Program: B.

Tech
Subject Name: Computer Networks
Subject Code: AL-602
Semester: 6th
 Department of Computer Science and Engineering
AL-602 Computer Networks
Subject Notes: UNIT-III

Syllabus: MAC Sub layer: MAC Addressing, Binary Exponential Back-off (BEB) Algorithm, Distributed
Random Access Schemes/Contention Schemes: for Data Services (ALOHA and Slotted-ALOHA), for Local-
Area Networks (CSMA, CSMA/CD, CSMA/CA), Collision Free Protocols: Basic Bit Map, BRAP, Binary Count
Down, MLMA Limited Contention Protocols: Adaptive Tree Walk, Performance Measuring Metrics. IEEE
Standards 802 series & their variant.

MAC Sublayer
In the seven-layer OSI model of computer networking, media access control (MAC) data communication
protocol is a sublayer of the data link layer (layer 2). The MAC sublayer provides addressing and channel
access control mechanisms that make it possible for several terminals or network nodes to communicate
within a multiple access network that incorporates a shared medium, e.g. Ethernet. The hardware that
implements the MAC is referred to as a media access controller.

The MAC sublayer acts as an interface between the logical link control (LLC) sublayer and the network's
physical layer. The MAC layer emulates a full-duplex logical communication channel in a multi-point
network. This channel may provide unicast, multicast or broadcast communication service.

Fig.3.1 MAC Sub Layer

MAC Addressing (Media Access Control address)
In a local area network (LAN) or other network, the MAC (Media Access Control) address is your
computer's unique hardware number.
In a local area network (LAN) or other network, the MAC (Media Access Control) address is your
computer's unique hardware number. (On an Ethernet LAN, it's the same as your Ethernet address.) When
you're connected to the Internet from your computer (or host as the Internet protocol thinks of it), a
correspondence table relates your IP address to your computer's physical (MAC) address on the LAN.

What Is a MAC Address?

The MAC address is a unique value associated with a network adapter. MAC addresses are also known as
hardware addresses or physical addresses. They uniquely identify an adapter on a LAN.
MAC addresses are 12-digit hexadecimal numbers (48 bits in length). By convention, MAC addresses are
usually written in one of the following two formats:
MM:MM:MM:SS:SS:SS
MM-MM-MM-SS-SS-SS

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 The first half of a MAC address contains the ID number of the adapter manufacturer. These IDs are
regulated by an Internet standards body. The second half of a MAC address represents the serial number
assigned to the adapter by the manufacturer.
In the example, 00:A0:C9:14:C8:29 The prefix 00A0C9 indicates the manufacturer is Intel Corporation.

Why MAC Addresses?

Recall that TCP/IP and other mainstream networking architectures generally adopt the OSI model. In this
model, network functionality is subdivided into layers. MAC addresses function at the data link layer (layer
2 in the OSI model). They allow computers to uniquely identify themselves on a network at this relatively
low level.
MAC vs. IP Addressing
Whereas MAC addressing works at the data link layer, IP addressing functions at the network layer (layer
3). It's a slight oversimplification, but one can think of IP addressing as supporting the software
implementation and MAC addresses as supporting the hardware implementation of the network stack. The
MAC address generally remains fixed and follows the network device, but the IP address changes as the
network device moves from one network to another
IP networks maintain a mapping between the IP address of a device and its MAC address. This mapping is
known as the ARP cache or ARP table. ARP, the Address Resolution Protocol, supports the logic for
obtaining this mapping and keeping the cache up to date.
DHCP also usually relies on MAC addresses to manage the unique assignment of IP addresses to devices.

