Renesas DDR5 I3C Bus Extension and SPD Hub Devices Qualified for AMI Firmware

April 29, 2021  ― RENESAS Electronics Corporation, a premier supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, announced that AMI, a firmware and software solutions partner, has qualified the Renesas I3C bus extension products for its MegaRAC® SP-X Remote Management Firmware. Having the I3C devices on AMI's approved vendor list enables an easy migration path for customers shifting their DDR5 platforms and boards from I2C or other legacy expansion specifications to the new high-speed I3C specification.

The IMX3102 2:1 bus multiplexer, IMX3112 1:2 bus expander, and DDR5 SPD Hub SPD5118 devices provide maximum design flexibility for engineers implementing I3C Basic as a system management bus for control plane designs across a variety of applications, including data center and server applications, enterprise, factory automation, and communications equipment. The IMX and SPD devices are ideal when there may be multiple masters, a large number of endpoint devices, and long traces – all of which can impact bus complexity and signal integrity.

Renesas' expanded I3C portfolio ecosystem enables both software and hardware customers to design in the Renesas IMX and SPD products with confidence. The I3C portfolio was previously qualified with hardware, Baseboard Management Controller (BMC), and other silicon-on-chip partners.

As DDR5 continues to gather momentum in the industry, the I3C interface is gaining acceptance as a high-speed control interface for applications requiring faster communication between host and peripheral or slave devices. I3C's 12.5MHz speeds significantly outpace current and legacy solutions, such as the I2C 1MHz speed and analog passive quick switches. Renesas continues to be the I3C technology leader with a robust lineup of I3C bus extension devices for platform control, efficiency, power savings, high speeds, safety, and security.

"Industry transformations such as the migration of control plane designs to the faster and more robust I3C standard require broad ecosystem support at both hardware and software levels in order to be successful," said Rami Sethi, Vice President and General Manager of the Data Center Business Division at Renesas. "Partnering with industry-leading software providers like AMI has been a priority at Renesas in order to deliver the superior "out-of-the-box” experience that our customers and ecosystem partners have come to expect from us.”

"The next-generation I3C interface meets industry needs to be driven by aggressive data center growth and increased demand for security infrastructure and more efficient hardware in industrial, automotive, and telecommunications systems. AMI is proud to qualify these latest DDR5 I3C Bus Extension and SPD Hub Devices from Renesas in its MegaRAC SP-X Remote Management Firmware," said Kelly Bryant, Chief Product Officer at AMI. “AMI has an extensive, industry-leading boot and manageability firmware ecosystem that supports many components, and for many years, top manufacturers such as Renesas have seen the value in qualifying their products for our firmware solutions. Thanks to our strong partnership with Renesas, our validation for its latest, leading-edge I3C expansion and SPD products will enable us to deliver improved firmware and software solutions and expand our support to our mutual customers."