Computer Networks & Protocols (BEC702)

MODULE-2

DATA LINK LAYER, MAC, WIRED AND WIRELESS LAN’s

Data Link Control (DLC) services: Framing, Flow and Error Control. Media Access Control:
Random Access: ALOHA, CSMA, CSMA/CD, CSMA/CA. Connecting Devices: Hubs, Switches,
Virtual LANs: Membership, Configuration, Communication between Switches, Advantages.
Wired and Wireless LANs: Ethernet Protocol, Standard Ethernet. Introduction to wireless LAN:
Architectural Comparison, Characteristics, Access Control. (11.1,12.1,13.1,13.2.1 to
13.2.5,15.1,17.1,17.2 )

2.1 DLC SERVICES

The data link control (DLC) deals with procedures for communication between two adjacent
nodes—node-to-node communication—no matter whether the link is dedicated or broadcast. Data
link control functions include framing and flow and error control.

FRAMING
➢ Data transmission in the physical layer means moving bits in the form of a signal from the
source to the destination. The physical layer provides bit synchronization to ensure that the
sender and receiver use the same bit durations and timing.
➢ The data-link layer, on the other hand, needs to pack bits into frames, so that each frame is
distinguishable from another.
➢ Our postal system practices a type of framing. The simple act of inserting a letter into an
envelope separates one piece of information from another; the envelope serves as the delimiter.
In addition, each envelope defines the sender and receiver addresses, which is necessary since
the postal system is a many to many carriers facility.
➢ Framing in the data-link layer separates a message from one source to a destination by adding
a sender address and a destination address. The destination address defines where the packet
is to go; the sender address helps the recipient acknowledge the receipt.
➢ Although the whole message could be packed in one frame, that is not normally done. One
reason is that a frame can be very large, making flow and error control very inefficient.

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➢ When a message is carried in one very large frame, even a single-bit error would require the
retransmission of the whole frame. When a message is divided into smaller frames, a single-
bit error affects only that small frame.
Frame Size
➢ Frames can be of fixed or variable size.
➢ In fixed-size framing, there is no need for defining the boundaries of the frames; the size itself
can be used as a delimiter. An example of this type of framing is the ATM WAN, which uses
frames of fixed size called cells.
➢ In variable-size framing, prevalent in local-area networks which need a way to define the end
of one frame and the beginning of the next.
➢ Here, two approaches were used for this purpose: a character-oriented approach and a bit-
oriented approach.
Character-Oriented Framing
➢ In character-oriented (or byte-oriented) framing, data to be carried are 8-bit characters from a
coding system such as ASCII. The header, which normally carries the source and destination
addresses and other control information and the trailer, which carries error detection redundant
bits, are also multiples of 8 bits.
➢ To separate one frame from the next, an 8-bit (1-byte) flag is added at the beginning and the
end of a frame. The flag, composed of protocol-dependent special characters, signals the start
or end of a frame. Figure 1 shows the format of a frame in a character-oriented protocol.

Fig. 1: A frame in a character-oriented protocol

➢ Character-oriented framing was popular when only text was exchanged by the data-link layers.
The flag could be selected to be any character not used for text communication. Now, however,
we send other types of information such as graphs, audio, and video; any character used for the
flag could also be part of the information. If this happens, the receiver, when it encounters this
pattern in the middle of the data, thinks it has reached the end of the frame.
➢ To fix this problem, a byte-stuffing strategy was added to character-oriented framing. In byte
stuffing (or character stuffing), a special byte is added to the data section of the frame when there
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is a character with the same pattern as the flag. The data section is stuffed with an extra byte. This
byte is usually called the escape character (ESC) and has a predefined bit pattern.
➢ Whenever the receiver encounters the ESC character, it removes it from the data section and treats
the next character as data, not as a delimiting flag. Fig. 2 shows the situation.

Fig. 2: Byte stuffing and unstuffing

➢ Byte stuffing by the escape character allows the presence of the flag in the data section of the
frame, but it creates another problem. What happens if the text contains one or more escape
characters followed by a byte with the same pattern as the flag? The receiver removes the
escape character, but keeps the next byte, which is incorrectly interpreted as the end of the
frame.
➢ To solve this problem, the escape characters that are part of the text must also be marked by
another escape character. In other words, if the escape character is part of the text, an extra one
is added to show that the second one is part of the text.
➢ Character-oriented protocols present another problem in data communications. The universal
coding systems in use today, such as Unicode, have 16-bit and 32-bit characters that conflict
with 8-bit characters.
Bit-Oriented Framing
➢ In bit-oriented framing, the data section of a frame is a sequence of bits to be interpreted by
the upper layer as text, graphic, audio, video, and so on. However, in addition to headers (and
possible trailers), we still need a delimiter to separate one frame from the other.

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➢ Most protocols use a special 8-bit pattern flag, 01111110, as the delimiter to define the
beginning and the end of the frame, as shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 3: A frame in a bit-oriented protocol

➢ This flag can create the same type of problem we saw in the character-oriented protocols. That is,
if the flag pattern appears in the data, we need to somehow inform the receiver that this is not the
end of the frame. We do this by stuffing 1 single bit (instead of 1 byte) to prevent the pattern from
looking like a flag. The strategy is called bit stuffing.

