Apparatus and method for automatically selecting a network port for a home network station

Abstract

A physical layer transceiver of a home network station connected to a telephone medium has an architecture enabling adaptation of detection circuitry based on received network signals to enable reliable recovery of data signals. The physical layer transceiver includes an input amplifier that amplifies network signals according to one of 128 gain settings set by a receiver gain control signal. A signal conditioning circuit includes an envelope detector configured for outputting an envelope of the amplified received signal, and an energy detector configured for outputting an energy signal of the amplified received signals. The envelope signal and the energy signal are supplied to slicer threshold circuits, configured for outputting noise, peak, data event and energy event signals based on noise threshold, peak threshold, data transition threshold, and energy threshold signals, respectively. A digital controller controls the input amplifier gain and the threshold values, and adjusts the gain and threshold values based on the noise event signal and the peak event signal within an access ID (AID) interval. The physical layer transceiver of the home network station includes link detection logic enabling the physical layer transceiver to determine whether a valid link is detected on the telephone line medium. The home network station is configured for communication with the home network physical layer transceiver, as well as other physical layer transceivers, via a shared media independent interface (MII), to determine which network port to use for network communications. If none of the other physical layer transceivers indicate a valid link is present on the corresponding network medium, the home network station automatically configures the network communication software for selecting the port corresponding to the physical layer transceiver connected to the telephone line medium.