8.1.1 PHY Tester

The PHY Tester is an application example that demonstrates the complete performance of the Microchip PLC PHY layer. A PLC board flashed with this application can be controlled by a PC tool, which can be:

• Microchip PLC PHY Tester PC tool (available on the Microchip website). It has to be installed on the user’s host PC to interface with the PLC board. A PC tool instance can control a PLC board and perform communication (transmission / reception) tests.
• Microchip PLC PHY Tester Python scripts. Microchip Python libraries have to be installed on the user’s host PC. Using these libraries, a Python script can control one or several PLC boards. Python scripts are flexible and can perform complex communication and measurement tests, interfacing directly with the PLC PHY layer.