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How Ethernet Works

Ethernet Medium

Since a signal on the Ethernet medium reaches every attached node, the destination address is critical to identify the intended recipient of the frame.

For example, in the figure above, when computer B transmits to printer C, computers A and D will still receive and examine the frame. However, when a station first receives a frame, it checks the destination address to see if the frame is intended for itself. If it is not, the station discards the frame without even examining its contents.

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One interesting thing about Ethernet addressing is the implementation of a broadcast address. A frame with a destination address equal to the broadcast address (simply called a broadcast, for short) is intended for every node on the network, and every node will both receive and process this type of frame.