Patent ID: 6169729
Filing Date: 2001-01-02
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
A 400 Mbps T2 segment, comprising: one T2 physical layer device providing a transmit and receive port connected to a first end of four pairs of category 5 wiring; one media access control entity for sourcing physical layer signaling (PLS) primitives to manage the flow of frames eight bits a nibble to and from the four pairs of category 5 wiring; a medium independent interface, coupling the media access control entity and the T2 physical layer device, the medium independent interface including: means for providing an eight bit wide transmit data path from the media access control entity to the T2 physical layer device; means for providing an eight bit wide receive data path from the physical layer device to the media access control entity; and means for mapping PLS primitives from the media access control entity to the eight bit wide transmit and receive data paths; and one switch, coupled at the second end of the four pairs of category 5 wiring, the switch having a port for accepting the four pairs of category 5 wiring, the port having a selection capability for trunking the four pair of category 5 wiring into a single channel comprising separate 200 Mbps throughput transmit and receive data paths to the physical layer device.