Altera 10-Gbps Ethernet MAC MegaCore Function - Manual (Page 68)

February 2014 Altera Corporation 10-Gbps Ethernet MAC MegaCore Function User Guide
7. Functional Description
The 10GbE MAC IP core handles the flow of data between a client and Ethernet
network through a 10-Gbps Ethernet PHY. On the transmit path, the MAC accepts
client frames and constructs Ethernet frames by inserting various control fields, such
as checksums before forwarding them to the PHY. Similarly, on the receive path, the
MAC accepts Ethernet frames via a PHY, performs checks, and removes the relevant
fields before forwarding the frames to the client. You can configure the MAC to collect
statistics on both transmit and receive paths. You can opt to use either 10GbE MAC,
1G/10GbE MAC, or 10M-10GbE MAC variant.
This chapter describes the MAC IP core, its architecture, interfaces, data paths,
registers, and interface signals.
7.1. Architecture
The 10GbE MAC IP core is a composition of three blocks: MAC receiver (MAC RX),
MAC transmitter (MAC TX), and Avalon-MM bridge. The MAC RX and MAC TX
handle data flow between the client and Ethernet network.
The Avalon-MM bridge provides a single interface to all Avalon-MM interfaces within
the MAC, which allows a host to access 32-bit configuration and status registers, and
statistics counters.