Patent ID: 7710998

Claim:
A media and speed independent system for transmitting data, comprising: a media access controller (MAC); a first rate adaptation layer (RAL) module that communicates with said MAC using an extended 10 Gbps media independent interface (EXGMII); a first physical extension module that communicates with said first RAL module; a second physical extension module that communicates with said first physical extension module using a physical extension interface; a second RAL module that communicates with said second physical extension module; and a physical layer device (PHY) that communicates with said second RAL module using said EXGMII, wherein said EXGMII includes a plurality of signals that are mapped to signals of a media independent interface (MII), signals of a 1 Gbps MII (GMII), and signals of a 10 Gbps MII (XGMII).