cum fac un bridge ?

A device that supports LAN-to-LAN communications. Bridges may be equipped to provide frame relay support to the LAN devices they serve. A frame-relay-capable bridge encapsulates LAN frames in frame relay frames and feeds those frame relay frames to a frame relay switch for transmission across the network. A frame-relay-capable bridge also receives frame relay frames from the network, strips the frame relay frame off each LAN frame, and passes the LAN frame on to the end device. Bridges are generally used to connect local area network (LAN) segments to other LAN segments or to a wide area network (WAN). They route traffic on the Level 2 LAN protocol (e.g., the Media Access Control address), which occupies the lower sub layer of the LAN OSI data link layer. See also Router.
www.expanded-systems.com/data_communications_glossary.htm


A networking device that connects two LANs and forwards or filters data packets between them, based on their destination addresses. Bridges operate at the data link level (or MAC-layer) of the OSI reference model, and are transparent to protocols and to higher level devices like routers.
www.lantronix.com/learning/glossary/


Device that connects and passes packets between two network segments that use the same communications protocol. Bridges operate at the data link layer (Layer 2) of the OSI reference model. In general, a bridge will filter, forward, or flood an incoming frame based on the MAC address of that frame.
www.zworld.com/documentation/glossary/intro.html


An active network device used to divide a network into mutually isolated segments while maintaining the whole as a single network. Bridges operate at the data-link layer of the OSI Reference Model. See OSI.
www.pace.ch/cours/glossary.htm


A device which connects two or more networks at the data link layer (layer 2). Bridge devices are specified in the IEEE 802.1D standard. Bridges are not form part of the collision domain (i.e. Bridges may be used to split a network into multiple collision domains).
www.femf.org/education/Summit2000syll/ottglossary.htm


A device that forwards traffic between network segments based on (OSI Reference Model) data link layer information. These segments would have a common network layer address. A bridge can connect different kinds of networks (e.g., wireless LAN to Ethernet).
www.xilinx.com/publications/glossary.htm