Patent ID: 8824489

Claim:
A system, comprising: a physical layer (PHY) module configured to operate in a first mode or a second mode based on a determination of whether a first number of wire pairs or a second number of wire pairs is connected to the PHY module, wherein: while operating in the first mode, the PHY module is i) configured to be connected to a first physical medium including the first number of wire pairs, and ii) is configured to communicate over the first physical medium at a first data rate using the first number of wire pairs; and while operating in the second mode, the PHY module is i) configured to be connected to a second physical medium including a second number of wire pairs that is less than the first number of wire pairs, and ii) is configured to increase a transmission rate using the second number of wire pairs to communicate over the second physical medium at the first data rate, wherein the first data rate using the first number of wire pairs and the first data rate using the second number of wire pairs correspond to a same data rate; and a mode control module configured to selectively transition the PHY module between the first mode and the second mode.