Module 5
MULTIMEDIA INFORMATION NETWORKS
Introduction, LANs, Ethernet, Token ring, Bridges, FDDI High-speed
LANs, LAN protocol.
• With the rapid paradigm shift from conventional circuit-switching telephone
networks to the packet-switching, data-centric, and IP-based Internet,
networked multimedia computer applications have created a tremendous
impact on computing and network infrastructures.
• More specifically, most multimedia content providers, such as news,
television, and the entertainment industry have started their own streaming
infrastructures to deliver their content, either live or on-demand.
• Numerous multimedia networking applications have also matured in the past
few years, ranging from distance learning to desktop video conferencing,
instant messaging, workgroup collaboration, multimedia kiosks,
entertainment, and imaging
What is a LAN?
• A LAN is a high-speed, fault-tolerant data network that covers a
relatively small geographic area.
• It typically connects workstations, personal computers,
printers, and other devices.
• LANs offer computer users many advantages, including shared
access to devices and applications, file exchange between
connected users, and communication between users via
electronic mail and other applications.
• Three LAN implementations are used most commonly:
•LAN
•LAN Protocolsfunction
protocols and theat
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•LAN Media-Access Methods:
• LAN protocols typically use one of two methods to access the
physical network medium: carrier sense multiple access collision
detect (CSMA/CD) and token passing.
• In the CSMA/CD media-access scheme, network devices contend for
use of the physical network medium. CSMA/CD is therefore
sometimes called contention access. Examples of LANs that use
the CSMA/CD media-access scheme are Ethernet/IEEE 802.3
networks, including 100BaseT.
• In the token-passing media-access scheme, network devices Figure 2-2 Popular LAN protocols mapped to
the OSI reference model.
access the physical medium based on possession of a token.
Examples of LANs that use the token-passing media-access scheme
are Token Ring/IEEE 802.5 and FDDI.
•LAN Transmission Methods:
• LAN data transmissions fall into three classifications: unicast,
multicast, and broadcast. In each type of transmission, a single
packet is sent to one or more nodes.
•single data packet that is copied and sent to a specific subset of nodes on the
network.
•First, the source node addresses the packet by using a multicast address. The
packet is then sent into the network, which makes copies of the packet and sends a
copy to each node that is part of the multicast address.
•A broadcast transmission consists of a single data packet that is copied and sent to
all nodes on the network.
•In these types of transmissions, the source node addresses the packet by using the
broadcast address. The packet is then sent into the network, which makes copies of
the packet and sends a copy to every node on the network.
•LAN Topologies:
• LAN topologies define the manner in which network devices are organized.
• Four common LAN topologies exist: bus, ring, star, and tree. These topologies are logical
architectures, but the actual devices need not be physically organized in these
configurations.
• Logical bus and ring topologies, for example, are commonly organized physically as a
star. A bus topology is a linear LAN architecture in which transmissions from network
stations propagate the length of the medium and are received by all other stations.
• Of the three most widely used LAN implementations, Ethernet/IEEE 802.3 networks
including 100BaseT, implement a bus topology, which is illustrated in Figure 2-3.
• A ring topology is a LAN architecture that consists of a series of
devices connected to one another by unidirectional
transmission links to form a single closed loop.
• Both Token Ring/IEEE 802.5 and FDDI networks implement a
ring topology. Figure 2-4 depicts a logical ring topology.
•A star topology is a LAN architecture in which the endpoints on a
network are connected to a common central hub, or switch, by
dedicated links. Logical bus and ring topologies are often
implemented physically in a star topology, which is illustrated in
Figure 2-5.
• A tree topology is a LAN architecture that is identical to the bus
topology, except that branches with multiple nodes are
possible in this case. Figure 2-5 illustrates a logical tree
topology.
•LAN Devices:
•Devices commonly used in LANs include repeaters, hubs, LAN extenders, bridges, LAN
switches, and routers.
•Note Repeaters, hubs, and LAN extenders are discussed briefly in this section.
