Apple Ethernet NB Card: 16-bit Bus Path and Tasks

I'm a developer with two questions about the Apple Ethernet NB card.

1) How many data bits does the card work with internally: 8, 16 or 32?

2) What is the use of the 68000 processor when using EtherTalk or MacTCP? Does any of that code run on A/ROSE and does it make the data transfer faster?
1) The Apple Ethernet NB card has a 16-bit bus, and is comparable in performance to the older EtherTalk NB card.

2) Very few tasks are downloaded to the card (nothing on top of A/ROSE). So the on board 68010 mostly manages the DMA, off-loading little of the cycles and work required of the Macintosh's main logic board processor.

Incidentally, the SONIC chip used in the Ethernet NB card is 32-bit capable, and when used in Quadra systems is in 32-bit mode.
Published Date: Feb 18, 2012