Binary Exponential Back-off (BEB) Algorithm

In a variety of computer networks, binary exponential back off or truncated binary exponential back off
refers to an algorithm used to space out repeated retransmissions of the same block of data, often as part
of network congestion avoidance.
Examples are the retransmission of frames in carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance
(CSMA/CA) and carrier sense multiple access with collision detection (CSMA/CD) networks, where this
algorithm is part of the channel access method used to send data on these networks. In Ethernet networks,
the algorithm is commonly used to schedule retransmissions after collisions. The retransmission is delayed
by an amount of time derived from the slot time and the number of attempts to retransmit.
After c collisions, a random number of slot times between 0 and 2c - 1 is chosen. For the first collision, each
sender will wait 0 or 1 slot times. After the second collision, the senders will wait anywhere from 0 to 3 slot
times (inclusive). After the third collision, the senders will wait anywhere from 0 to 7 slot times (inclusive),
and so forth. As the number of retransmission attempts increases, the number of possibilities for delay
increases exponentially.

Distributed Random Access Schemes/Contention Schemes: for Data Services (ALOHA and Slotted
ALOHA)
ALOHA: ALOHA is a system for coordinating and arbitrating access to a shared communication Networks
channel. The original system used for ground-based radio broadcasting, but the system has been
implemented in satellite communication systems.
A shared communication system like ALOHA requires a method of handling collisions that occur when two
or more systems attempt to transmit on the channel at the same time. In the ALOHA system, a node
transmits whenever data is available to send. If another node transmits at the same time, a collision
occurs, and the frames that were transmitted are lost. However, a node can listen to broadcasts on the
medium, even its own, and determine whether the frames were transmitted.

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 Aloha means "Hello". Aloha is a multiple access protocol at the datalink layer and proposes how multiple
terminals access the medium without interference or collision. A scientist developed a protocol that would
increase the capacity of aloha two-fold. The Slotted Aloha protocol involves dividing the time interval into
discrete slots and each slot interval corresponds to the time period of one frame. This method requires
synchronization between the sending nodes to prevent collisions.
There are two different versions
Types of ALOHA:
(i) Pure ALOHA
(ii) Slotted ALOHA
Fig 3.2 Pure ALOHA
(i) Pure ALOHA
• In pure ALOHA, the stations transmit frames whenever they have data to send.
• When two or more stations transmit simultaneously, there is collision and the frames are destroyed.
• In pure ALOHA, whenever any station transmits a frame, it expects the acknowledgement from the
receiver.
• If acknowledgement is not received within specified time, the station assumes that the frame (or
acknowledgement) has been destroyed.
• If the frame is destroyed because of collision the station waits for a random amount of time and sends it
again. This waiting time must be random otherwise same frames will collide again and again.
• Therefore, pure ALOHA dictates that when time-out period passes, each station must wait for a random
amount of time before resending its frame. This randomness will help avoid more collisions.

Slotted ALOHA
 Slotted ALOHA was invented to improve the efficiency of pure ALOHA as chances of collision in pure
ALOHA are very high.
 In slotted ALOHA, the time of the shared channel is divided into discrete intervals called slots.
 The stations can send a frame only at the beginning of the slot and only one frame is sent in each slot.
 In slotted ALOHA, if any station is not able to place the frame onto the channel at the beginning of the
slot i.e. it misses the time slot then the station has to wait until the beginning of the next time slot.

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  In slotted ALOHA, there is still a possibility of collision if two stations try to send at the beginning of the
same time slot.
 Slotted ALOHA still has an edge over pure ALOHA as chances of collision are reduced to one-half.

Fig 3.3 Slotted ALOHA

For Local-Area Networks (CSMA, CSMA/CD, CSMA/CA)
Carrier sense multiple access (CSMA) is a probabilistic media access control (MAC) protocol in which a
node verifies the absence of other traffic before transmitting on a shared transmission medium, such as an
electrical bus, or a band of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Carrier sense means that a transmitter uses feedback from a receiver to determine whether another
transmission is in progress before initiating a transmission. That is, it tries to detect the presence of a
carrier wave from another station before attempting to transmit. If a carrier is sensed, the station waits for
the transmission in progress to finish before initiating its own transmission. In other words, CSMA is based
on the principle "sense before transmit" or "listen before talk".
Multiple access means that multiple stations send and receive on the medium. Transmissions by one node
are generally received by all other stations connected to the medium.

