Xiangfu Liu schreef op vr 12-08-2011 om 08:07 [+0800]: > we talk about the static MAC before, not settle down yet. I remember we > talked something > in IRC(#qi-hardware@freenode) even multi same MAC address connect to one > network, > will not cause any problem.
Please be careful with your choice of words. A network is a physical cable between two or more computers (possibly with hubs or switches in between). Any computer on a network recognises any other computer on the same network by its MAC address. It very much is a problem if two computers on the same network share a MAC address. However, this is irrelevant for the NanoNote. It uses usbnet, which is a point-to-point protocol. This means that there are always exactly two computers on the network.[1] These computers will not have the same MAC address. And even if they do, it might still work, because the problem is caused by two computers listening to the same data, and no computer listens to its own data. But I'm not sure if there aren't checks in the code which prevent sending data to the interface's own address. What you mean is that it is possible to connect two NanoNotes to one computer and give both NanoNotes the same Mac address. That is indeed fine, because they aren't on the same network. The host computer has usb0 and usb1, each of which is connected to one of the NanoNotes. The computer will act as a router, possibly also as a masquerader. It allows the different networks to communicate, but it doesn't turn them into one network. Which brings us to the next point: it is possible to combine two networks and make them look like one; this is called bridging. That will most likely not work if there are two NanoNotes with the same MAC address. This is not a problem. People who want to set up a bridge will know what they're doing, and are capable of changing one of the MAC addresses. > so I think we can use static MAC in future. Indeed. :-) Thanks, Bas [1] To make this even more clear: it is impossible to connect two NanoNotes to one network, because it can only be connected to a USB host, and both NanoNotes can only be USB device (or "function", as the standard calls it). _______________________________________________ Qi Hardware Discussion List Mail to list (members only): [email protected] Subscribe or Unsubscribe: http://lists.en.qi-hardware.com/mailman/listinfo/discussion
