Patent ID: 8375201

Claim:
In an IEEE 802.3 Ethernet communication system, a method for securing links at the physical (PHY) layer, the method comprising: a local device (LD) transmitting an electrical waveform representing an agreement to communicate IEEE 802.3 protocol Next Page (NP) messages with a network-connected link partner (LP); the LD transmitting an electrical waveform representing unformatted pages to the LP, indicating that a secure link is required; the LD receiving an unformatted page response from the LP, acknowledging the initiation of a secure link procedure; the LD receiving an electrical waveform representing link partner security information from the unformatted pages; the LD accessing predetermined LP reference information stored in a tangible hardware memory; the LD comparing the received LP security information to the LP reference information; and, in response to the LD matching the received LP security information to the LP reference information, verifying a secure link to the LP.