CSMA protocol was developed to overcome the problem found in ALOHA i.e. to minimize the chances of
collision, so as to improve the performance. CSMA protocol is based on the principle of 'carrier sense'. The
station senses the carrier or channel before transmitting a frame. It means the station checks the state of
channel, whether it is idle or busy.
Even though devices attempt to sense whether the network is in use, there is a good chance that two
stations will attempt to access it at the same time. On large networks, the transmission time between one
end of the cable and another is enough that one station may access the cable even though another has
already just accessed it.

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 The chances of collision still exist because of propagation delay. The frame transmitted by one station
takes some time to reach other stations. In the meantime, other stations may sense the channel to be idle
and transmit their frames. This results in the collision.

Fig 3.4 CSMA

There Are Three Different Type of CSMA Protocols
(I) 1-persistent CSMA
(ii) Non- Persistent CSMA
(iii) p-persistent CSMA

(i) 1-persistent CSMA

• In this method, station that wants to transmit data continuously senses the channel to check whether the
channel is idle or busy.
• If the channel is busy, the station waits until it becomes idle.
• When the station detects an idle-channel, it immediately transmits the frame with probability 1. Hence it
is called 1-persistent CSMA.
• This method has the highest chance of collision because two or more stations may find channel to be idle
at the same time and transmit their frames.
• When the collision occurs, the stations wait a random amount of time and start allover again.

Drawback of I-persistent
The propagation delay time greatly affects this protocol. Let us suppose, just after the station 1 begins its
transmission, station 2 also became ready to send its data and senses the channel. If the station 1 signal
has not yet reached station 2, station 2 will sense the channel to be idle and will begin its transmission.
This will result in collision.
Even if propagation delay time is zero, collision will still occur. If two stations became .ready in the middle
of third station's transmission, both stations will wait until the transmission of first station ends and then
both will begin their transmission exactly simultaneously. This will also result in collision.

Fig 3.5 1-persistent CSMA

(ii) Non-persistent CSMA
• In this scheme, if a station wants to transmit a frame and it finds that the channel is busy (some other
station is transmitting) then it will wait for fixed interval of time.

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 • After this time, it again checks the status of the channel and if the channel is free it will transmit.
• A station that has a frame to send senses the channel.
• If the channel is idle, it sends immediately.
• If the channel is busy, it waits a random amount of time and then senses the channel again.
• In non-persistent CSMA the station does not continuously sense the channel for the purpose of capturing
it when it detects the end of previous transmission.

two or more stations will wait for same amount of time and will retransmit at the same time.

Disadvantage of non-persistent
• It reduces the efficiency of network because the channel remains idle when there may be stations
with
frames to send. This is due to the fact that the stations wait a random amount of time after the collision.
Advantage of non-persistent
• It reduces the chance of collision because the stations wait a random amount of time. It is unlikely that
• If the next slot is also idle, it either transmits or waits again with probabilities p and q.
• This process is repeated till either frame has been transmitted or another station has begun transmitting.

• In case of the transmission by another station, the station acts as though a collision has occurred and it
waits a random amount of time and starts again.
Advantage of p-persistent
• It reduces the chance of collision and improves the efficiency of the network.

Fig 3.6 Non-persistent CSMA

(iii) p-persistent CSMA
• This method is used when channel has time slots such that the time slot duration is equal to or greater
than the maximum propagation delay time.
• Whenever a station becomes ready to send, it senses the channel.
• If channel is busy, station waits until next slot.
• If channel is idle, it transmits with a probability p.
• With the probability q=1-p, the station then waits for the beginning of the next time slot.

