United States - Flag United States

Please confirm your currency selection:

Bench Talk for Design Engineers

Bench Talk

rss

Bench Talk for Design Engineers | The Official Blog of Mouser Electronics


Three Things You Should Know About Ethernet PHY
On January 13, 2016 in All by Garrett Yamasaki
Garrett Yamasaki

The evolution of Ethernet is fascinating. More than 40 years ago, Robert Metcalfe was asked to create a local area network (LAN) for the storied Palo Alto Research Center. The result of Metcalfe’s innovative work would be standardized as Ethernet – an adaptive technology that would forever revolutionize the world of communications. Fast-forward to modern society, and Ethernet is everywhere.


 What is Ethernet?

Today, many people think that Ethernet means the Internet. While these two concepts are indeed related, Ethernet is simply an interface specification (IEEE 802.3) comprising many subsections and specifications defining the physical and data-link layers of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model. One of the most important pieces that came out of IEEE 802.3 is the Ethernet physical layer transistor (PHY).

Figure 1 shows an example block diagram of how data is transferred to and from a standard RJ45 Ethernet cable to a processor.

 

 

Figure 1: Ethernet PHY system block diagram

 

These are the three things you should know about Ethernet PHY:

It is a transceiver that is a bridge between the digital world – including processors, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) – and the analog world. An Ethernet PHY is designed to provide error-free transmission over a variety of media to reach distances that exceed 100m.
The Ethernet PHY is connected to a media access controller (MAC). The MAC is usually integrated into a processor, FPGA or ASIC and controls the data-link-layer portion of the OSI model. The media-independent interface (MII) defines the interface between the MAC and the PHY. Variations of the MII are available that provide minimal pin count and varied data rates depending on system requirements.

Speed matters. There are many different variants of the Ethernet standard, with corresponding PHYs, that range from 1Mbps to 100Gbps. The majority of Ethernet applications use a 10/100Mbps (see TI’s DP83848) or 10/100/1000Mbps PHY. The physical mediums that carry the data to the Ethernet PHY include twisted pairs, CAT5, coaxial cables, backplanes and fiber optics.

Without Ethernet, you would not be able to quickly send data from one point to another. Forty years after its creation, Ethernet has become truly indispensable. What else would you like to know about Ethernet PHY? Leave a comment below. Watch next month for a blog post on how Ethernet technology is shifting new modern markets. 

 

 



« Back


Garrett lives in a world filled with technology and innovation as a Product Marketing Engineer for Texas Instruments in the Automotive Connectivity and Ethernet group.  When he’s not working on Ethernet, he’s playing pickup basketball at a local park, dreaming of being on Shark Tank, or training to someday be on American Ninja Warrior. He graduated from the University of California San Diego and worked at Peregrine Semiconductor (now part of Murata) as a design engineer working on mobile wireless switches.

Related Posts

  • How Ethernet Technology is Shifting Modern Markets 40 years After its Inception

    In today’s markets, Ethernet technology is drastically changing the dynamics of how we efficiently transfer data. Ethernet PHYs are integrated into everything from automotive diagnostics to robotic assembly lines to set-top boxes. Ethernet PHYs are evolving to meet market demand due to three main factors: Real-time communication, Robustness and reliability against external factors, Economical solution.

  • 7 things to know about spacecraft subsystems before your next trip to Mars

    When I was young, as most aspiring engineers do, I dreamed of going to outer space, specifically Mars. And I thought the only way to get there was aboard the NASA space shuttle. The cancellation of the shuttle program crushed that boyhood dream of mine, or so I thought. The recent commercialization of satellites and launch services, that may someday provide space exploration, has kept that dream alive for all of us. With some new innovation and the decades of experience out there I believe they will be able to make this dream a reality.

  • Adapting Ethernet to Accelerate Industry 4.0

    Industry 4.0 promises to revolutionize the factory through smart technology. Yet it can be expensive to install, scale, and maintain. A new form of Industrial Ethernet, using single twisted pair cables, promises to cut costs and ease installation while also promising interoperability across design, procurement, and manufacture.

  • Engineering Career Fairs: Yeah, You Gotta Talk About Yourself

    If you’re like many engineering students, you probably find the idea of attending a career fair to be a bit nerve-racking. Most of us would probably prefer just to lurk at the career fair and land an internship based on our resumes and professor recommendations and maybe a bit of osmosis. Not all of us are comfortable talking about ourselves—much less selling ourselves. As you’ll see, a little planning and practice go a long way in presenting yourself as articulate and cogent, easing those sweaty palms, and standing out as a candidate.

  • Worried About Artificial Intelligence? You Should Be- But Not The Way You Probably Think

    How many times have you seen on the big screen the threat that artificial intelligence (AI) will wipe out or enslave humankind? It’s a lot, right? Should we really be worried about this with so many other disaster scenarios greeting us every day in the news- climate change, earthquakes, tsunamis, plagues, zombies and sharknadoes? Ok, maybe zombies and sharknadoes shouldn’t be included in a list of newsworthy worries, but maybe they do belong on a list that includes AI.

  • New Tech Tuesdays: Single Pair Ethernet: The Future of Industrial Automation

    SPE is a new technology that is rapidly gaining popularity as a cost-effective, reliable, and high-speed alternative to standard Ethernet for industrial automation and automotive applications using only one pair of twisted copper wires to transmit data, power, and control signals.
25732 Views
Tagged With: Ethernet, PHY

Search

Categories

Featured Authors

All Authors

Show More Show More
View Blogs by Date

Archives