SPRUI30H November 2015 – May 2024 DRA745 , DRA746 , DRA750 , DRA756
The address lookup engine (ALE) processes all received packets to determine which port(s) if any that the packet should the forwarded to. The ALE uses the incoming packet received port number, destination address, source address, length/type, and VLAN information to determine how the packet should be forwarded. The ALE outputs the port mask to the switch fabric that indicates the port(s) the packet should be forwarded to. The ALE is enabled when the ENABLE_ALE bit in the ALE_CONTROL register is set. All packets are dropped when the ENABLE_ALE bit is cleared to 0.
In normal operation, the CPGMAC_SL modules are configured to issue an abort, instead of an end of packet, at the end of a packet that contains an error (runt, frag, oversize, jabber, crc, alignment, code etc.) or at the end of a mac control packet. However, when the SL_MACCONTROL configuration bit(s) RX_CEF_EN, RX_CSF_EN, or RX_CMF_EN are set, error frames, short frames or mac control frames have a normal end of packet instead of an abort at the end of the packet. When the ALE receives a packet that contains errors (due to a set header error bit), or a mac control frame and does not receive an abort, the packet will be forwarded only to the host port (port 0). No ALE learning occurs on packets with errors or mac control frames. Learning is based on source address and lookup is based on destination address.
The ALE may be configured to operate in bypass mode by setting the ALE_BYPASS bit in the ALE_CONTROL register. When in bypass mode, all CPGMAC_SL received packets are forwarded only to the host port (port 0). Packets from the two ports can be on separate RX DMA channels by configuring the P0_CPDMA_RX_CH_MAP register. In bypass mode, the ALE processes host port transmit packets the same as in normal mode. In general, packets would be directed by the host in bypass mode.
The ALE may be configured to operate in OUI deny mode by setting the ENABLE_OUI_DENY bit in the ALE_CONTROL register. When in OUI deny mode, a packet with a non-matching OUI source address will be dropped unless the destination address matches a multicast table entry with the super bit set. Broadcast packets will be dropped unless the broadcast address is entered into the table with the super bit set. Unicast packets will be dropped unless the unicast address is in the table with block and secure both set (supervisory unicast packet).
Multicast supervisory packets are designated by the super bit in the table entry. Unicast supervisory packets are indicated when block and secure are both set. Supervisory packets are not dropped due to rate limiting, OUI, or VLAN processing.