[PATCH net-next v4 13/13] Documentation: networking: document phy_link_topology

Andrew Lunn andrew at lunn.ch
Mon Dec 18 02:10:29 PST 2023


> +An Ethernet Interface from userspace's poing of view is nothing but a

point

> +:c:type:`struct net_device <net_device>`, which exposes configuration options
> +trough the legacy ioctls and the ethool netlink commands. The base assumption

through 

> +when designing these configuration channels were that the link looked
> +something like this ::
> +
> +  +-----------------------+        +----------+      +--------------+
> +  | Ethernet Controller / |        | Ethernet |      | Connector /  |
> +  |       MAC             | ------ |   PHY    | ---- |    Port      | ---... to LP
> +  +-----------------------+        +----------+      +--------------+
> +  struct net_device               struct phy_device
> +
> +Commands that needs to configure the PHY will go through the net_device.phydev
> +field to reach the PHY and perform the relevant configuration.
> +
> +This assumption falls appart in more complex topologies that can arise when,

apart.

	Andrew



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