Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site cbosgd.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxj!ihnp4!cbosgd!mark
From: mark@cbosgd.UUCP (Mark Horton)
Newsgroups: net.lan
Subject: Re: Ethernet 1 vs. Ethernet 2 vs. 802.3 Specifications
Message-ID: <484@cbosgd.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 14-Nov-84 00:23:01 EST
Article-I.D.: cbosgd.484
Posted: Wed Nov 14 00:23:01 1984
Date-Received: Tue, 20-Nov-84 03:24:54 EST
References: <4178@decwrl.UUCP>
Organization: Bell Labs, Columbus
Lines: 9

What is the advantage, if any, to the pair of 8 bit type fields in
the IEEE 802.3 spec, rather than the single large type field in
Ethernet?  It's hard for me to imagine a different type for the sender
from the receiver.  In fact, I don't see why the sender needs to record
his own type in the packet at all.  In effect, with two reserved bits,
it reduces the number of higher level protocols that can be supported to
64 - not a lot.  Is there a central registry for these 64 values so
people will always choose the same values for the same protocol and
different ones for different protocols?