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 Fig 3.7 p-persistent CSMA
CSMA/CD - Carrier Sense Multiple Access / Collision Detection
To reduce the impact of collisions on the network performance, Ethernet uses an algorithm called CSMA
with Collision Detection (CSMA / CD): CSMA/CD is a protocol in which the station senses the carrier or
channel before transmitting frame just as in persistent and non-persistent CSMA. If the channel is busy,
the station waits. it listens at the same time on communication media to ensure that there is no collision
with a packet sent by another station. In a collision, the issuer immediately cancels the sending of the
package. This allows to limit the duration of collisions: we do not waste time to send a packet complete if
it detects a collision. After a collision, the transmitter waits again silence and again, he continued his hold
for a random number; but this time the random number is nearly double the previous one: it is this called
back-off (that is to say, the "decline") exponential. In fact, the window collision is simply doubled (unless
it has already reached a maximum). From a packet is transmitted successfully, the window will return to
its original size.

Again, this is what we do naturally in a meeting room if many people speak exactly the same time, they
are realizing account immediately (as they listen at the same time they speak), and they interrupt without
completing their sentence. After a while, one of them speaks again. If a new collision occurs, the two are
interrupted again and tend to wait a little longer before speaking again.

Fig 3.8 CSMA/CD

CSMA/CA - Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Avoidance
CSMA/CA protocol is used in wireless networks because they cannot detect the collision so the only
solution is collision avoidance.
• CSMA/CA avoids the collisions using three basic techniques.

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 (i) Interframe space
(ii) Contention window
(iii) Acknowledgements

Fig 3.9 CSMA/CA

Comparison between all with an BAR Chart

Fig 3.10 Comparison between all with a BAR Chart

1. Interframe Space (IFS)
• Whenever the channel is found idle, the station does not transmit immediately. It waits for a period of
time called interframe space (IFS).
• When channel is sensed to be idle, it may be possible that same distant station may have already started
transmitting and the signal of that distant station has not yet reached other stations.
• Therefore, the purpose of IFS time is to allow this transmitted signal to reach other stations.
• If after this IFS time, the channel is still idle, the station can send, but it still needs to wait a time equal to
contention time.
• IFS variable can also be used to define the priority of a station or a frame.
2. Contention Window
• Contention window is an amount of time divided into slots.
• A station that is ready to send chooses a random number of slots as its wait time.
• The number of slots in the window changes according to the binary exponential back-off strategy. It
means that it is set of one slot the first time and then doubles each time the station cannot detect an idle
channel after the IFS time.
• This is very similar to the p-persistent method except that a random outcome defines the number of slots
taken by the waiting station.
• In contention window the station needs to sense the channel after each time slot.

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 • If the station finds the channel busy, it does not restart the process. It just stops the timer & restarts it
when the channel is sensed as idle.
3. Acknowledgement
• Despite all the precautions, collisions may occur and destroy the data.
• The positive acknowledgment and the time-out timer can help guarantee that receiver has received the
frame.

Fig 3.11 Flow Chart of CSMA/CA

Hidden Node Problem

In the case of wireless network, it is possible that A is sending a message to B, but C is out of its range and
hence while "listening" on the network it will find the network to be free and might try to send packets to
B at the same time as A. So, there will be a collision at B. The problem can be looked upon as if A and C are
hidden from each other. Hence it is called the "hidden node problem".
Exposed Node Problem
If C is transmitting a message to D and B wants to transmit a message to A, B will find the network to be
busy as B hears C transmitting. Even if B would have transmitted to A, it would not have been a problem at
A or D. CSMA/CD would not allow it to transmit message to A, while the two transmissions could have
gone in parallel.

