Transmitting a protocol data unit using descriptors

1 . A method comprising:

receiving one or more Ethernet packets;

reading a header associated with each of the one or more Ethernet packets;

generating a transmit descriptor based on the headers, wherein the transmit descriptor comprises a plurality of fields, the fields containing information for preparing a protocol data unit (PDU);

preparing a PDU according to the transmit descriptor; and

transmitting a burst, wherein the burst comprises one or more PDUs.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the PDU is a media access control PDU (MPDU) for wireless communication according to an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.16 standard.

3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising generating one or more control parameters, the one or more control parameters associated with managing the transmission of the burst, wherein transmitting a burst comprises transmitting a burst according to the one or more control parameters.

4 . The method of claim 3 , further comprising sending the control parameters to a physical layer controller (PHY).

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the information for preparing a PDU comprises:

the length of the MPDU; and

the address of the one or more Internet protocol packets in a memory.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein one or more of the plurality of fields includes processing information comprising:

an encryption mode;

a header check sequence; and

alignment information for aligning a PDU in a transmission queue.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein preparing a PDU according to the transmit descriptor comprises:

reading the transmit descriptor;

retrieving data associated with the one or more Ethernet packets from a memory, a memory address of the data associated with the one or more Ethernet packets provided by the transmit descriptor;

processing the one or more Ethernet packets associated with the PDU based on processing instructions provided by the transmit descriptor; and

writing the PDU to a physical-layer queue associated with a physical layer controller (PHY).

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein a media access control (MAC) PHY coprocessor (MPC) prepares the PDU.

9 . The method of claim 7 , wherein a media access control (MAC) processor writes the transmit descriptor.

10 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising sending the transmit descriptor to a transmit descriptor queue after generating the transmit descriptor, wherein the transmit descriptor queue is a first-in-first-out queue.

11 . An apparatus comprising:

a media access control (MAC) processor, the MAC processor configured to:

receive one or more Ethernet protocol packets;

read a header associated with each of the one or more Ethernet packets;

generate a transmit descriptor based on the headers, wherein the transmit descriptor comprises a plurality of fields, each field containing information for preparing a protocol data unit (PDU);

a MAC coprocessor (MPC), the MPC configured to:

receive the transmit descriptor; and

prepare a PDU according to the transmit descriptor; and

a physical layer controller (PHY), the PHY configured to transmit a burst, wherein the burst comprises one or more PDUs.

12 . The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein:

the MAC processor is further configured to:

generate one or more control parameters, the one or more control parameters associated with managing the transmission of the burst; and

send the one or more control parameters to the PHY; and

the PHY is further configured to:

receive the one or more control parameters; and

transmit the burst according to the one or more control parameters.

13 . The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the PDU is a media access control PDU (MPDU) for wireless communication according to an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.16 standard.

14 . The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the information for preparing a PDU comprises:

the length of the PDU; and

an address of the one or more Internet protocol packets in a memory.

15 . The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein one or more of the plurality of fields includes processing information comprising:

an encryption mode;

a header check sequence; and

alignment information for aligning a PDU in a transmission queue.

16 . The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein a MPC configured to prepare a PDU according to a transmit descriptor comprises a MPC configured to:

read the transmit descriptor;

retrieve data associated with the one or more Ethernet packets from a memory, a memory address of the data associated with the one or more Ethernet packets provided by the transmit descriptor;

process the one or more Ethernet packets associated with the PDU based on processing instruction provided by the transmit descriptor; and

write the PDU to a physical-layer queue associated with the PHY.

17 . The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the MPC is further configured to send the transmit descriptor to a transmit descriptor queue after writing the transmit descriptor, wherein the transmit descriptor queue is a first-in-first-out queue associated with the MAC coprocessor.

18 . The apparatus of claim 11 further comprising a multilayer advanced high-performance bus, the multilayer advanced high-performance bus connecting the MAC processor, the MPC, and the PHY.

19 . The apparatus of claim 11 further comprising a second MAC processor, the second MAC processor coupled to the MPC and configured to:

receive one or more Ethernet packets;

read a header associated with each of the one or more Ethernet packets;

generate a second transmit descriptor based on the headers, wherein the second transmit descriptor comprises a plurality of fields, each field containing information for preparing a second protocol data unit.

20 . A method comprising:

generating a transmit descriptor, the transmit descriptor comprising a plurality of fields, each field containing information for preparing a protocol data unit (PDU) for transmission over a communication network;

sending the transmit descriptor to a media access control coprocessor (MPC);

preparing a PDU according to the transmit descriptor;

sending the PDU to a physical layer controller (PHY);

generating one or more control parameters, the one or more control parameters associated with managing the transmission of a burst, the burst comprising one or more PDUs;

sending the one or more control parameters to the PHY.