Going back to this comment, what does this PHY have to do with your
project, and what were you going to connect this part to? It's a 10/100
copper PHY, and seems out of place unless you're trying to tie the two
PHYs together through MII to make a converter. I don't know if this is
possible (maybe; if so, this could be technically much simpler).
Perhaps you could explain what you're trying to achieve... The original
post seemed like you're trying to create <something> that connects to
powerline networking. It also seems like you're focused on testing /
proof-of-concept for the powerline technology.
If you connect the PHY to an Ethernet controller, it needs a CPU, and
the CPU needs driver software, a protocol stack, and an application to
be useful. All that plus a PCB design is a considerable project, and
you need at least 2 working units for an end-to-end connection.
I'm very hard pressed for time, around 3 weeks. I did not know building
an ethernet module is so hard.
Pardon the bluntness, but you're headed for failure if you try to tackle
this from scratch in 3 weeks, having not selected a microcontroller or
Ethernet controller, written the software, or have a ready PCB design.
To achieve your goal, the best bet is to wire modules together; the more
turnkey the better.
The most turnkey option will be a dev board for a microcontroller that
has integrated Ethernet with MII as it's primary output. It will likely
come complete with working reference driver code, an IP protocol stack,
and sample applications; you just need to supply / replace the PHY,
which you have. There are several, but Freescale's Coldfire comes to
mind. I'm sure you'll find a suitable dev board here:
http://www.google.com/search?q=+site:www.freescale.com+coldfire+mii
They can be bought someplace like
http://www.digikey.com
The next best option would be to modify the NICholas board, and wire it
between a micro of your choosing and the PHY you're testing. If you
pick Atmel's AVR, and if Fred will accommodate with his old PDF docs and
his published programs, you *might* get this working in 3 weeks, but
probably not in your spare time.