Patent ID: 8837468

Claim:
A network device comprising: a physical layer device comprising a first interface, wherein the physical layer device is configured to receive a plurality of packets including a first packet and a second packet, wherein the second packet comprises data; and a media access controller comprising a second interface, wherein the second interface of the media access controller is connected to the first interface of the physical layer device, wherein the physical layer device is configured to, in response to receiving the first packet, (i) generate a power signal, (ii) transition at least one of the first interface and the second interface from being powered OFF to being powered ON, and (iii) output the power signal to the media access controller, the media access controller is configured to (i) receive the power signal, (ii) in response to receiving the power signal, transition from being powered OFF to being powered ON, and (iii) subsequent to being powered ON, receive the second packet from the physical layer device via the first interface and the second interface, the first interface of the physical layer device comprises a first serializer, the first serializer is configured to, in response to the second packet, transmit a serial stream of the data of the second packet from the physical layer device to the media access controller, the second interface of the media access controller comprises a first deserializer, and the first deserializer is configured to deserialize the data of the second packet.