Context
On a local area network (LAN), a host or network
device must learn the IP address of the destination host or device
before sending data to it. Additionally, the host or network device
must learn the physical address (MAC address) of the destination host
or device because IP packets must be encapsulated into frames for
transmission over a physical network. Therefore, the mapping from
an IP address into a physical address is required. Address Resolution
Protocol (ARP) is introduced to map IP addresses to physical addresses
(Ethernet MAC addresses).