ZyXEL Communications ES-1528 - V1.12, User Manual, Page: 63 / 170

ES-1528 User’s Guide
63
C
H A P T E R
8
VLAN
This chapter shows you how to configure IEEE 802.1Q tagged VLANs.
8.1 Introduction to IEEE 802.1Q Tagged VLANs
A tagged VLAN uses an explicit tag (VLAN ID) in the MAC header to identify the VLAN
membership of a frame across bridges - they are not confined to the switch on which they were
created. The VLANs can be created statically by hand or dynamically through GVRP. The
VLAN ID associates a frame with a specific VLAN and provides the information that switches
need to process the frame across the network. A tagged frame is four bytes longer than an
untagged frame and contains two bytes of TPID (Tag Protocol Identifier, residing within the
type/length field of the Ethernet frame) and two bytes of TCI (Tag Control Information, starts
after the source address field of the Ethernet frame).
The CFI (Canonical Format Indicator) is a single-bit flag, always set to zero for Ethernet
switches. If a frame received at an Ethernet port has a CFI set to 1, then that frame should not
be forwarded as it is to an untagged port. The remaining twelve bits define the VLAN ID,
giving a possible maximum number of 4,096 VLANs. Note that user priority and VLAN ID
are independent of each other. A frame with VID (VLAN Identifier) of null (0) is called a
priority frame, meaning that only the priority level is significant and the default VID of the
ingress port is given as the VID of the frame. Of the 4096 possible VIDs, a VID of 0 is used to
identify priority frames and value 4095 (FFF) is reserved, so the maximum possible VLAN
configurations are 4,094.
8.1.1 Forwarding Tagged and Untagged Frames
Each port on the switch is capable of passing tagged or untagged frames. To forward a frame
from an 802.1Q VLAN-aware switch to an 802.1Q VLAN-unaware switch, the switch first
decides where to forward the frame and then strips off the VLAN tag. To forward a frame
from an 802.1Q VLAN-unaware switch to an 802.1Q VLAN-aware switch, the switch first
decides where to forward the frame, and then inserts a VLAN tag reflecting the ingress port's
default VID. The default PVID is VLAN 1 for all ports, but this can be changed.
A broadcast frame (or a multicast frame for a multicast group that is known by the system) is
duplicated only on ports that are members of the VID (except the ingress port itself), thus
confining the broadcast to a specific domain.
TPID
2 Bytes User Priority
3 Bits CFI
1 Bit VLAN ID
12 bits