Subject: Re: Sharing MII and I2C code in ethernet drivers
To: Curt Sampson <cjs@portal.ca>
From: Manuel BOUYER <bouyer@antioche.lip6.fr>
List: tech-kern
Date: 09/21/1997 14:11:17
On Sep 21, Curt Sampson wrote
> The real question is, is there any reason at all that someone would
> want to include a device driver for a card that did not support
> certain PHYs not available on the card.

I think I'd like (and even for PHY available on the board I don't use), to
make the kernel binary and memory usage smaller.
This also allow all combinations of board controller/PHY controller to
be supported, as soon as both controllers are supported.

For now, I only know 2 MII board controller (the DEC tulip and TI thunderland),
and 3 MII PHY controller (the NS ethernet 10/100, the TI 100VG-anaylan,
and the TI 10bT). But I really think theses numbers will grow in the future,
allowing a lot of conbinations and more different medias (is there a techincal
reason preventing someone to build a gigabit ethernet PHY ?).

--
Manuel Bouyer, LIP6, Universite Paris VI.           Manuel.Bouyer@lip6.fr
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