VLAN ID-Based Forwarding

Date: March 2008

Version: v1.0

Abstract: This Application Notes describes the configuration of a specific feature of the Thomson
Gateway: VLAN ID-Based Forwarding. This feature is explained by integrating the Thomson
Gateway in a scenario where untagged, priority-tagged or VLAN-tagged frames have to be
bridged between the local Ethernet segment and the DSL line. The practical realization of the
scenario is described using CLI commands.

Applicability: This Application Note applies to all Thomson DSL Gateways with R7.4 and higher.

Updates: Thomson continuously develops new solutions, but is also committed to improving its existing
products.
For more information on Thomson's latest technological innovations, documents and software
releases, visit us at http://www.thomson-broadband.com
 Chapter 1

1 Introduction

Thomson Gateway as bridge

To set up the scenario of this document, the Thomson Gateway is configured as bridge. This means that
Ethernet frames are forwarded between the local Ethernet segment (LAN) and the WAN Ethernet segment
(PVCs on which RFC 1483 LLC encapsulation is used) on the link layer. In other words, the Thomson Gateway
does not terminate or route received Ethernet frames.

VLANs
The Ethernet frames that have to be forwarded may reside in different VLANs. This implies that all Ethernet
frames contain a (802.1Q) VLAN ID. Communication between different VLANs is not allowed on the link layer.
Only routers can make connections between different VLANs. VLANs create thus separated logical Ethernet
segments within a single physical segment.

Ethernet QoS
Ethernet frames optionally contain a (802.1p) user priority indication. If Ethernet QoS is taken into account
during bridging, it can be based on two steps:
1 Mapping the user priority of an incoming frame to an internal priority class. This classification can be
based on:
 The type of the interface on which the frame is entering the bridge.
 The (802.1p) user priority value.
 The IP Type of Service octet (TOS-byte) for IP packets, using the Precedence or DSCP notation.
2 Sending out the frame while taking into account its internal priority class. This class can be used to:
 Perform priority queuing on a single PVC.
 Perform traffic multiplexing over a range of PVCs.

Related documents
For detailed information on the features, CLI commands and parameters used in this document, see:
 Thomson Gateway Ethernet Configuration Guide.
 Thomson Gateway VLAN Configuration Guide.
 Thomson Gateway Ethernet QoS Configuration Guide.

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Chapter 2

2 VLAN ID-Based Forwarding

2.1 Scenario Overview

Introduction
In this scenario, the Thomson Gateway is intended to classify VLAN-tagged Ethernet frames based on their
VLAN ID. Per VLAN ID, you have to be able to configure to which PVC the frames must be forwarded.
This scenario configures the Thomson Gateway as bridge with two PVCs. Frames coming in on a local
interface are checked on their VLAN ID and are only forwarded on PVCs that are member of the same VLAN.
For example, frames that are member of VLAN A are forwarded to the first PVC. Frames that are member of
VLAN B or VLAN C are forwarded to the second PVC. The receiving local interface should not influence the
result.
Following illustration shows the VLAN ID-based forwarding scenario:
Thomson Gateway DSLAM

A 5
A 5
A 2 A 2

B 7 PVC1

B 3 B 7 C 1
B 3
C 2
C 2
PVC2
C 1

VID 802.1p WAN interface

Mechanisms
To set up this scenario, we use following mechanisms:
 VLAN awareness: the Ethernet bridge must be fully VLAN aware. As a result, the Ethernet bridge takes
the VLAN tag in the header of received frames into account.
 VLANs: several VLANs are created on the Thomson Gateway. The local interfaces must be member of all
possible VLANs that can appear in the VLAN tag of received frames. The configured VLAN membership
of the PVCs defines to which PVC the frames must be forwarded.

2.2 Practical Realization

Configuration overview
Following configuration steps have to be performed to configure the Thomson Gateway for this scenario:
1 Define which PVCs must be used by configuring an ATM interface for each one of them.
2 Connect the ATM interfaces to the Ethernet bridge.
3 Make the bridge VLAN aware.

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4 Define a VLAN for each VLAN ID the Ethernet bridge has to handle.
5 Define which interfaces are part of which VLAN.
6 Save the configuration.

Before you start

Before you start to configure the Thomson Gateway, make following preparations:
 Reset the Thomson Gateway to the factory defaults and reboot the device.
 Make sure the telnet session with the Thomson Gateway never times out.
 Remove the factory default interfaces and settings that you do not need for the configuration.
 Make these changes permanent. Now, you can start from a clean situation.

=>:system reset factory=yes proceed=yes

=>:env set var=SESSIONTIMEOUT value=0

=>:ppp relay flush

=>:ppp flush
=>:eth flush
=>:atm flush
=>:atm phonebook flush

=>:saveall

Configure ATM interfaces

To create a phonebook entry for each PVC that must be used, execute following CLI commands (the VPI/VCI
values are indicative):

=>:atm phonebook add name=phone_PVC1 addr=0.35

=>:atm phonebook add name=phone_PVC2 addr=0.36

To create, configure and connect the ATM interfaces on top of the phonebook entries, execute following CLI
commands:

=>:atm ifadd intf=atm_PVC1

=>:atm ifconfig intf=atm_PVC1 dest=phone_PVC1 encaps=llc ulp=mac
=>:atm ifattach intf=atm_PVC1

