- IPMI - 
Platform Management FRU Information 
Storage Definition 
v1.0 
 
Document Revision 1.3 
March 24, 2015 
 
 
 
 
Intel  Hewlett-Packard  NEC  Dell 
Platform Management FRU Information Storage Definition 
Date 
Rev  Modifications 
Revision History 
9/16/98 
9/27/99 
1.0 
1.1 
2/28/13 
1.2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3/24/15 
1.3 
Initial release. 
Updates to cover errata and clarifications. Added new compatibility MultiRecord 
types to support distributed power bay applications. 
Updates / errata. Corrected typos. Deleted obsolete reference to ‘DMI Vital 
Product Data’. Added ‘ASF’ MultiRecord types. Added clarification that input 
voltage fields in the MultiRecord type 0x00 (power supply input) are signed values, 
and that FFFh = ‘unspecified’ for the peak wattage field. 
Clarified usage of chassis and product info when they’re provided in the same 
FRU device. This was added as footnote 1. 
Updated document references. Provided clarifications and updated references on 
character encoding and Strings in the “Type/Length Byte” section and in the 
Management Access Record (Record Type 0x03). 
Added “Extended DC Output” and “Extended DC Load” records, per Errata E447, 
to support larger maximum DC currents. Deleted Table 16 – System Enclosure or 
Chassis Types and replaced it with a reference to the table from the SMBIOS 
specification. Added an index for major tables after the Table of Contents. 
Added reserved multi-record values for use by the NVM Express™ working group. 
See Table 16-2, MultiRecord Area Record Types. 
Copyright © 2015 Intel Corporation, Hewlett-Packard Company, NEC 
Corporation, Dell Computer Corporation, All rights reserved. 
 
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servicemarks of their respective owners. 
I2C  is  a  two-wire  communications  bus/protocol  developed  by  Philips.    IPMB  is  a  subset  of  the I2C bus/protocol and 
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herein.  
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Platform Management FRU Information Storage Definition 
Table of Contents 
1. 
Introduction ................................................................................................... 1 
2.  Reference Documents .................................................................................. 2 
3.  Accessing FRU Inventory Devices .............................................................. 2 
4.  Accessing FRU Inventory Device Data ....................................................... 3 
5.  More on Predefined and Custom Fields ..................................................... 3 
6.  Suggested Storage Organization ................................................................ 4 
7.  Changing Area Allocations .......................................................................... 4 
8.  Common Header Format .............................................................................. 5 
9. 
Internal Use Area Format ............................................................................. 5 
10. Chassis Info Area Format............................................................................. 6 
11. Board Info Area Format ................................................................................ 7 
12. Product Info Area Format ............................................................................. 8 
13. TYPE/LENGTH BYTE FORMAT .................................................................... 9 
13.1  BCD PLUS definition: ..................................................................................................... 9 
13.2  6-bit ASCII definition .................................................................................................... 10 
13.3  6-bit ASCII Packing Example ........................................................................................ 10 
14. System Enclosure and Chassis Types ..................................................... 11 
15. Language Codes ......................................................................................... 12 
16. MultiRecord Area ........................................................................................ 13 
16.1  Record Header ............................................................................................................... 13 
16.2  Record Header Fields ..................................................................................................... 13 
16.2.1  Record Type Identification ....................................................................................... 13 
16.2.2  End of List ................................................................................................................ 14 
16.2.3  Record Format Version ............................................................................................ 14 
16.2.4  Record Length .......................................................................................................... 14 
16.2.5  Record Checksum ..................................................................................................... 14 
16.2.6  Header Checksum ..................................................................................................... 14 
17. FRU Information Layout ............................................................................. 15 
18. Record Field Definitions ............................................................................. 16 
18.1  Power Supply Information (Record Type 0x00) ............................................................ 16 
 
