James Carlson wrote: >Darren Reed writes: > > >>These two bit values indicate if the packet is multicast or if it >>is broadcast, however, using DLPI in Solaris today, it is not possible to >>know if a packet that reaches IP is multicast or broadcast by looking >>at the dl_group_address field and nor is there any other mechanism >>available. In light of this, setting both flags together is supported >>as an indication that the packet might be one or the other: >> >>#define HPE_MBCAST 0x03 >> >> > >Do the clients using this interface need to know the difference >between multicast and broadcast in order to function correctly? > >
No. >If so, then why not have this interface resolve the amibiguity? That >can be done by checking the destination address (dl_dest_addr_*) when >you see that dl_group_address is set. > > Even if they did, once the packet reaches IP, it's beyond the scope of IP to determine what the MAC destination address meant at the MAC layer. Darren
