Source Routing Bridging

B.3 SOURCE ROUTING BRIDGING

Source routing bridging (SR) is an alternative to transparent or spanning tree bridging, and is widely used in Token Ring networks. The ATX supports source routing bridging on Token Ring LANs, and an enhancement to source routing called SRT on all LANs.

With source routing bridging, all networked devices participate in the source routing protocol. Each packet that crosses a bridge specifies the originator's LAN segment, the particular bridge, and the destination LAN segment. It may also specify intermediate LAN segments and bridges.

Station A

Bridge B

Station C

Ring

 

Ring

7

 

43

 

data packet

 

address

43

B

7

data

Figure B-1 Source Routing Example

In the example in Figure B-1, a data packet traveling from station C on LAN 43 through bridge B to station A on LAN 7 must specify the full route it is to take. The source station is responsible for specifying the route, hence the term “source routing.”

Bridges in a source routing network must be configured with the LAN numbers (normally 1 to 4095) to which it is connected and a bridge number (normally 1 to 15). The network administrator chooses the numbers; the LAN numbers must be unique in the source routed network and the bridge numbers must be unique between each pair of LANs.

Token Ring Switch Module User Guide

Page B-3

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Cabletron Systems 3T02-04 manual Source Routing Bridging, Figure B-1 Source Routing Example

3T02-04 specifications

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