 
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Platform Management FRU Information Storage Definition 
18.1.1  Overall Capacity in Watts ........................................................................................ 16 
18.1.2  Peak VA .................................................................................................................... 17 
Inrush ........................................................................................................................ 17 
18.1.3 
18.1.4 
Inrush interval ........................................................................................................... 17 
18.1.5  Low end Input voltage range 1 ................................................................................. 17 
18.1.6  High end Input voltage range 1 ................................................................................ 17 
18.1.7  Low end Input voltage range 2 ................................................................................. 17 
18.1.8  High end Input voltage range 2 ................................................................................ 17 
18.1.9  Low end input frequency range ................................................................................ 17 
18.1.10  High end input frequency range ............................................................................... 17 
18.1.11  Input dropout tolerance ............................................................................................. 17 
18.1.12  Binary flags............................................................................................................... 17 
18.1.13  Peak Wattage ............................................................................................................ 18 
18.1.14  Combined Wattage ................................................................................................... 18 
18.1.15  Predictive fail tachometer lower threshold ............................................................... 18 
18.2  DC Output (Record Type 0x01) .................................................................................... 19 
18.2.1  Output Information ................................................................................................... 19 
18.2.2  Nominal voltage ....................................................................................................... 19 
18.2.3  Maximum negative voltage ...................................................................................... 20 
18.2.4  Maximum positive voltage ....................................................................................... 20 
18.2.5  Ripple and Noise pk-pk, 10Hz to 30MHz ................................................................ 20 
18.2.6  Minimum current draw ............................................................................................. 20 
18.2.7  Maximum current draw ............................................................................................ 20 
18.2a  Extended DC Output (Record Type 0x09) .................................................................... 20 
18.3  DC Load (Record Type 0x02) ....................................................................................... 21 
18.3.1  Output Information ................................................................................................... 21 
18.3.2  Nominal voltage ....................................................................................................... 21 
18.3.3  Spec'd minimum voltage ........................................................................................... 21 
18.3.4  Spec'd maximum voltage .......................................................................................... 21 
18.3.5  Ripple and Noise pk-pk 10Hz to 30MHz ................................................................. 21 
18.3.6  Minimum current load .............................................................................................. 21 
18.3.7  Maximum current load ............................................................................................. 21 
18.3a  Extended DC Load (Record Type 0x0A) ...................................................................... 21 
18.4  Management Access Record (Record Type 0x03) ........................................................ 22 
18.4.1  Example .................................................................................................................... 23 
18.5  Base Compatibility Record (Record Type 0x04) ........................................................... 25 
18.6  Extended Compatibility Record (Record Type 0x05) ................................................... 26 
18.6.1  Code Range Mask Fields Usage Example ................................................................ 27 
18.7  OEM Record (Record Types 0xC0-0xFF) ..................................................................... 27 
 
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Platform Management FRU Information Storage Definition 
Tables 
Table 6-1, SUGGESTED 2K BIT EEPROM ORGANIZATION .................................................................. 4 
Table 8-1, COMMON HEADER ................................................................................................................... 5 
Table 9-1, INTERNAL USE AREA (Baseboard Chassis ID definition only) ................................................ 5 
Table 10-1, CHASSIS INFO AREA .............................................................................................................. 6 
Table 11-1, BOARD INFO AREA ................................................................................................................. 7 
Table 12-1, PRODUCT INFO AREA ............................................................................................................ 8 
Table 13-1, 6-bit ASCII Definition .............................................................................................................. 10 
Table 15-1, Language Codes ........................................................................................................................ 12 
Table 16-1, MultiRecord Area Record Header ............................................................................................. 13 
Table 16-2, MultiRecord Area Record Types .............................................................................................. 14 
Table 17-1, FRU Information Layout ........................................................................................................... 15 
Table 17-2, FRU Information Layout Example ............................................................................................ 15 
Table 18-1, Power Supply Information (Record Type 0x00) ....................................................................... 16 
Table 18-2, DC Output (Record Type 0x01) ................................................................................................ 19 
Table 18-3, Extended DC Output (Record Type 0x09) ................................................................................ 20 
Table 18-4, DC Load (Record Type 0x02) ................................................................................................... 21 
Table 18-5, Extended DC Load (Record Type 0x0A) .................................................................................. 22 
Table 18-6, Management Access Record (Record Type 0x03) .................................................................... 22 
Table 18-7, Example Management Access Records for a System ................................................................ 24 
Table 18-8, Example Management Access Records for a UPS .................................................................... 24 
Table 18-9, Base Compatibility Record (Record Type 0x04) ...................................................................... 25 
Table 18-10, Extended Compatibility Record (Record Type 0x05) ............................................................. 26 
Table 18-11, OEM Record (Record Types 0xC0-0xFF) .............................................................................. 27 
 
 
 
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Platform Management FRU Information Storage Definition 
6 
 
