Direct Media Interface

In computing, Direct Media Interface (DMI) is Intel's proprietary link between the northbridge and southbridge on a computer motherboard. It was first used between the 9xx chipsets and the ICH6, released in 2004. Previous Intel chipsets had used the Hub Interface to perform the same function, and server chipsets use a similar interface called Enterprise Southbridge Interface (ESI).^[1] While the "DMI" name dates back to ICH6, Intel mandates specific combinations of compatible devices, so the presence of a DMI interface does not guarantee by itself that a particular northbridge–southbridge combination is allowed.

DMI shares many characteristics with PCI Express, using multiple lanes and differential signaling to form a point-to-point link. Most implementations use a ×4 link, while some mobile systems (e.g. 915GMS, 945GMS/GSE/GU and the Atom N450) use a ×2 link, halving the bandwidth. The original implementation provides 10 Gbit/s (1.16 GB/s) in each direction using a ×4 link.

DMI 2.0, introduced in 2011, doubles the data transfer rate to 2 GB/s with a ×4 link. It is used to link an Intel CPU with the Intel Platform Controller Hub (PCH), which supersedes the historic implementation of a separate northbridge and southbridge.^[2]:14

DMI 3.0, released in August 2015, allows the 8 GT/s transfer rate per lane, for a total of four lanes and 3.93 GB/s for the CPU–PCH link. It is used by two-chip variants of the Intel Skylake microprocessors, which are used in conjunction with Intel 100 Series chipsets;^[3][4] some variants of Skylake will have the PCH integrated into the die, referred to as OPI (On Package DMI interconnect Interface)^[5] and effectively following the system on a chip (SoC) design layout.^[6] On 9 March 2015, Intel announced the Broadwell-based Xeon D as its first platform to fully incorporate the PCH in an SoC configuration.^[7]

Implementations

Northbridge devices supporting a northbridge DMI are the Intel 915-series, 925-series, 945-series, 955-series, 965-series, 975-series, G31/33, P35, X38, X48, P45 and X58.

Processors supporting a northbridge DMI and, therefore, not using a separate northbridge, are the Intel Atom, Intel Core i3, Intel Core i5, and Intel Core i7 (8xx, 7xx and 6xx, but not 9xx). Processors supporting a northbridge DMI 2.0 and, therefore not using a separate northbridge, are the 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000 and 6000 series of the Intel Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7.

Southbridge devices supporting a southbridge DMI are the ICH6, ICH7, ICH8, ICH9, ICH10, NM10, P55, H55, H57, Q57, PM55, HM55, HM57, QM57 and QS57.

PCH devices supporting DMI 2.0 are the Intel Z68, P67, H67, H61, Q67, Q65, B65, HM65, HM67, QM67, QS67, Z77, Z75, H77, Q77, Q75, B75, X79, HM75, HM76, HM77, UM77, QM77, QS77, H81, B85, Q85, Q87, H87, Z87, H97, Z97, C222, C224, C226, X99, and H110.^[8]

PCH devices supporting DMI 3.0 are the Intel Z170, H170, HM170, Q170, QM170, Q150, B150, C236, CM236 and C232.^{[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]}

See also

• List of device bit rates

References

Technical and de facto standards for wired computer buses
General	System bus Front-side bus Back-side bus Daisy chain Control bus Address bus Bus contention Network on a chip Plug and play List of bus bandwidths
Standards	SS-50 bus S-100 bus Unibus VAXBI MBus STD Bus SMBus Q-Bus Europe Card Bus ISA STEbus Zorro II Zorro III CAMAC FASTBUS LPC HP Precision Bus EISA VME VXI VXS NuBus TURBOchannel MCA SBus VLB PCI PXI HP GSC bus InfiniBand UPA PCI Extended (PCI-X) AGP PCI Express (PCIe) Direct Media Interface (DMI) RapidIO Intel QuickPath Interconnect HyperTransport
Storage	ST-506 ESDI SMD Parallel ATA (PATA) SSA DSSI HIPPI Serial ATA (SATA) eSATA eSATAp mSATA SCSI Parallel SCSI SAS Fibre Channel SATA Express M.2
Peripheral	Apple Desktop Bus HIL MIDI Multibus RS-232 RS-422 RS-423 RS-485 DMX512-A IEEE-488 (GPIB) IEEE-1284 (parallel port) UNI/O ACCESS.bus 1-Wire D²B I²C SPI Parallel SCSI Profibus USB IEEE 1394 (FireWire) Camera Link External PCIe Thunderbolt
Audio	ADAT Lightpipe AES3 Intel HD Audio I²S MADI McASP S/PDIF TOSLINK
Portable	PC Card ExpressCard
Embedded	Multidrop bus CoreConnect AMBA Wishbone
Interfaces are listed by their speed in the (roughly) ascending order, so the interface at the end of each section should be the fastest. Category