What Is a Bridge Router?

A bridge router is a router that can function as a bridge. The bridge router transmits packets according to the network protocol information. When encountering some packets that cannot be supported by the network layer, the bridge router uses the device address to deliver the packet. ^[1]

The bridge router itself is a kind of router, but because of different occasions, sometimes it is used as a router, sometimes it is used as a bridge. For a bridge router, if you receive a router that uses the same protocol as the router,

A bridge is a store-and-forward device that connects more than two

(1)

The router works at

(1) Choosing the best transmission path: When the information arrives at the router, it is first placed in the packet queue, and then the router takes the packets from the queue in turn, and looks at the destination address and routing table in the packet header. There are multiple routes, and the router will choose a route from it according to a certain routing strategy and forward the packet information. When the network topology changes, the router can also adjust the routing table so that the selected route is still the best. This function can well balance the information flow in the network and avoid

Routers provide connection services at the network layer. The networks connected by routers can use completely different protocols at the data link layer and the physical layer. Because the OSI level of the router operation is higher than that of the bridge, the services provided by the router are more complete. Routers can choose the best path based on transmission costs, transit delays, network congestion, or the distance between the source and destination. The service of the router is usually explicitly requested by the end-user device, and it only processes the packets that are required to be addressed by other end-user devices.

An important difference between a router and a bridge is that the router understands the entire network, maintains the topology of the interconnected network, and understands the state of the network, so it can send packets using the most efficient path. ^[5]