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Altera_Forum's avatar
Altera_Forum
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15 years ago

Difference btw PHY and MAC

Hello,

Can somebody point me to the difference between PHY and MAC on TSE protocol?

Thanks,

Carid

1 Reply

  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
    Icon for Honored Contributor rankHonored Contributor
    15 years ago

    TSE (if you refer to the ip module in sopc builder) is a MAC.

    TSE MAC = Triple Speed Ethernet Media Access Controller

    This is the device which converts your data in a format which can be transmitted on your actual network.

    PHY is the physical layer device, namely the transceiver which connects to the wire, optical fiber, RF or whatever you have.

    The MAC is a digital devices, so it can easily be integrated in FPGAs, while PHY is usually an external device.

    Cris