Silicon Laboratories Inc.
System for detecting loops in a pseudo-bridge

Abstract:

A system and method for determining whether a gateway device, having two different network interfaces, is able to successfully operate as a Pseudo-Bridge. The gateway device transmits a message to a known network service entity on each of its network interfaces. For example, the gateway device may transmit a DHCP request on both its network interfaces. Alternatively, the gateway device transmits a message to an application server. If the network service entity on each network responds with the same IP address, a network loop is assumed to exist. In this case, the gateway may operate as a traditional router. If the network service entities on the two networks respond with different IP addresses, the gateway device operates as a Pseudo-Bridge. In this way, the network operates correctly in all scenarios.