1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to systems, methods and computer program product code for data processing systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to systems, methods, and computer program product code for updating internet protocol and media access control addresses within an address resolution protocol table.
2. Description of the Related Art
An Internet Protocol (IP) address is a unique address that allows electronic devices to identify and communicate with each other over the network layer of a computer network. Communications typically utilize the Internet Protocol standard. A unique Internet Protocol address can be assigned to any network device.
The network, layer is responsible for end-to-end (source-to-destination) packet delivery. The network layer is called Internet layer in a Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol reference model. The network layer performs network routing, flow control, network segmentation/desegmentation, and error control functions.
Media Access Control addresses, sometimes referred to as hardware addresses or adapter addresses, are unique identifiers attached to most network adapters allowing the network adapters to identify and communicate with each other over a data link layer of a computer-network. A Media Access Control address is a number that acts like a name for a particular network adapter, so, for example, the network cards (or built-in network adapters) in two different computers will have different names, or Media Access Control addresses, as would an Ethernet adapter and a wireless adapter in the same computer, and as would multiple network cards in a router.
The data link layer is the layer which transfers data between, adjacent network nodes in a wide area network or between nodes on the same local area network segment. That is, the data link layer is responsible for node-to-node or hop-to-hop packet delivery. The data, link layer provides the functional and procedural means to transfer data between network entities. Examples of data link protocols are Ethernet for local area networks and point-to-point protocol, high level data link control and Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) communication control protocol for point-to-point connection.
Media Access Control addresses, unlike Internet Protocol addresses, are not divided into “device” and “network” portions, so a host cannot determine, from the Media Access Control address of another host, whether that host is on the same network segment as the sending host.
Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) is commonly used to convert from network layer addresses in an Internet Protocol to the data link layer Media Access Control address. Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) tables map Internet Protocol addresses to Media Access Control addresses. ARP tables are updated through network packets which have been formatted according to the ARP protocol. ARP packets contain only two essential pieces of information: an Internet Protocol address and a Media Access Control address.
Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) tables are updated through network packets which have been formatted according to the Address Resolution Protocol protocol. Address Resolution Protocol tables contain entries that are unique with respect to Internet Protocol address, that is, no two entries in the Address Resolution Protocol table correspond to the same Internet Protocol address. This unique Internet Protocol address implementation ensures that entries in the Address Resolution Protocol table are unique by immediately replacing any existing Internet Protocol entry upon receiving a new entry having an identical Internet Protocol address. Because there can be at most one Address Resolution Protocol table entry per Internet Protocol address, then the most recent update packet received is necessarily the most recent Media Access Control address for the Internet Protocol address.