SMSC SMC6516TF - Manual (Page 30)

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Switch Architecture
Buffered Switching
Each TigerSwitch 16 unit is a “store-and-forward” device. Every
packet it receives is stored in a buffer so it can be checked for
validity before being forwarded to another port. In addition, the
switches feature a non-blocking design that allows simultaneous
wire-speed transport of multiple packets at consistently low
latency.
Automatic Address Learning
An aggregate address table that can hold 8,192 entries is
provided for learning, filtering and forwarding. Addresses are
automatically learned by each TigerSwitch 16 unit and main-
tained in the address table to enable the switch to perform filter-
ing and forwarding at line-rate speeds. When a packet contain-
ing a destination address that does not appear in the table is
encountered, the packet is broadcast to all segments.
Packets are filtered if their destination address is on the same
segment as their source address. By confining network traffic to
its respective collision domain, filtering reduces the overall traf-
fic on the network.
A
BOUT THE
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WITCHES