Patent ID: 8243614

Claim:
A communication device comprising: first and second circuits to implement a plurality of ports via which the communicative device is operable to communicate over a plurality of communication channels; wherein, for each of the plurality of ports, the communication device comprises: command hardware that includes a first transmitter to transmit data over a respective one of the plurality of channels and a first receiver to receive data from the respective one of the plurality of channels; and monitor hardware that includes a second receiver coupled to the first transmitter to receive data from the first transmitter and a third receiver coupled to the respective one of the plurality of channels, wherein the third receiver receives data from the respective one of the plurality of channels; wherein the first circuit comprises the command hardware for a first subset of the plurality of ports; and wherein the second circuit comprises the monitor hardware for the first subset of the plurality of ports and the command hardware for a second subset of the plurality of ports.