Patent ID: 8284801

Claim:
An apparatus for controlling an operating mode of an Ethernet media access controller (MAC) embedded in a programmable device, comprising: a configuration circuit configured to receive a configuration signal from configuration memory of the programmable device and a host signal from a host bus of the programmable device, and further configured to output a control length check disable signal the value of which depends on the value of at least one of the configuration signal and the host signal, wherein the configuration circuit comprises: a register configured to provide the control length check disable signal; a first multiplexer configured to select one of the host signal or the control length check disable signal as a first output signal in response to an enable signal of the Ethernet MAC; and a second multiplexer configured to select one of the configuration signal or the first output signal as an input to the register in response to a reset signal of the Ethernet MAC; and a parameter check circuit configured to receive a control signal derived from at least one of the control length check disable signal and the configuration signal, and further configured to selectively disable checking a length of each control frame in frames received by the Ethernet MAC based on a value of the control signal.