Patent ID: 7720068

Claim:
A rate adaptive interface configured to interface a MAC device with a PHY device, the interface comprising: a rate adaptation module in communication with a MAC device, the rate adaptation module configured to: receive data at a rate selected from 10 Mb/s, 100 Mb/s, and 1 Gb/s; process the data to a rate of 1 Gb/s; output the data at a rate of 1 Gb/s; an encapsulation/recovery module configured to receive the data at a rate of 1 Gb/s from the rate adaptation module, and encapsulate the data at a rate of 1 Gb/s to generated data at a rate of 10 Gb/s; a multiplexer configured to receive the data at a rate of 10 Gb/s from the encapsulation/recovery module or to received data from a MAC device at a rate of 10 Gb/s and selectively output data at a rate of 10 Gb/s responsive to a mode selection control signal; a mode selection module configured to control the multiplexer based on control input from a higher layer device; and an ordered set generation and detection module in communication with the multiplexer and the mode selection module, the ordered set generation and detection module configured to detect ordered sets which announce a mode change wherein the ordered set generation and detection module is in communication with the mode selection module.