Patent ID: 7934038

Claim:
A media access system on an integrated circuit for interfacing to a network, comprising: at least one embedded media access controller configured to provide access to and from the network via a physical layer interface; programmable resources coupled to the at least one embedded media access controller via a client interface thereof; tie-off pin inputs coupled to the at least one embedded media access controller for receiving at least one configuration vector for configuring the at least one embedded media access controller without having to use a microprocessor for such configuration; the client interface being for communication between the at least one embedded media access controller and the programmable resources for access to and from the network via the at least one embedded media access controller, wherein the client interface comprises a selectively configurable width and an operational frequency configurable independently of an operational frequency of the at least one embedded media access controller; and the at least one embedded media access controller including a multi-mode interface coupled to the client interface for coupling to the programmable resources, the multi-mode interface including a plurality of Media Independent Interface modes, the multi-mode interface configured to be coupled to the physical layer interface.