Published SFF-8636 Rev 2.3
Common Management Interface Page 11
3 Definitions
3.1 Fixed versus Free
3.1.1 Fixed
The terminology "fixed" is used to describe the gender of the mating side of the
connector that accepts its mate upon mating. This gender is frequently, but not
always, associated with the common terminology "receptacle". Other terms commonly
used are "female" and "socket connector". The term "fixed" is adopted from EIA
standard terminology as the gender that most commonly exists on the fixed end of a
connection, for example, on the board or bulkhead side.
3.1.2 Free
The terminology "free" is used to describe the gender of the mating side of the
connector that penetrates its mate upon mating. This gender is frequently, but not
always, associated with the common terminology "plug". Other terms commonly used
are "male" and "pin connector". The term "free" is adopted from EIA standard
terminology as the gender that most commonly exists on the free end of a
connection, for example, on the cable side.
3.2 Passive Cable
In this specification, a passive cable only requires power to operate the
management interface circuitry.
3.3 Active Cable
In this specification, an active cable requires power for circuitry that is
integral to any of the TX/RX high speed serial channels supported by the cable. In
addition, the active cable requires power to operate the management interface.
3.4 Pluggable Transceiver Module
In this specification, a pluggable transceiver module requires power for the
management interface and for the circuitry integral to the TX/RX high speed serial
channels supported by the module. The module also has a media dependent interface
(MDI), such as a duplex single mode fiber or a parallel multimode fiber connector.
The high speed electrical interface of the module may contain equalizers and
retimers (CDRs) which are managed by registers defined in this management interface
specification.
4 General Description
The common management interface provides a method for the fixed side to determine
the characteristics and status of the free side. In some implementations, the
interface also provides a mechanism to control the operation of the free side
circuitry. For the case where the free side is a cable, the fixed side can
determine if the cable is passive, active copper, or active optical. For the case
where the free side is a transceiver module, the fixed side can determine if the
module is single mode, multimode or copper and which transmission standards are
supported. Parameters such as supplier, part number, propagation delay and loss
(for passive cables) can also be determined.