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 Fig 3.12 Hidden and Exposed Node Problem
Collision Free Protocols: Basic Bit Map, BRAP, Binary Count Down
Collision Free Protocols
A collision-free protocol for transmitting frames between stations connected over a shared transmission
medium such as an IEEE 802.3 Ethernet LAN. A logical ring is formed and a token is circulated among the
connected stations part of the logical ring (not all connected stations are required to be part of the logical
ring). Transmitting from any one station, part of the logical ring, is permitted only while holding the
token, therefore preventing collisions. A collision-free protocol, over a standard Ethernet infrastructure,
becomes feasible, yet remains compatible with the standard collision protocol, thus improving
performances.
Basic Bit Map
1. Assume N stations are numbered from 1 to N.
2. There is a contention period of N slots (bits).
3. Each station has one slot time during the contention period, numbered 1 to N.
4. Station J sends a 1-bit reservation during Jth slot time if it wants to transmit a frame.
5. Every station sees all the 1-bit reservation transmitted during the contention period, so each
station knows which stations want to transmit.
6. After the contention period, each station that asserted its desire to transmit sends its frame in the
order of station number.
BRAP
Backup Route Aware Routing Program (BRAP) is a protocol that provides interdomain routing. BRAP uses
reverse paths and backup paths to ensure fast failure recovery in networking systems.

Binary Countdown
In this protocol, a node which wants to signal that it has a frame to send does so by writing its address into
the header as a binary number. The arbitration is such that as soon as a node sees that a higher bit position
that is 0 in its address has been overwritten with a 1, it gives up. The final result is the address of the node
which is allowed to send. After the node has transmitted the whole process is repeated all over again.
Given below is an example situation.
Nodes Addresses
A 0010
B 0101
C 1010
D 1001

1010
Node C having higher priority gets to transmit. The problem with this protocol is that the nodes with higher
address always wins. Hence this creates a priority which is highly unfair and hence undesirable.
MLMA protocol

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 Multi-Level Multi-Access (MLMA): The problem with BRAP is the delay when the channel is lightly loaded.
When there is no frame to be transmitted, the N-bit headers just go on and on until a station inserts a 1
into its mini slot. On average, the waiting time would be N=2. MLAM scheme 41 is nearly as efficient under
high channel load, but has shorter delay under low channel load. In MLAM, a station wants to transmit a
frame sends its identification in a particular format. A group of 10 bits (called decade) is used to represent
a digit of the station number 48.

Limited Contention Protocols: Adaptive Tree Walk

Contention based and Contention - free has their own problems. Under conditions of light load, contention
is preferable due to its low delay. As the load increases, contention becomes increasingly less attractive,
because the overload associated with channel arbitration becomes greater. Just the reverse is true for
contention - free protocols. At low load, they have high delay, but as the load increases, the channel
efficiency improves rather than getting worse as it does for contention protocols.

Obviously, it would be better if one could combine the best properties of the contention and contention -
free protocols, that is, protocol which used contention at low loads to provide low delay, but used a
contention-free technique at high load to provide good channel efficiency. Such protocols do exist and are
called Limited contention protocols.

It is obvious that the probability of some station acquiring the channel could only be increased by
decreasing the amount of competition. The limited contention protocols do exactly that. They first divide
the stations up into (not necessarily disjoint) groups. Only the members of group 0 are permitted to
compete for slot 0. The competition for acquiring the slot within a group is contention based. If one of the
members of that group succeeds, it acquires the channel and transmits a frame. If there is collision or no
node of a particular group wants to send then the members of the next group compete for the next slot.
The probability of a particular node is set to a particular value (optimum).
Adaptive Tree Walk Protocol
Initially all the nodes are allowed to try to acquire the channel. If it is able to acquire the channel, it sends
its frame. If there is collision then the nodes are divided into two equal groups and only one of these
groups compete for slot 1. If one of its member acquires the channel then the next slot is reserved for the
other group. On the other hand, if there is a collision then that group is again subdivided and the same
process is followed. This can be better understood if the nodes are thought of as being organized in a
binary tree.