• A repeater is a physical layer device used to interconnect the media segments of an
extended network. A repeater essentially enables a series of cable segments to be
treated as a single cable.
• Repeaters receive signals from one network segment and amplify, retime, and
retransmit those signals to another network segment.
• These actions prevent signal deterioration caused by long cable lengths and large
numbers of connected devices. Repeaters are incapable of performing complex
filtering and other traffic processing.
• In addition, all electrical signals, including electrical disturbances and other
errors, are repeated and amplified. The total number of repeaters and network
segments that can be connected is limited due to timing and other issues. Figure 2-6
illustrates a repeater connecting two network segments.
•Figure 2-6 A repeater connects two network segments.
• A hub is a physical-layer device that connects multiple user stations, each via a dedicated
cable.
• Electrical interconnections are established inside the hub. Hubs are used to create a
physical star network while maintaining the logical bus or ring configuration of the LAN.
• In some respects, a hub functions as a multiport repeater.
• A LAN extender is a remote-access multilayer switch that connects to a host router. LAN
extenders forward traffic from all the standard network-layer protocols (such as IP, IPX,
and AppleTalk), and filter traffic based on the MAC address or network-layer protocol type.
• LAN extenders scale well because the host router filters out unwanted broadcasts and
multicasts. LAN extenders, however, are not capable of segmenting traffic or creating
security firewalls.
• Figure 2-7 illustrates multiple LAN extenders connected to the host router through a WAN.
•Figure 2-7 Multiple LAN extenders can connect to the host router through a WAN
Token Bus
• IEEE 802.4 Standard
• Token: special-purpose frame that circulates when all
stations are idle.
Physically, token bus is linear or tree-shaped topology; logically
It operates as ring.
Token ring
• Token ring networks are also used in technical and office environments and,
in addition, in industrial environments.
• As we can deduce from the previous section, with an Ethernet LAN the time
to transmit a frame is non deterministic since, during heavy load conditions
when collisions are likely to be frequent, the transmission of a frame may
be delayed and, in the limit, unsuccessful.
• Although in an office environment this is to a degree acceptable, in
industrial environments such as manufacturing and process control, it is
unacceptable.
• Hence although token ring LANs also use a high bit rate shared/broadcast
transmission medium, in order to provide a deterministic service, they
utilize a completely different MAC method.
• In a token ring LAN, all the stations are connected
together by a set of unidirectional links in the form of a
ring and all frame transmissions between any of the
stations take place over it by circulating the frame around
the ring.
In its basic form, only one frame transfer can be in
progress a over the ring at a time. When the ring is first
initialized, a single control token (frame) is generated and,
in the absence of any frames to transmit, this continuously
circulates around the ring.
Then, when a station generates a frame to send, the steps
taken by the MAC unit within each station are as
illustrated in Figure 8.5.
Fig: token ring network :principle of operation
• Whenever a station wishes to send a frame, it first waits for the token. On receipt
of the token, it initiates transmission of the frame, which includes the address of
the intended recipient at its head. The frame is repeated (that is, each bit is
received and then retransmitted) by all the stations in the ring until it circulates
back to the initiating station, where it is removed. In addi tion to repeating the
frame, each station reads and stores the frame contents. The intended recipient
indicated by the destination address in the frame header-retains a copy of the
frame and indicates that it has done this by set ting the response bits at the tail of
the frame
• A station releases the token in one of two ways depending on the bit rate (speed)
of the ring. With slower rings (4 Mbps), the token is released only after the
response bits have been received. With higher speed rings (16Mbps), it is
released immediately after transmitting the last bit of the frame. This is known as
early (token) release and, as we shall explain later, this is done to improve the
level of utilization of the ring.
• Wiring configurations
• A small token ring network is shown in Figure
8.6(a).
• As we can see, in this configuration is a single
hub also known as a concentrator and located
in, say, the wiring closet of an office to which all
the stations are attached by a cable containing
two twisted-pairs, one for each direction of
transmission.
• Within the hub, associated with each station is a
station coupling unit (SCU) and, as we show in
the figure, these are interconnected so that all
the stations are interconnected together to
form a unidirectional ring.
