MAC Bridges interconnect the separate IEEE 802 LANs that compose a Bridged Local Area Network by relaying and filtering frames between the separate MACs of the bridged LANs. The position of the bridging function within the MAC Sublayer is shown in Figure 6-1.
e) Support of the Internal Sublayer Service by specific MAC procedures.
The MAC Service provided to end stations attached to a Bridged Local Area Network is the (unconfirmed) connectionless-mode MAC Service defined in ISO/IEC 15802-1. The MAC Service is defined as an abstraction of the features common to a number of specific MAC Services; it describes the transfer of user data between source and destination end stations, via MA-UNITDATA request primitives and corresponding MA-UNITDATA indication primitives issued at MAC service access points. Each MA-UNITDATA request and indication primitive has four parameters: Destination Address, Source Address, MAC Service data unit (MSDU), and Priority.
To improve the availability of the MAC Service to end stations and support network management, MAC Bridges can be configured:
a) To provide redundant paths between end stations to enable the network to continue to provide the MAC Service in the event of component failure (of Bridge or LAN).
b) So that the paths supported between end stations are predictable and configurable given the availability of network components.
A MAC Bridge may restrict the provision of the MAC Service to authenticated and authorized devices. Unauthorized devices can be denied access to a bridged LAN, except as necessary for the purpose of conducting protocol exchanges required by an authentication process.
NOTE—Authentication and authorization to access a LAN may be achieved by administrative or management mechanisms, or by means of an active authorization mechanism, such as is defined in IEEE Std 802.1X.
注意:认证和对LAN访问的认证参见IEEE Std 802.1X。
The MAC Service provided by a Bridged Local Area Network is similar to that provided by a single LAN (6.3). In consequence,
a) A Bridge is not directly addressed by communicating end stations, except as an end station for management purposes—frames transmitted between end stations carry the MAC Address of the peer-end station in their Destination Address field, not a MAC Address of the Bridge.
c) MAC Addresses of end stations are not restricted by the topology and configuration of the network.