DGS-3312SR Stackable Gigabit Layer 3 Switch
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Link-State Update Packet
Link-State Update packets are OSPF packet type 4. These packets implement the flooding of link-state advertisements.
Each Link-State Update packet carries a collection of link-state advertisements one hop further from its origin. Several
link-state advertisements may be included in a single packet.
Link-State Update packets are multicast on those physical networks that support multicast/broadcast. In order to make the
flooding procedure reliable, flooded advertisements are acknowledged in Link-State Acknowledgment packets. If
retransmission of certain advertisements is necessary, the retransmitted advertisements are always carried by unicast Link-
State Update packets.
The format of the Link-State Update packet is shown below:
Version No.
Packet Length
Router ID
Area ID
Authentication Type
Authentication
Authentication
Checksum
Link-State Update Packet
4
Number of Advertisements
Link-State Advertisements ...
Figure 5- 23. Link-State Update Packet
The body of the Link-State Update packet consists of a list of link-state advertisements. Each advertisement begins with a
common 20-byte header, the link-state advertisement header. Otherwise, the format of each of the five types of link-state
advertisements is different.
Link-State Acknowledgment Packet
Link-State Acknowledgment packets are OSPF packet type 5. To make the folding of link-state advertisements reliable,
flooded advertisements are explicitly acknowledged. This acknowledgment is accomplished through the sending and
receiving of Link-State Acknowledgment packets. Multiple link-state advertisements can be acknowledged in a single
Link-State Acknowledgment packet.
Depending on the state of the sending interface and the source of the advertisements being acknowledged, a Link-State
Acknowledgment packet is sent either to the multicast address AllSPFRouters, to the multicast address AllDRouters, or as
a unicast packet.
The format of this packet is similar to that of the Data Description packet. The body of both packets is simply a list of link-
state advertisement headers.
The format of the Link-State Acknowledgment packet is shown below: