Method and apparatus for establishing a link over a preferred media in an ethernet network

摘要

A physical layer device comprises an interface that communicates with a media access control (MAC) device. A first circuit attempts to establish a first link using a first transceiver over a first medium. A second circuit attempts to establish a second link using a second transceiver over a second medium that is different than the first medium. A media selector communicates with the interface and the first and second circuits and that enables data flow from the first medium to the MAC device using the interface when the first link is established first. A preferred medium selector communicates with the media selector and is configurable in one of a plurality of medium preference states.