LCP includes a Discard-Request Code in order to provide a Data Link Layer sink mechanism for use in exercising the local to remote direction of the link. This is useful as an aid in debugging, performance testing, and for numerous other functions.
Discard-Request packets MUST only be sent in the LCP Opened state. On reception, the receiver MUST silently discard any Discard- Request that it receives.
A summary of the Discard-Request packet format is shown below. The fields are transmitted from left to right.
0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Code | Identifier | Length | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Magic-Number | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Data ... +-+-+-+-+
11 for Discard-Request.
The Identifier field MUST be changed for each Discard-Request sent.
The Magic-Number field is four octets, and aids in detecting links which are in the looped-back condition. Until the Magic-Number Configuration Option has been successfully negotiated, the Magic- Number MUST be transmitted as zero. See the Magic-Number Configuration Option for further explanation.
The Data field is zero or more octets, and contains uninterpreted data for use by the sender. The data may consist of any binary value. The end of the field is indicated by the Length.