=>:atm ifadd intf=atm_PVC2

=>:atm ifconfig intf=atm_PVC2 dest=phone_PVC2 encaps=llc ulp=mac
=>:atm ifattach intf=atm_PVC2

Configure bridge ports

To connect the ATM interfaces to the Ethernet bridge, execute following CLI commands:

=>:eth bridge ifadd intf=bridge_PVC1

=>:eth bridge ifconfig intf=bridge_PVC1 dest=atm_PVC1
=>:eth bridge ifattach intf=bridge_PVC1

=>:eth bridge ifadd intf=bridge_PVC2

=>:eth bridge ifconfig intf=bridge_PVC2 dest=atm_PVC2
=>:eth bridge ifattach intf=bridge_PVC2R

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Make the bridge VLAN aware

To enable the VLAN awareness of the Ethernet bridge, execute following CLI command:

=>:eth bridge config vlan=enabled

From this moment on, all Ethernet frames coming in on the Ethernet bridge with a VLAN tag are only
forwarded to interfaces configured as an explicit member of that VLAN.

Create the VLANs

To define the VLANs to be used, execute following CLI commands:

=>:eth vlan add name=MyVLAN_A vid=10 addrule=disabled

=>:eth vlan add name=MyVLAN_B vid=11 addrule=disabled
=>:eth vlan add name=MyVLAN_C vid=12 addrule=disabled

A logical name is associated with the effective VID that is used in the VLAN tag of the frame. The
‘addrule=disabled’ parameter forces the Thomson Gateway to create a separate filtering database for the
created VLAN. As a result, the same MAC address (e.g. the DSLAM MAC address) can be used in different
VLANs, for example when different VLANs are connected to the same device (e.g. the DSLAM).

Assign local interfaces to VLANs

The LAN-side bridge ports must be member of each VLAN from which they have to accept frames. In this
example, we only enable bridge port 4 to receive VLAN-tagged frames from the LAN.
To put bridge port 4 in all three defined VLANs, execute following CLI commands:

=>:eth bridge vlan ifadd name=MyVLAN_A intf=ethport4 untagged=disabled

=>:eth bridge vlan ifadd name=MyVLAN_B intf=ethport4 untagged=disabled
=>:eth bridge vlan ifadd name=MyVLAN_C intf=ethport4 untagged=disabled

The ‘untagged=disabled’ parameter avoids that the VLAN tag is stripped off when the frames are sent out on
the interface.

Assign WAN interfaces to VLANs

The VLAN membership of the WAN-side bridge ports defines to which PVCs the frames are forwarded. In this
example, frames of VLAN A are forwarded to one PVC, frames of VLAN B and VLAN C are forwarded to the
other PVC.
To add each WAN-side bridge port to the correct VLAN(s), execute following CLI commands:

=>:eth bridge vlan ifadd name=MyVLAN_A intf=bridge_PVC1 untagged=disabled

=>:eth bridge vlan ifadd name=MyVLAN_B intf=bridge_PVC2 untagged=disabled
=>:eth bridge vlan ifadd name=MyVLAN_C intf=bridge_PVC2 untagged=disabled

The ‘untagged=disabled’ parameter avoids that the VLAN tag is stripped off when the frames are sent out on
the interface.

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Save the configuration

To make your changes permanent, execute following CLI command:

=>:saveall

Expected result
To display the list of VLANs on the Ethernet bridge, execute following CLI command:

=>:eth vlan list

Vid Name
--- ----
1 default
10 MyVLAN_A
11 MyVLAN_B
12 MyVLAN_C

To retrieve an overview of the population of the different VLANs, execute following CLI command:

=>:eth bridge vlan iflist

Vid Name Bridge interfaces (* = untagged)
--- ---- --------------------------------
1 default OBC*, ethport1*, ethport2*, ethport3*, ethport4*, bridge_PVC1*,
bridge_PVC2*
10 MyVLAN_A ethport4, bridge_PVC1
11 MyVLAN_B ethport4, bridge_PVC2
12 MyVLAN_C ethport4, bridge_PVC2

Frames received on a bridge port are checked for their VLAN ID and are only sent out on bridge ports that are
member of the same VLAN. The table above shows that frames with VID 10 (representing VLAN A) are only
transmitted on PVC1. Frames with VID 11 (VLAN B) or 12 (VLAN C) are transmitted on PVC2.
It can be seen that all interfaces are also member of the default VLAN, and, as a result, also have connectivity
with the Thomson Gateway.

Optionally control unexpected frames

The current configuration does not explicitly regulate the handling of unexpected frames that arrive on any of
the bridge ports of the Thomson Gateway:
 Untagged frames:
For example, to assign untagged frames to the default VLAN, execute following CLI command:

=>:eth bridge ifconfig intf=ethport4 vlan=default

For example, to accept only VLAN-tagged frames on bridge port 4, execute following command:

=>:eth bridge ifconfig intf=ethport4 acceptvlanonly=enabled

 Tagged frames arriving on an incorrect interface:

For example, to drop VLAN-tagged frames coming in on PVC1 if the VID differs from 10, execute
following CLI command:

=>:eth bridge ifconfig intf=bridge_PVC1 ingressfiltering=enabled

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Additionally, you can use following CLI command to prevent the Thomson Gateway from modifying the user
priority indication in the VLAN tag:

=>:eth bridge ifconfig intf=bridge_PVC1 priotransparent=enabled

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©2008 Thomson. All rights reserved.

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