bit 5V CMOS Serial EEPROM (configuration).

Label: Etherlink III (C) 1994 3C509B-C ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ASSY 03-0021-001 REV-A FCC ID: DF63C509B

Barcode: EA=0020AFDCC34C SN=6AHDCC34C MADE IN U.S.A.

R = Resistor C = Capacitor L = Inductance Q = Transistor CR = Transistor FL = Transformer T = Transformer U = Integrated circuit J = Jumper or connector VR F

FL70: Pulse transformer bel9509 A 0556-3873-03 * HIPOTTED

Y1: 20 MHz crystal 20.000M 652DA

U50: P9512BR DP8392CN Coaxial Transceiver Interface

T50: Pulse transformer, pinout: 2x8 VALOR ST7033

x00: Pulse transformer VALOR PT0018 CHINA M  9449 C

U4: Plastic package 33x33 pins Parallel Tasking TM 3Com 40-0130-002 9513S 22050553 AT&T 40-01302 Another chip with the same function: 40-0130-003 9545S 48324401 AT&T 40-01303

U6: 8192 x 8-bit 70 ns CMOS static RAM HY 6264A LJ-70 9509B KOREA Another chip with the same function: CY6264-70OSC (photo)

U1: Boot ROM DIP-28 EPROM 8, 16, or 32 KB (27/28C256) for boot code.

U3: 256 Bit/1K 5.0V CMOS Serial EEPROM B 52AH 93C46 M8

Q41: N-Channel Logic level Power MOSFET 60V, 11A, 107 mΩ (using ASSY 03-0021-004 due to obscured view) F3055L 96  45 (H)H

VR41: 3-Terminal 0.5 A Negative Voltage Regulator (-5V) in D2PAK KA79 M05

ASSY 03-0021-004 REV-B has written on it: U.S. Patents:

Connector for the computer bus: ISA 16-bit

Connections for networking: 10BASE-T (8P8C), AUI (DA-15), 10BASE2 (BNC)

Driver setup
Some of the possible ISA I/O bases are 0x280, 0x300, 0x310, 0x320, 0x330, 0x340, 0x350. And IRQ 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12. The driver for OpenBSD, NetBSD and FreeBSD is "ep"; for Linux it is "eth".

Patents
3c509B-C from 1996 specify the use of with a priority date of 1992-07-28.

The patent describes a method where a data transfer counter triggers a threshold logic that generates an early indication or interrupt signal before the transfer is completed. The adapter also writes timing information into status registers such that a device driver can optimize for any latency.

Uses

 * PC/TCP Packet Driver for use with MS-DOS or PC DOS on X86
 * Amiga networking (Miami Network Interface MNI, gg2-3c509.mni)