Ethernet Bridges Connect to 3rd Party PPP Compliant Equipment11.6.2000 Patton's new software release is equipped with Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) allowing connectivity to third party PPP compliant equipment. GAITHERSBURG, Maryland--Patton Electronics Company has released new software (Ver. 2.0) for its line of Ethernet WAN Bridges, incorporating industry standard Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP). The new software enables the Patton Models IM1I, IMI4, IM2RC/IA, 1088/I, 1089/I, 2701/I, 2121, 2124, 2130 and 2135 Ethernet WAN Bridges to communicate with third party PPP compliant equipment over point-to-point links. PPP (RFC 1661) is a widely used protocol for multiplexed transport over point-to-point links. Operating on all media that are full duplex in nature, PPP is a symmetric peer-to-peer protocol, which can be broken into the following three main components: a standard method for encapsulating datagrams over serial links; a Link Control Protocol (LCP) for establishing, configuring, and testing the data-link connection; and a family of Network Control Protocols (NCPs) for establishing and configuring different network-layer protocols. The PPP Bridging Control Protocol (BCP), defined in RFC 1638, configures and enables/disables the bridge protocol on both ends of the Point-to-Point link. BCP is a Network Control Protocol of PPP; bridge packets may not be exchanged until PPP has reached the network layer protocol phase. A typical application for a Patton Bridge is to connect a branch LAN to a headquarters LAN. In this case the extra serial port of a router at headquarters, can be configured for PPP half-bridging. Across the WAN a Patton bridge connects to the remote LAN, and communicates with the router using Point-to Point Protocol. The Patton bridge will only forward packets destined for the central LAN, and the router will only forward packets containing addresses at the remote LAN. In this way the router's serial interface will now function as node on the remote Ethernet network. Patton offers a variety of bridges with integral WAN connectivity: The Model 2701/I provides Ethernet Bridging over E1 services, the Models 1088/I and 1089/I offer bridging over HDSL and SDSL lines respectively. On the other hand the IM1I, IM1I4, and IM2RC/IA interchangeable bridge modules, work in conjunction with the Models 1094 and 1095 DSL modems. The Models 2124 (V.24), 2121 (X.21), 2130 (EIA-530) and the 2135(V.35) provide Ethernet bridging and interface conversion. All Patton Bridges support an integrated 10Base-T (802.3) Ethernet port and offer transparent bridging capability for IP, IPX, DECnet, NetBIOS and other layer-3 protocols. Patton bridges connect peered LANs and automatically forward and receive LAN broadcasts, multi-cast and unicast frames across the WAN. About Patton Patton Electronics Company Western Europe Office - Tel: (+44) 1707-331447; efax: (+1 801) 340-2617 |
