Patent ID: 7920597

Claim:
A method for providing communication in a network, the method comprising: during time periods between transmissions of data onto one or more Ethernet links by a local Ethernet link partner, communicating, by said local Ethernet Link partner onto said one or more Ethernet links, one or more signals that enable synchronization of said local Ethernet link partner with one or more remote Ethernet link partners, wherein: said one or more signals enable said local Ethernet link partner and/or said remote Ethernet link partner to operate at reduced power when compared to the communication of standard Ethernet IDLE signals between said local Ethernet link partner and said remote link partner; and a number of constellation points utilized for said communicating said one or more signals is different from a number of constellation points utilized for communicating said data via said one or more Ethernet links; and said constellation points utilized for said communicating said one or more signals comprise points {+1, 0, −1} compatible with the 1GBASE-T standard.