This is supposed to be an if statement. What really matters here is the byte_count. When it reaches 6, it is going to execute the instructions in the elsif. However, the problem is that the if statement is within a process, so the transition to the next state will occur only on the next clock cycle. The state will remain in the preamble state, and it will enter the if statement again, sending the PREAMBLE_PATTERN again before transitioning to STREAM. How can I handle that?

   when PREAMBLE =>
                    S_TREADY <= '0';
                    crc_enable <= '0';
                    -- PREAMBLE State: Send the Ethernet preamble
                    if byte_count < 6 then
                        M_TDATA(7 downto 0) <= PREAMBLE_PATTERN;
                        M_TVALID <= '1';
                        M_TLAST <= '0';
                        byte_count <= byte_count + 1;
                    elsif byte_count = 6 then 
                        M_TDATA(7 downto 0) <= SFD_PATTERN;
                        M_TVALID <= '1';
                        M_TLAST <= '0';
                        S_TREADY <= '1';
                        -- After sending 7 preamble bytes, transition to SFD state
                        next_state <= STREAM;
                        byte_count <= 0;
                        -- Reset the counter
                    end if;

This is supposed to be an if statement. What really matters here is the byte_count. When it reaches 6, it is going to execute the instructions in the elsif. However, the problem is that the if statement is within a process, so the transition to the next state will occur only on the next clock cycle. The state will remain in the preamble state, and it will enter the if statement again, sending the PREAMBLE_PATTERN again before transitioning to STREAM. How can I handle that?