Re: Use of SAP in a PIM SSM Network

[Toerless Eckert <eckert@cisco.com>]

> MAC layer collisions are unavoidable by design.  But, they can
> be reduced in number through intelligent design.

Well, i don't think that a protocol to solve this issue would be too difficult,
the question really is, how much it would be needed at all!

I would go so far as to say that most MAC layer switched networks will be able 
to sustain the level of MAC mapping ambiquity resulting from normal application
use. Like: there is sufficient bandwidh to sustain that excess receipt traffic,
and typical hosts (PCs, set-top boxes) are of equal - fast - speed.

As soon as you modify these parameter - like what Bill suggested, connecting
a poor lightbulb and a PC to the same MAC switched network, then you are
stretching the simple MAC mapping function of RFC1112 too far, and you
should look for a better solution, like a protocol to dynamically map (S/*,G)
to individual MAC addresses, or better use layer3 switching instead of
layer2 switching.

Cheers
	Toerless