Transparent bridges for interconnection of IEEE 802 LANs

A simple but robust approach to bridging, which is transparent to end stations, is discussed. These bridges, also called spanning tree bridges, are defined by the IEEE 802.1 Media Access Control Bridge Standard. The functions performed by the bridges are described. They consist of frame forwarding, learning of station addresses, and resolving possible loops in the topology by participation in the spanning tree algorithm.<<ETX>>