Patent ID: 6061362
Filing Date: 2000-05-09
Classification: G06F,H04L

Abstract:
A method of communicating Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) standard 802.3u media independent interface (MII) signals between a media access control (MAC) and a physical layer (PHY) to allow decreased pin count per connection, the method comprising the steps of:in a multiplexed mode, transferring a first subset of MII datapath signals from the MAC to the PHY through a first group of ports during a first interval of time and transferring a second subset of MII datapath signals from the MAC to the PHY through the first group of ports during a second interval of time by performing clock phase multiplexing; andin a MII standard mode, transferring the MII datapath signals from the MAC to the PHY through the first group of ports and a second group of ports during the same interval of time.