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.

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