The Media Access Controller for Ethernet (MACE) chip is a CMOS VLSI device designed to provide flexibility in customized LAN design. The MACE device is specifically designed to address applications where multiple I/O peripherals are present, and a centralized or system specific DMA is required. The high speed, 16-bit synchronous system interface is optimized for an external DMA or I/O processor system, and is similar to many existing peripheral devices, such as SCSI and serial link controllers.