Dissolve resolved analyses into standalone device docs; open-questions.md keeps only the four live problems; discard NIC-timestamp length path (BCM ECD is proven) and Aquantia length trivia (30m part, oracle-only)

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flamingcow
2026-08-12 21:30:16 -07:00
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## Cable-length physics (applies to all vendors)
- **TDR** (classic VCT/CDT/ECD): locates opens/shorts both-ended. But *healthy-cable length* needs a far-end reflection, and a plugged-in terminated far end absorbs the pulse "OK" pairs report no distance. Effectively single-ended for length; every kernel implementation only reports distance for *fault* results.
- **TDR** (classic VCT/CDT/ECD): locates opens/shorts both-ended. The generic concern — *healthy-cable length* needs a far-end reflection, and a plugged-in terminated far end absorbs the pulse, so "OK" pairs report no distance (every kernel implementation only reports distance for *fault* results) — is disproven for the BCM: its ECD reports per-pair length for healthy pairs on a plugged, terminated, linked cable, meter-accurate ([fs/](fs/README.md)). **The BCM ECD is the product length path.**
- **DSP estimate**: both vendors' PHYs compute linked-cable length continuously from insertion loss during training (Marvell "proactively determines cable length"; the BCM's limited-reach power mode switches "based on cable length" while linked). Works in the product's both-ends-plugged topology — the question is only whether the estimate is exposed in a readable register (Aquantia: yes, `1E.C884`; BCM/Marvell: not in documented space).
- **NIC timestamp path-delay** — the module-independent fallback: works linked, needs hardware timestamps and a short-cable calibration to cancel fixed PHY latency (~4.8 ns/m one way; 50 m ≈ 240 ns). Viability gated on PHY-latency stability across retrains ([../open-questions.md](../open-questions.md) §2).