What is the difference between the three firmware options available for the MAX79356?

The MAX79356 has three different versions of firmware available for use. Which one you use in your end-product depends upon what you wish to do:
  1. SimpleMAC Firmware and GUI: used for testing the PHY and channel in a point-to-point setup. You can select modulation type, packet size, band etc. in TX on the evaluation board and check the error rate in RX.  The interface to this firmware is through the GUI supplied with the EVKit and you should not use it for your own product.
  2. FullMAC Firmware: G3-standard firmware supporting all features of G3.  There are 3 separate certified firmwares for 3 bands plus our latest universal band firmware supporting all bands (recommended).  The interface to this firmware is using UART and through a set of primitives described in “G3 PLC  Modem Interface Specification Rev 4.3”, available from our FTP site.
  3. Transparent UART Master and Slave:  This firmware is very easy to integrate into a solution. It broadcasts all data received in UART of Master to all Slaves. It unicasts all data in UART of each slave to Master only.  This can be used similar to RS485. Unlike #2, this firmware only supports point-to-point communication between Master and Slaves and does not including forwarding.
For your end product, option 2 or 3 should be suitable.
Tags: interface and isolation 000095974 MAX79356