Fig 3.13 Adaptive Tree Walk

Many improvements could be made to the algorithm. For example, consider the case of nodes G and H
being the only ones wanting to transmit. At slot 1 a collision will be detected and so 2 will be tried and it
will be found to be idle. Hence it is pointless to probe 3 and one should directly go to 6,7.
URN Protocol

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 In computing, a uniform resource name (URN) is the historical name for a uniform resource identifier (URI)
that uses the scheme. A URI is a string of characters used to identify a name of a web resource. Such
identification enables interaction with representations of the web resource over a network, typically the
World Wide Web, using specific protocols.
URNs were intended to serve as persistent, location-independent identifiers, allowing the simple mapping
of namespaces into a single URN namespace. The existence of such a URI does not imply availability of the
identified resource, but such URIs are required to remain globally unique and persistent, even when the
resource ceases to exist or becomes unavailable.
(Uniform Resource Name) A name that identifies a resource on the Internet. Unlike URLs, which use
network addresses (domain, directory path, file name), URNs use regular words that are protocol and
location independent. Providing a higher level of abstraction, URNs are persistent (never change) and
require a resolution service similar to the DNS system in order to convert names into real addresses. For
the most part, URNs have evolved into XRI identifiers (see XDI). See URI and URL.

Fig 3.14 URN Protocol

High Speed LAN: Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet
Name IEEE Standards Data Rate Media Type Maximum Distance
Ethernet 802.3 10 Mbps 10Base-T 100 meters
Fast 802.3u 100 Mbps 100Base- 100 meters
Ethernet/ TX 2000 meters
100Base-T 100Base-
FX
Gigabit Ethernet/ 802.3z 1000 Mbps 1000Base-T 100 meters
GigE 1000Base- 275/550 meters
SX 550/5000 meters
1000Base-LX
10 Gigabit IEEE 802.3ae 10 Gbps 10GBase-SR 300 meters
Ethernet 10GBase-LX4 300m MMF/ 10km SMF
10GBase-LR/ER 10km/40km
10GBase-SW/LW/EW 300m/10km/40km

Key Differences between Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet

 Gigabit Ethernet is more advanced technology than Fast Ethernet having speed of 1000 Mbit/s, 10
times more than speed of Fast Ethernet, which is 100 Mbit/s.
 Due to more bit transfer speed and higher bandwidth, Gigabit Ethernet results in better
performance than Fast Ethernet.
 Gigabit Ethernet is more expensive than Fast Ethernet. Upgrading of Fast Ethernet from Standard
Ethernet is easy and cost effective while upgrading of Gigabit Ethernet from Fast Ethernet is
complex and expensive.
 Configuration problems in Gigabit Ethernet are more complex than Fast Ethernet. Devices used in
Gigabit Ethernet must have same configuration to function fully. While in Fast Ethernet, connected
devices configure automatically with the system.
 Every network can support 100 Mbit/s but cannot support 1000 Mbit/s. So, specific network is
required that can support the Gigabit Ethernet.
 Maximum length of 10 km network can be achieved in Fast Ethernet, if 100BASE-LX10 version is
being used. While 70 km network length can be achieved in Gigabit Ethernet, if Single Mode Fiber
(1,310 nm wavelength) is being used as a medium.
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  Faster Ethernet runs on both optical fiber cable and unshielded twisted pair cable. Gigabit Ethernet
runs on either 1000BASE-T twisted pair cable, 1000BASE-X optical fiber or 1000BASE-CX shielded
balanced copper cable.
 Fast Ethernet is economical but provides the slow transfer speed as compared to the Gigabit
Ethernet that provides the faster transfer rate but is very expensive. The ports of Gigabit Ethernet
cost four times the price per port of Fast Ethernet.
 IEEE Standard for Gigabit Ethernet is IEEE 802.3-2008 and the IEEE Standards for Fast Ethernet are
802.3u-1995, 802.3u-1995 and 802.3u-1995.
 Upgrade from simple Ethernet to Fast Ethernet is relatively simple and economical as compared to
the upgrade from Fast Ethernet to Gigabit Ethernet.
 Gigabit Ethernet requires specifically designed network devices that can support the standard
1000Mbps data rate. Fast Ethernet requires no specific network devices.
 Manual configuration is the must-have element in the setup of Gigabit Ethernet where most of the
devices required prior configuration in order to be compatible with Gigabit Ethernet. While in Fast
Ethernet there is no scene of configuration as connected devices automatically configured
according to the requirement of Fast Ethernet.
 If you need the more bandwidth then Gigabit Ethernet will provide you the more bandwidth at the
best possible frequency as compared to the Fast Ethernet.
FDDI
The Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) specifies a 100-Mbps token-passing, dual-ring LAN using fiber-
optic cable. FDDI is frequently used as high-speed backbone technology because of its support for high
bandwidth and greater distances than copper. It should be noted that relatively recently, a related copper
specification, called Copper Distributed Data Interface (CDDI), has emerged to provide 100-Mbps service
over copper. CDDI is the implementation of FDDI protocols over twisted-pair copper wire. This article
focuses mainly on FDDI specifications and operations, but it also provides a high-level overview of CDDI.

