The Ethernet Media Access Controller (MAC) core can be configured to operate in either the Gigabit mode (1000 Mbits/sec data rate) or the Fast Ethernet mode (10/100 Mbits/sec data rate). Netlist configurations of this core operate only in either the Gigabit mode or Fast Ethernet mode. The netlist cannot auto-negotiate between the two different modes.
The Ethernet MAC transmits and receives data between a host processor and an Ethernet network. The main function of the Ethernet MAC is to ensure that the Media Access rules specified in the 802.3 IEEE standard are met while transmitting a frame of data over Ethernet. Figure 2 shows the transmission of data on the Ethernet network using the frame format. On the receiving side, the Ethernet MAC extracts the different components of a frame and transfers them to higher applications through the FIFO interface.
Ethernet MAC Cores
Overview
Key Features
- Compliant to IEEE 802.3z Standard
- Generic Host Interface
- Configurable 8-bit or 16-bit and Greater Data Bus
- 16-bit Wide Internal Data Path
- Full-duplex Operation in Gigabit Mode
- Full and Half Duplex in 10/100 Mode
- Transmit and Receive Statistics Vector
- Programmable Inter Packet Gap (IPG)
- Multicast Address Filtering
- Supports:
- Full-duplex Control Using PAUSE Frames
- VLAN Tagged Frames
- Automatic Re-transmission on Collision
- Automatic Padding of Short Frames
- Optional FCS Transmission and Reception
- Optional MII Management Interface Module
- Supports Jumbo Frames up to 8192 kbytes
- Reference Design for GMII to RGMII Bridge
- Reduced pincount Gigabit Media Independent Interface
Block Diagram
