Patent ID: 8200473

Claim:
A system, comprising: a management entity for sending a Management Data Input/Output (MDIO) command for performing a MDIO operation; and a switch element for receiving and responding to the MDIO command, the switch element comprising: a plurality of ports, each port having a plurality of components designated as MDIO Manageable devices (MMDs); and a control port for storing information identifying an MMD and a port where the MMD resides, such that if the command identifies the MMD, then a MMD emulation module interfacing with a switch element processor emulates the identified MMD and responds to the MDIO command, instead of the MMD directly responding to the management entity: wherein the MMD emulation module maintains information for the emulated MMD in a shared register; and wherein the switch element processor creates a memory window with information from the shared register at a memory operationally coupled to the MMD emulation module and the switch element processor.