Digital Equipment Corporation

Stephen D Metzger

Gary V Vacon

Willem A Engelse

John A Visser

Jeffrey A Lomicka

Pat Gili

An arrangement for selective filtering, e.g. one-way filtering, of messages received by a 2-port bridge from stations connected to two LANs of an extended LAN is provided. The bridge includes a message filtering database containing the addresses of all stations connected to one of the LANs. The database also contains a list of higher-level protocols employed by the stations. Associated with each protocol-type is information used by the bridge to dispose of the message. The message filtering database comprises a single table memory capable of supporting both ports of the bridge. The selective filtering process involves a two-step analysis by the bridge to determine whether to discard the message or forward it to another port. The analysis is based on a destination address and a protocol-type of the received message.

Disposition filtering of messages using a single address and protocol

A terminal server architecture includes a central processing unit (CPU), a data movement module, local area network (LAN) interface and a plurality of connected terminals. The CPU manages pointers to data using command status registers to instruct the data movement module to actually perform data movement between the terminals and the LAN.

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Lancaster, MA, United States of America

Stephen D Metzger