Network interface card using physical layer microcontroller and method of operation
First Claim
1. An apparatus for controlling a physical layer interface of a network interface card, said apparatus comprising:
- a read only memory (ROM) capable of storing an embedded control program;
a random access memory capable of storing a downloadable software control program downloaded from an external processing system; and
a microcontroller capable of controlling said physical layer interface, wherein said microcontroller in a first operating mode is capable of executing said embedded control program to thereby control said physical layer interface, and wherein said microcontroller in a second operating mode is capable of executing said downloadable software control program in place of said embedded control program to thereby control said physical layer interface;
wherein said microcontroller comprises a plurality of control registers capable of controlling said first and second operating modes, wherein said microcontroller switches from said first operating mode to said second operating mode when said external processing system stores a jump address to said RAM in a first one of said plurality of control registers.
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Accused Products
Abstract
There is disclosed an apparatus for controlling a physical layer interface of a network interface card. The apparatus comprises: 1) a read only memory (ROM) for storing an embedded control program; 2) a random access memory for storing a downloadable software control program; and 3) a microcontroller for controlling the physical layer interface, wherein the microcontroller in a first operating mode executes the embedded control program to thereby control the physical layer interface, and wherein the microcontroller in a second operating mode downloads the downloadable software control program from an external processing system and executes the software control program in place of the embedded control program to thereby control the physical layer interface.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. An apparatus for controlling a physical layer interface of a network interface card, said apparatus comprising:
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a read only memory (ROM) capable of storing an embedded control program; a random access memory capable of storing a downloadable software control program downloaded from an external processing system; and a microcontroller capable of controlling said physical layer interface, wherein said microcontroller in a first operating mode is capable of executing said embedded control program to thereby control said physical layer interface, and wherein said microcontroller in a second operating mode is capable of executing said downloadable software control program in place of said embedded control program to thereby control said physical layer interface; wherein said microcontroller comprises a plurality of control registers capable of controlling said first and second operating modes, wherein said microcontroller switches from said first operating mode to said second operating mode when said external processing system stores a jump address to said RAM in a first one of said plurality of control registers. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A processing system comprising:
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a data processor; a hard disk drive capable of storing a network interface card (NIC) configuration file containing a downloadable software control program; and a network interface card for coupling said processing system to a data network, said network interface card comprising an apparatus for controlling a physical layer interface of said network interface card, said apparatus comprising; a read only memory (ROM) capable of storing an embedded control program; a random access memory capable of storing a downloadable software control program downloaded from an external processing system; and a microcontroller capable of controlling said physical layer interface, wherein said microcontroller in a first operating mode is capable of executing said embedded control program to thereby control said physical layer interface, and wherein said microcontroller in a second operating mode is capable of executing said downloadable software control program in place of said embedded control program to thereby control said physical layer interface; wherein said microcontroller comprises a plurality of control registers capable of controlling said first and second operating modes, wherein said microcontroller switches from said first operating mode to said second operating mode when said external processing system stores a jump address to said RAM in a first one of said plurality of control registers. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. For use in a network interface card having a physical layer interface controllable by a microcontroller embedded therein, a method of operating the microcontroller comprising the steps of:
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in a first operating mode, executing an embedded control program stored in a read only memory (ROM) coupled to the microcontroller to thereby control the physical layer interface; in a second operating mode, executing a software control program downloaded from an external processing system and stored in a random access memory (RAM) coupled to the microcontroller in place of the embedded control program to thereby control the physical layer interface; and switching from the first operating mode to the second operating mode when the external processing system stores a jump address to the RAM in a first one of a plurality of control registers in the microcontroller wherein the control registers are capable of controlling said first and second operating modes. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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Specification