[譯]Chapter 6. The PCI Layer and Network Interface Cards 第6章，PCI層和網路介面卡

目錄：http://www.cnblogs.com/WuCountry/archive/2008/11/15/1333960.html
 
[不提供插圖，讀者最好從網上下載源書]
   Chapter 6. The PCI Layer and Network Interface Cards 第6章，PCI層和網路介面卡
Given the popularity of the PCI bus, on the x86 as well as other architectures, we will spend a few pages on it so that you can understand how PCI devices are managed by the kernel, with special emphasis on network devices. This chapter will help you find a context for the code about device registration we will see in Chapter 8. You will also learn a bit about how PCI handles some nifty kernel features such as probing and power management. For an in-depth discussion of PCI, such as device driver design, PCI bus features, and implementation details, refer to Linux Device Drivers and Understanding the Linux Kernel, as well as PCI specifications.
以最流行的PCI匯流排為例，在x86系統上，其它體繫結構也一樣，我們會花幾頁在這個上面。這樣我們可以瞭解PIC裝置是如何被核心管理的，重點是在網路裝置上。本章會協助你發現一些在第8章中才會看到的一些關於裝置註冊的代碼內容。你同樣會學習一些關於PCI是如何處理一些俏皮的核心特性，如何監測和電源管理。為了更深入的討論PCI，例如裝置驅動設計，PCI匯流排特性，以及實現的細節，可以參考Linux裝置驅動設計和深入理解Linux核心。

The PCI subsystem (also known as the PCI layer ) in the kernel provides all the generic functions that are used in common by various PCI device drivers. This subsystem takes a lot of work off the shoulders of the programmer for each individual device, lets drivers be written in a clean manner, and makes it easier for the kernel to collect and maintain information about the devices, such as accounting information and statistics.
在核心中的PCI子系統，也就是眾所周知的PCI層，提供了所有可以用於大多數PCI裝置驅動的通用功能。這個子系統包括了很多協助程式員開發每個獨立裝置的工作，讓驅動的編寫方式很清楚，並且讓它可以更加容易的在核心中收集和維護。例如，資訊統計。

In this chapter, we will see the meaning of a few key data structures used by the PCI layer and how these structures are initialized by one common NIC device driver. I'll conclude with a few words on the PCI power management and Wake-on-LAN features.
在這一章，我們會看到幾個用於PCI層的關鍵資料結構的含義，以及這些資料結構是如何被通用的NIC裝置驅動所化初始化的。我們會包括一些PCI電源管理的詞彙以及區域網路喚醒特性！