FDDI uses dual-ring architecture with traffic on each ring flowing in opposite directions (called counter-
rotating). The dual rings consist of a primary and a secondary ring. During normal operation, the primary
ring is used for data transmission, and the secondary ring remains idle. As will be discussed in detail later in
this article, the primary purpose of the dual rings is to provide superior reliability and robustness.

Fig 3.14 FDDI

FDDI Transmission Media
FDDI uses optical fiber as the primary transmission medium, but it also can run over copper cabling. As
mentioned earlier, FDDI over copper is referred to as Copper-Distributed Data Interface (CDDI). Optical

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 fiber has several advantages over copper media. In particular, security, reliability, and performance all are
enhanced with optical fiber media because fiber does not emit electrical signals. A physical medium that
does emit electrical signals (copper) can be tapped and therefore would permit unauthorized access to the
data that is transiting the medium. In addition, fiber is immune to electrical interference from radio
frequency interference (RFI) and electromagnetic interference (EMI). Fiber historically has supported much
higher bandwidth (throughput potential) than copper, although recent technological advances have made
copper capable of transmitting at 100 Mbps. Finally, FDDI allows 2 km between stations using multimode
fiber, and even longer distances using a single mode.

FDDI defines two types of optical fiber: single-mode and multimode. A mode is a ray of light that enters the
fiber at a particular angle. Multimode fiber uses LED as the light-generating device, while single-mode fiber
generally uses lasers.

Multimode fiber allows multiple modes of light to propagate through the fiber. Because these modes of
light enter the fiber at different angles, they will arrive at the end of the fiber at different times. This
characteristic is known as modal dispersion. Modal dispersion limits the bandwidth and distances that can
be accomplished using multimode fibers. For this reason, multimode fiber is generally used for connectivity
within a building or a relatively geographically contained environment.

Single-mode fiber allows only one mode of light to propagate through the fiber. Because only a single
mode of light is used, modal dispersion is not present with single-mode fiber. Therefore, single-mode fiber
is capable of delivering considerably higher performance connectivity over much larger distances, which is
why it generally is used for connectivity between buildings and within environments that are more
geographically dispersed.

Fig 3.14 FDDI transmission medium

Performance Measuring Metrics

• Latency: It can take a long time for a packet to be delivered across intervening networks. In reliable
protocols where a receiver acknowledges delivery of each chunk of data, it is possible to measure this as
round-trip time.
• Packet loss: In some cases, intermediate devices in a network will lose packets. This may be due to
errors, to overloading of the intermediate network, or to intentional discarding of traffic in order to
enforce a particular service level.
• Retransmission: When packets are lost in a reliable network, they are retransmitted. This incurs two
delays: First, the delay from re-sending the data; and second, the delay resulting from waiting until the
data is received in the correct order before forwarding it up the protocol stack.
• Throughput: The amount of traffic a network can carry is measured as throughput, usually in terms such
as kilobits per second. Throughput is analogous to the number of lanes on a highway, whereas latency is
analogous to its speed limit.

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 IEEE Standards 802 series & their variant
802.2 Logical Link Control
The technical definition for 802.2 is "the standard for the upper Data Link Layer sublayer also known as
the Logical Link Control layer. It is used with the 802.3, 802.4, and 802.5 standards (lower DL sublayers)."

