EtherIP: Tunneling Ethernet Frames in IP Datagrams

The EtherIP protocol is used to tunnel Ethernet [DIX] and IEEE 802.3 [CSMA/CD] media access control (MAC) frames (including IEEE 802.1Q [VLAN] datagrams) across an IP internet. Tunneling is usually performed when the layer three protocol carried in the MAC frames is not IP or when encryption obscures the layer three protocol control information needed for routing. EtherIP may be implemented in an end station to enable tunneling for that single station, or it may be implemented in a bridge-like station to enable tunneling for multiple stations connected to a particular local area network (LAN) segment.