The E.N.a.A. (Ed Needs an A) Network Bridge An ELE 408 / URI / Miller Brewing Company Presentation
What is a network bridge? The key component of a multi - tiered network architecture. Connects different Local Area Networks (LANs ) together….. …… while at the same time keeping each LAN independent of the other one.
Multi - Tier Architecture Bridge Hub Hub LAN 1 LAN 2
What does this mean? Overall, makes the LAN “better” by extending the “Collision Domain”: Employs CSMA / CD Distance Number of Users LAN can use its full bandwidth Less Collisions All of this is accomplished because the bridge isolates each LAN and is smart enough to tell where to route a packet.
The Bridge Table Table held in RAM that is dynamically updated. Holds all LAN addresses that have used the bridge, along with which interface they used. Interface 1 Interface 2 12-34-56-78-9A-BC 1 12-34-56-78-9A-BC
The Program Initialize both Boards in Receive Mode When a packet is received through the ethernet port, the data is stored in memory. If the source address is not in the table, it is added. If the destination address is not in the table, the packet is sent to the UART transmit buffer, and the transmitter is enabled.
More of the program…. The packet is stored in memory, if the source address is not in the bridge table, it is added. The packet is then transferred to the ethernet transmit buffer and passed to the connected LAN.
One problem…. The $%##%#%#$#%%^^-freakin-$#%^&#@$%%- son of a - $%^#@$% ^ ETHERNET CONTROLLER! Possibly over 2 million registers to program Difficult to strip away headers from different network layers
The (temporary) solution Packets will enter the bridge through the terminal. Data will be typed in, header information will be stored in memory and then combined with the data to form a simulated packet.
Other problems…... Scalability Bandwidth Bottleneck
Future implementations... Security features LAN address filtering Interface firewall Trusts Implement Spanning Tree Protocol to facilitate expansion
Conclusion Effective way to bridge to LANs Cheap to build, easy (in theory) to implement Mass production easy due to the fact that its highly software driven Ed definitely deserves an A