Final answer:
A switch builds its bridging table through learning, forwarding, flooding, and filtering.
Step-by-step explanation:
The switch builds its bridging table by performing the following steps:
- Learning: The switch learns the MAC addresses of devices connected to its ports by examining the source MAC address of the frames it receives.
- Forwarding: Once the switch has learned the MAC addresses, it builds a table that maps each MAC address to the corresponding port. When a frame arrives at the switch with a destination MAC address that is present in the table, the switch forwards the frame only to the appropriate port.
- Flooding: If a frame arrives at the switch with a destination MAC address that is not in the table, the switch floods the frame to all connected ports except the incoming port. This ensures that the frame reaches the intended recipient if the recipient is connected to one of the other ports.
- Filtering: As the switch receives frames, it updates its table by associating the source MAC address with the port the frame was received on. This helps the switch efficiently forward future frames without flooding.