The destination field carries the destination MAC address in an Ethernet frame. It identifies the next-hop recipient for Layer 2, hop-to-hop delivery. section 6.2.2
The field is 6 bytes, or 48 bits, because a MAC address has that length. MAC addresses are normally written as 12 hexadecimal characters. section 6.2.2
Switch forwarding
When a frame crosses a LAN, the switch examines its destination MAC address and forwards the frame through the appropriate destination port. The IP address identifies the final host, while the destination field identifies the next hop. section 6.2.2
Table 6.1 Decimal numbers and their hexadecimal equivalents (view table figure)
| Dec. |
Hex. |
Dec. |
Hex. |
Dec. |
Hex. |
Dec. |
Hex. |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 |
0 |
8 |
8 |
16 |
10 |
24 |
18 |
|||
| 1 |
1 |
9 |
9 |
17 |
11 |
25 |
19 |
|||
| 2 |
2 |
10 |
A |
18 |
12 |
26 |
1A |
|||
| 3 |
3 |
11 |
B |
19 |
13 |
27 |
1B |
|||
| 4 |
4 |
12 |
C |
20 |
14 |
28 |
1C |
|||
| 5 |
5 |
13 |
D |
21 |
15 |
29 |
1D |
|||
| 6 |
6 |
14 |
E |
22 |
16 |
30 |
1E |
|||
| 7 |
7 |
15 |
F |
23 |
17 |
31 |
1F |
Use the decimal-to-hexadecimal table to interpret the notation used for MAC addresses. section 6.2.2