802.2 "specifies the general interface between the network layer (IP, IPX, etc.) and the data link
layer(Ethernet, Token Ring, etc.).

Basically, think of the 802.2 as the "translator" for the Data Link Layer. 802.2 is concerned with managing
traffic over the physical network. It is responsible for flow and error control. The Data Link Layer wants to
send some data over the network, 802.2 Logical Link Control helps make this possible. It also helps by
identifying the line protocol, like NetBIOS, or Netware.

The LLC acts like a software bus allowing multiple higher layer protocols to access one or more lower
layer networks. For example, if you have a server with multiple network interface cards, the LLC will
forward packers from those upper layer protocols to the appropriate network interface. This allows the
upper layer protocols to not need specific knowledge of the lower layer networks in use.

802.3 Ethernet
802.3 is the standard which Ethernet operates by. It is the standard for CSMA/CD (Carrier Sense Multiple
Access with Collision Detection). This standard encompasses both the MAC and Physical Layer standards.

CSMA/CD is what Ethernet uses to control access to the network medium (network cable). If there is no
data, any node may attempt to transmit, if the nodes detect a collision, both stop transmitting and wait a
random amount of time before retransmitting the data.

The original 802.3 standard is 10 Mbps (Megabits per second). 802.3u defined the 100 Mbps (Fast
Ethernet) standard, 802.3z/802.3ab defined 1000 Mbps Gigabit Ethernet, and 802.3ae define 10 Gigabit
Ethernet.

Commonly, Ethernet networks transmit data in packets, or small bits of information. A packet can be a
minimum size of 72 bytes or a maximum of 1518 bytes.

The most common topology for Ethernet is the star topology.

802.5 Token Ring

Token ring is designed to use the ring topology and utilizes a token to control the transmission of data on
the network.

The token is a special frame which is designed to travel from node to node around the ring. When it does
not have any data attached to it, a node on the network can modify the frame, attach its data and
transmit. Each node on the network checks the token as it passes to see if the data is intended for that
node, if it is; it accepts the data and transmits a new token. If it is not intended for that node, it
retransmits the token on to the next node.

The token ring network is designed in such a way that each node on the network is guaranteed access to
the token at some point. This equalizes the data transfer on the network. This is different from an
Ethernet network where each workstation has equal access to grab the available bandwidth, with the
possible of a node using more bandwidth than other nodes.

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 Originally, token ring operated at a speed of about 4 Mbps and 16 Mbps. 802.5t allows for 100 Mbps
speeds and 802.5v provides for 1 Gbps over fibber.

Token ring can be run over a star topology as well as the ring topology.

There are three major cable types for token ring: Unshielded twisted pair (UTP), Shielded twisted pair
(STP), and fibber.

Token ring utilizes a Multi-station Access Unit (MAU) as a central wiring hub. This is also sometimes called
a MSAU when referring to token ring networks.

802.11 Wireless Network Standards

802.11 is the collection of standards setups for wireless networking. You are probably familiar with the
three popular standards: 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g and latest one is 802.11n. Each standard uses a
frequency to connect to the network and has a defined upper limit for data transfer speeds.

802.11a was one of the first wireless standards. 802.11a operates in the 5Ghz radio band and can achieve
a maximum of 54Mbps. Wasn't as popular as the 802.11b standard due to higher prices and lower range.

802.11b operates in the 2.4Ghz band and supports up to 11 Mbps. Range of up to several hundred feet in
theory. The first real consumer option for wireless and very popular.

802.11g is a standard in the 2.4Ghz band operating at 54Mbps. Since it operates in the same band as
802.11b, 802.11g is compatible with 802.11b equipment. 802.11a is not directly compatible with 802.11b
or 802.11g since it operates in a different band.

Wireless LANs primarily use CSMA/CA - Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Avoidance. It has a "listen
before talk" method of minimizing collisions on the wireless network. This results in less need for
retransmitting data.

Wireless standards operate within a wireless topology.

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