 
1.  Introduction 
Platform Management FRU Information Storage Definition 
 
 
This document defines and describes the common format and use of the FRU (Field Replaceable Unit) 
Information storage in platforms using the Intelligent Platform Management Interface. 
The FRU Information is used to primarily to provide ‘inventory’ information about the boards that the FRU 
Information Device is located on. It is a goal that all major field replaceable units (FRUs) have an 
EEPROM or FRU Information Device from which, at a minimum, the part number or version number can 
be read through software. It is also a goal that the FRUs serial number be software readable. 
The format divides the FRU Information Device (or EEPROM) into six different areas: 
Common Header 
Internal Use Area 
Chassis Info Area 
Board Info Area  
The Common Header is mandatory for all FRU Information Device 
implementations. It holds version information for the overall information format 
specification and offsets to the other information areas. The other areas may or 
may not be present based on the application of the device. An area is specified as 
‘Null’ or ‘not present’ when the Common Header has a value of 00h for the 
starting offset for that area. 
This area provides private, implementation-specific information storage for other 
devices that exist on the same FRU as the FRU Information Device. The Internal 
Use Area is usually used to provide private non-volatile storage for a 
management controller. 
This area is used to hold Serial Number, Part Number, and other information 
about the system chassis. A system can have multiple FRU Information Devices 
within a chassis, but only one device should provide the Chassis Info Area. Thus, 
this area will typically be absent from most FRU Information Devices. Ideally 
this information is in a FRU device that is part of a board that is associated with 
the chassis, such as a front panel or power distribution board. But many systems, 
particularly low-end systems, do not incorporate such locations. Therefore, it is 
common to find the Chassis Info Area included in the FRU information for the 
baseboard. 
This area provides Serial Number, Part Number, and other information about the 
board that the FRU Information Device is located on. The name ‘Board Info 
Area’ is somewhat a misnomer, because the usage is not restricted to just circuit 
boards. This area is also typically used to provide FRU information for any 
replaceable entities, boards, or sub-assemblies that are not sold as standalone 
products separate from other components. For example, individual boards from a 
board set, or a sub-chassis or backplane that’s part of a larger chassis.1 
Product Info Area  
This area is present if the FRU itself is a separate product. This is typically seen 
when the FRU is an add-in card, sub-assembly, or a power supply from a 
separate vendor, etc. When this area is provided in the FRU Information Device 
                                                           
 
1   The FRU device that provides info for the chassis is often implemented in the same physical device that provides FRU 
info for the overall product. In such a case, it is common to have both a product info area and a chassis info area in the 
device. This device may reside on the motherboard or on a chassis-related board, such as a circuit board for front panel 
controls. If the overall product and the chassis share the same basic identification information, then it is also common to 
have duplicate fields between the records. If the chassis is orderable as a separate replacement parts of the overall 
product, however, then the serial # and part # in the chassis info would typically be different than that for the overall 
product. Note that because the board info area provides a bit more info than the Chassis Info alone, it is also typical to 
include a board info area along with the chassis info, though that's not mandatory. 
 
 
 
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Platform Management FRU Information Storage Definition 
 
 
that contains the Chassis Info Area, the product info is for the overall system, as 
initially manufactured. 
MultiRecord Info Area  The MultiRecord Info Area provides a region that holds one or more records 
where the type and format of the information is specified in the individual 
headers for the records. This differs from the other information areas, where the 
type and format of the information are implied by which offset is used in the 
Common Header. The MultiRecord Info Area provides a mechanism for 
extending the FRU Information Specification to cover new information types 
without impacting the existing area definitions. 
2.  Reference Documents 
The following documents are companion and supporting specifications for this document: 
[IPMI_1.0] 
[IPMI_1.5] 
[IPMI_2.0] 
[ASF_2.0] 
[SMBIOS] 
Intelligent Platform Management Interface Specification, Version 1.0, © 1998, 
1999 Intel Corporation, Hewlett-Packard Company, NEC Corporation, Dell 
Computer Corporation. 
Intelligent Platform Management Interface Specification, Version 1.5, © 1999, 
2000, 2002, Intel Corporation, Hewlett-Packard Company, NEC Corporation, 
Dell Computer Corporation 
Intelligent Platform Management Interface Specification -  Second Generation, 
v2.0, © 2009, Intel Corporation, Hewlett-Packard Company, NEC Corporation, 
Dell Computer Corporation 
Alert Standard Format (ASF) Specification, Version 2.0, 23 April 2003,  © 2000-
2002, Distributed Management Task Force, Inc. (DMTF) 
System Management BIOS (SMBIOS) Reference Specification, Version 2.7.1, 
January 26, 2011. 
[UNICODE] 
The Unicode Standard,  Version 6.2 – Core Specification, The Unicode 
Consortium, © 1991–2012 Unicode, Inc. 
3.  Accessing FRU Inventory Devices 
Storage for FRU Inventory Devices can be provided by storage devices that are located directly on the 
Intelligent Management Bus, or on a ‘Private Management Bus’. In this case, the device is typically 
accessed directly using whatever low-level access interface the device provides. 
Because system software needs to know the particular details of how to access the storage device, only a 
limited number of types of storage devices are supported for direct access. Presently, the supported devices 
are SEEPROMs that use a ‘24C02’-compatible interface, and SEEPROMs that are compatible with the 
Dallas Semiconductor DS1624 Temperature Sensor/SEEPROM interface. 
Alternately, a management controller can be used to provide the interface to the FRU Inventory Device. The 
management controller provides Read/Write FRU Inventory Data commands for accessing the non-volatile 
storage contents via the controller’s messaging interface. This is the preferred implementation. The 
approach provides additional data integrity checking and error handling that are not available when a non-
volatile storage device is accessed directly. It also isolates software from the implementation of the non-
volatile storage hardware. That is, software uses the same Read/Write FRU Inventory Data commands to 
the management controller regardless of the type of device used to provide the storage. 
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