• token ring Wiring configurations a) single hub b) Fig: token ring Wiring configurations a) single
station coupling unit c) hub b) station coupling unit c)
• An SCU is shown in Figure 8.6(b) and, as we can see, it contains a set
of relays and additional electronics to drive and receive signals to and
from the cable.
• The relays are so arranged that whenever a station is switched off, the
SCU is in the bypassed state and a continuous transmission path
through the SCU is maintained.
• The insertion of a station into the ring is initiated when the station is
witched on. A separate pair of wires in the drop cable is used to pass
power from the station to the SCU and, when activated, the relays
change position so that the station becomes inserted.
• When the SCU is in the inserted stats, all signals from the ring are routed through the
MAC unit of the station. The receive/transmit electronics in the MAC unit then either
simply read and relay (repeat) the received signal to the transmit side, if this station is
not the originator of the frame, or remove the received signal from the ring, if it
initiated the transmission.
• The use of two pairs of relays connected in this way means that the MAC unit can detect
certain open-circuit and short-circuit faults in either the transmit or the receive pair of
signal wires.
• Also, in the bypassed state, the MAC unit can con duct self-test functions, since any data
output on the transmit pair is looped back on the receive pair. Each station is connected
to the SCU by a shielded twisted pair (STT) cable containing three twisted-pair wires;
one for transmission, the second for reception, and the third to supply power to the
SCU.
• As we show in Figure 8.5(c), larger configurations are formed by inter connecting
multiple nodes/concentrators together by means of either an STP or optical fiber trunk
cable. In this case, associated with each hub is a second relay unit known as a trunk
coupling unit (TCU).
• This has the same Function as an SCU except that the power to activate the relays - and
hence insert the TCU and its attached stations into the ring is from the power supply of
the hub/concentrator. In this way, should a hub fail, the remainder of the ring will
continue functioning.
Bridges
• There are two types of bridge, the ones that are used with Ethernet LAN known as
transparent bridges, and the others with token ring LANs, known source routing bridges.
• Before we explain their operation, however, it will helpful first to review the operation of
repeaters since bridges were designce to overcome the limitations that occur when using
repeaters.
• Repeaters are used to ensure that the electrical signal transmitted by line drivers within
the MAC unit propagate throughout the network.
• For ea LAN segment, in order to limit the signal attenuation to an acceptable level there is
a defined maximum limit set on the physical length of the segmen and on the number of
(end) stations that may be attached to it.
• When inte connecting segments, a repeater is used to limit the electrical drive
requirements of the line driver circuit to that of a single segment. In this w the presence of
multiple segmenta (and hence repeaters) in a transmission path is transparent to the
source station. The repeater, after achieving close synchronization, simply regenerates all
signals received on one segment a forwards (repeats) them onto the next segment.
• This form of interconn tion is shown in Figure 8.11(a) and, as we can deduce from the
figure frame transmissions from any station attached to a segment will propag throughout
the total LAN and hence be received by all the other attached tions. This means,
therefore, that in terms of available bandwidth network behaves like a single segment.
FDDI
• As the number of interconnected segments increases, there comes a
point at which the transmission bandwidth required by the backbone
to meet the intersegment traffic starts to exceed that available with
the basic LAN types.
• To overcome this problem, backbones based on newer high-speed
LAN types are used. An example is the fiber distributed data interface
(FDDI) LAN.
• The FDDI LAN standard was developed by the American National
Standards Institute (ANSI).
• It is now an international standard and is definition in ISO 9514. It is
based on a ring topology and operates at a bit rate 100 Mbps.
Because of its role, it uses dual counter-rotating rings to
enhancement reliability.
• Multimode fiber connects each station together and the total ring can
be up to 100 km in length. Up to 500 stations can be connected in t
ring and hence it forms an ideal backbone network.
• The MAC method based on a control token and, in addition to normal
data traffic, optional the ring can also support delay-sensitive traffic
that requires a guarantee maximum accent delay; for example,
digitized speech and video.