Next: 15.6.1 LL Class in Up: 15. Local Area Networks Previous: 15.5.4 CSMA-based MAC Contents Index
The link-layer object is responsible for simulating the data link protocols. Many protocols can be implemented within this layer such as packet fragmentation and reassembly, and reliable link protocol.
Another important function of the link layer is setting the MAC destination address in the MAC header of the packet. In the current implementation this task involves two separate issues: finding the next-hop-node's IP address (routing) and resolving this IP address into the correct MAC address (ARP). For simplicity, the default mapping between MAC and IP addresses is one-to-one, which means that IP addresses are re-used at the MAC layer.