Patent ID: 7904623

Claim:
An Ethernet controller semiconductor chip comprising an integrated circuit chip arranged in a housing having a plurality of external pins, the integrated circuit chip comprising: a system control unit; a media access control layer coupled with the system control unit; a physical layer coupled with the media access control layer, wherein the physical layer comprises a receiving port and a transmitting port; a switch control unit for providing a control signal for auto media device interface switching; and a special function register coupled with the switch control unit, wherein the special function register is programmable in a first mode in which the switch control unit is enabled to generate said control signal and in a second mode in which the switch control unit is disabled and no control signal is generated; wherein a first set of pins of the external pins are coupled with the receiving and transmitting port of the physical layer and one pin of the external pins is coupled with the switch control unit for providing external access to the control signal for auto media device interface switching.