Media access control transmitter and parallel network management system

A controller for controlling the transfer of data between a physical layer and an upper layer, the controller comprising:

• a transmitter for transmitting data packets received from the upper layer to the physical layer, the transmitter being configured to selectively insert gaps between sequential data packets;
• and
• a defer period register that is configured to be selectively written into to indicate the duration of an inter-packet gap to be inserted as a gap between sequential packets of data being transferred to the physical layer, the defer period register being configurable while data packets are being processed by the transmitter to thereby alter the duration of an inter-packet gap.

A media access controller for controlling the transfer of data between a physical layer and an upper layer, the media access controller comprising:

• a transmitter for transmitting data received from the upper layer to the physical layer;
• a retry-limit register that is configured to be selectively written into to program a number of times the media access controller attempts a transmit before aborting a data transmit between the upper layer and the physical layer, the retry-limit register being configurable while data is being processed by the transmitter to thereby alter the number of times the media access controller attempts a transmit before aborting a data transmit.

A media access controller for controlling the transfer of data between a physical layer and an upper layer, the media access controller comprising:

• a transmitter for transmitting data received from the upper layer to the physical layer;
• a programmable minimum and maximum packet size register that is configured to be selectively written into to adjust a size of packet data that is being transmitted through the transmitter, the programmable minimum and maximum packet size register being configurable while packet data is being processed by the transmitter to thereby alter the size of the packet data.