Speaker
Andrew Lunn
Description
phylib has provided the API Ethernet MAC drivers have used to control
Copper PHYs for many years. However with the advent of MACs/PHYs with
bandwidth of > 1Gbps, SERDES interfaces and fibre optical modules,
phylib is not sufficient. phylink provides an API which MAC drivers
can use to control these more complex and dynamic, possibly
hot-pluggable PHYs. This presentation will explain why phylink is
needed, how it differs from phylib, and describe how to convert a MAC
driver from phylib to phylink in order to make use of its new
features. The kernel support for SFP modules will also be detailed,
including how the MAC needs to handle hot-plugging of the PHY, which
can be copper or fibre.
