Date: Tue, 21 May 1996 10:38:37 -0400 (EDT)
From: Paul Langille <langille@nexen.com>
To: p8021@hepnrc.hep.net
Subject: unicast MAC addresses and priority
Cc: langille@nexen.com


	Hi. Back in April there was a thread that Robin Tasker started
concerning the priority in 802.1p. Embedded in this collection of mail
messages is an issue that (I believe) Norm Finn raised that has to do
with unicast MAC addresses and priority. (This issue is spread across
many messages!) In one of the messages Norm said the following:

>I want to be clear -- I have no particular objection to having a
>multicast MAC destination address determine the priority of the
>data stream.  Group addresses seem, in effect, to have a 1:1
>correspondence with data flows.  But unicast MAC addresses are
>another matter, entirely.  Compare the 802.1p plan to priorities
>kept separate from MAC addresses, (e.g.  in the VLAN tag or the
>I/G bit) which requires no control overhead.


	Did this issue ever get resolved? Basically, I don't
understand how the mapping of unicast address to priority works. In
the simplest case won't every unicast frame from my workstation get
the same priority?  This will then have an effect on the multicast
traffic. (Needless to say if every station does this then we revert
back to one queue.) One could modify the unicast address but I don't
think anything specific was adopted.

	So what am I missing? 

			Thanks Paul

P.S. Disclaimer!! I apologize if this was discussed in mail (that I
     missed) or in the 802.1p specification (which I am still
     reading). If so, please point me in the right direction.