Patent ID: 8230240

Claim:
A method for networking, the method comprising: performing, by one or more circuits in an Ethernet physical layer device (PHY) that communicates over one or more serial communication channels: prior to transitioning to an energy saving mode, receiving data with forward error correction (FEC) information of a first type, wherein a content of said first type of FEC information is based on a content of said data; receiving physical layer signals over said one or more serial communication channels to maintain and/or refresh synchronization and/or training parameters in said Ethernet PHY while operating in said energy saving mode; transitioning out of said energy saving mode upon receiving a wake sequence via said one or more serial communication channels, said wake sequence including FEC information of a second deterministic type, said second deterministic type of FEC information having a predetermined value and/or sequence of bits; and processing said second deterministic type FEC information with a first part of FEC functionality in said Ethernet PHY that is enabled, while a second part of FEC functionality in said Ethernet PHY is disabled.