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MVTX2604
Data Sheet
27
Zarlink Semiconductor Inc.
all the ports to which the frame will be forwarded. Moreover, if port trunking is enabled, this block selects the
destination port (among those in the trunk group).
In port based VLAN mode, a bitmap is used to determine whether the frame should be forwarded to the outgoing
port. The main difference in this mode is that the bitmap is not dynamic. Ports cannot enter and exit groups
because of real-time learning made by a CPU.
The MAC search block is also responsible for updating the source MAC address timestamp and the VLAN port
association timestamp, used for aging.
5.3.2 Learning
The learning module learns new MAC addresses and performs port change operations on the MCT database. The
goal of learning is to update this database as the networking environment changes over time.
When CPU reporting is enabled, learning and port change will be performed when the CPU request queue has
room, and a memory slot is available, and a “Learn MAC Address” message is sent to the CPU. When fast learning
mode is enabled, learning and port change will be performed when memory slot is available and a latter “Learn
MAC Address” message is sent to the CPU when CPU queue has room.
When CPU reporting is disabled, learning and port change will be performed based on memory slot availability only.
In tag based VLAN mode, if the source port is not a member of a classified VLAN a “New VLAN Port” message is
sent to the CPU. The CPU can decide whether or not the source port can be added to the VLAN.
5.3.3 Aging
Aging time is controlled by register 400h and 401h.
The aging module scans and ages MCT entries based on a programmable “age out” time interval. As we indicated
earlier, the search module updates the source MAC address and VLAN port association timestamps for each frame
it processes. When an entry is ready to be aged, the entry is removed from the table and a “Delete MAC Address”
message is sent to inform the CPU.
Supported MAC entry types are: dynamic, static, source filter, destination filter, IP multicast, source and destination
filter and secure MAC address. Only dynamic entries can be aged; all others are static. The MAC entry type is
stored in the “status” field of the MCT data structure.
5.3.4 VLAN Table
The table below provides a mapping from VLAN ID to VLAN index. It is maintained by system software and is
checked by the hardware search engine for every incoming frame. This table has 4 K entries and is stored in
external SRAM. It is organized as 512
×
8 entries (total of 4 K VLAN indexes) as shown. Each VLAN index is 8 bits.
Table 1 - VLAN Index Mapping Table
Each VIX represents the mapping result from the associated VLAN ID (VLANID = 0x004 is mapped to VIX4).
Unused VLAN ID’s have their corresponding VIX programmed to hexadecimal 00. Used VLAN ID’s have their
corresponding VIX programmed to hexadecimal 01 through FF. In other words, 255 VLAN’s are supported. The VIX
value is a pointer to the entries in the VLAN Index port association table (internal memory).
VIX7
VIX6
VIX5
VIX4
VIX3
VIX2
VIX1
VIX0
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
VIX4095
VIX4094
VIX4093
VIX4092
VIX4091
VIX4090
VIX4089
VIX4088