The Realtek Remote Control Protocol (RRCP), developed by Realtek, is an application layer protocol, running directly over Ethernet frames. The main idea behind this protocol is to allow direct access to the internal register of an Ethernet switch controller (ASIC) over an Ethernet network itself. This approach allows to avoid cost of including a processor, RAM, flash memory, etc. in a managed Ethernet switch. Instead, all "intelligence" is targeted to reside in a nearby computer, running special RRCP-aware Ethernet switch management software.