A frame filter IP core for RT-Ethernet monitoring

The novelty of this paper is the concept for an RT-Ethernet Frame Filter that is dedicated for RT network analyzers. In classic network analyzers the hardware part of the analyzer is dedicated for a given network protocol or a set of protocols. The captured frames are selected by the software part of a classic network analyzer. In the proposed solution the authors describe the FPGA-based hardware network TAP which includes an internal filtering structure that may be adjusted during network analyses. This paper clarifies the hardware filtering module concept, together with its principle of operation and introduces a potential solution for RT-Ethernet traffic filtration that is embedded into the FPGA structure as a configurable IP core called an Ethernet Frame Filter.