Fig. 4: Bit stuffing and unstuffing

➢ In bit stuffing, if 0 and five consecutive 1 bits are encountered, an extra 0 is added. This extra
stuffed bit is eventually removed from the data by the receiver. Note that the extra bit is added
after one 0 followed by five 1s regardless of the value of the next bit. This guarantees that the flag
field sequence does not inadvertently appear in the frame.
➢ Fig. 4 shows bit stuffing at the sender and bit removal at the receiver. Note that even if we have a
0 after five 1s, we still stuff a 0. The 0 will be removed by the receiver. This means that if the
flaglike pattern 01111110 appears in the data, it will change to 011111010 (stuffed) and is not
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mistaken for a flag by the receiver. The real flag 01111110 is not stuffed by the sender and is
recognized by the receiver.

FLOW AND ERROR CONTROL

Here we elaborate on these two issues here. One of the responsibilities of the data-link control
sublayer is flow and error control at the data-link layer.
Flow Control
➢ Whenever an entity produces items and another entity consumes them, there should be a
balance between production and consumption rates.
➢ If the items are produced faster than they can be consumed, the consumer can be overwhelmed
and may need to discard some items.
➢ If the items are produced more slowly than they can be consumed, the consumer must wait,
and the system becomes less efficient.
➢ Flow control is related to the first issue. We need to prevent losing the data items at the
consumer site.
➢ In communication at the data-link layer, we are dealing with four entities: network and data-
link layers at the sending node and network and data-link layers at the receiving node. Although
we can have a complex relationship with more than one producer and consumer, we ignore the
relationships between networks and data-link layers and concentrate on the relationship
between two data-link layers, as shown in Fig. 5.

Fig. 5: Flow control at the data-link layer

➢ The Fig. 5 shows that the data-link layer at the sending node tries to push frames toward the
data-link layer at the receiving node. If the receiving node cannot process and deliver the packet
to its network at the same rate that the frames arrive, it becomes overwhelmed with frames.

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Flow control in this case can be feedback from the receiving node to the sending node to stop
or slow down pushing frames.
Buffers
➢ Although flow control can be implemented in several ways, one of the solutions is normally to
use two buffers; one at the sending data-link layer and the other at the receiving data-link layer.
➢ A buffer is a set of memory locations that can hold packets at the sender and receiver. The flow
control communication can occur by sending signals from the consumer to the producer.
➢ When the buffer of the receiving data-link layer is full, it informs the sending data-link layer
to stop pushing frames.
Example
➢ The above discussion requires that the consumers communicate with the producers on two
occasions: when the buffer is full and when there are vacancies. If the two parties use a buffer
with only one slot, the communication can be easier.
➢ Assume that each data-link layer uses one single memory slot to hold a frame. When this single
slot in the receiving data-link layer is empty, it sends a note to the network layer to send the
next frame.
Error Control
➢ Since the underlying technology at the physical layer is not fully reliable, we need to implement
error control at the data-link layer to prevent the receiving node from delivering corrupted
packets to its network layer.
➢ Error control at the data-link layer is normally very simple and implemented using one of the
following two methods. In both methods, a CRC is added to the frame header by the sender
and checked by the receiver.
• In the first method, if the frame is corrupted, it is silently discarded; if it is not corrupted,
the packet is delivered to the network layer. This method is used mostly in wired LANs
such as Ethernet.
• In the second method, if the frame is corrupted, it is silently discarded; if it is not corrupted,
an acknowledgment is sent (for the purpose of both flow and error control) to the sender.
Combination of Flow and Error Control
➢ Flow and error control can be combined. In a simple situation, the acknowledgment that is sent
for flow control can also be used for error control to tell the sender the packet has arrived
uncorrupted.

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➢ The lack of acknowledgment means that there is a problem in the sent frame. A frame that
carries an acknowledgment is normally called an ACK to distinguish it from the data frame.

CONNECTIONLESS AND CONNECTION-ORIENTED

A DLC protocol can be either connectionless or connection-oriented.
Connectionless Protocol
➢ In a connectionless protocol, frames are sent from one node to the next without any relationship
between the frames; each frame is independent.
➢ Here, the term connectionless here does not mean that there is no physical connection
(transmission medium) between the nodes; it means that there is no connection between
frames.
➢ The frames are not numbered and there is no sense of ordering. Most of the data-link protocols
for LANs are connectionless protocols.

Connection-Oriented Protocol
➢ In a connection-oriented protocol, a logical connection should first be established between the
two nodes (setup phase).
➢ After all frames that are somehow related to each other are transmitted (transfer phase), the
logical connection is terminated (teardown phase). In this type of communication, the frames
are numbered and sent in order.
➢ If they are not received in order, the receiver needs to wait until all frames belonging to the
same set are received and then deliver them in order to the network layer.
➢ Connection oriented protocols are rare in wired LANs, but we can see them in some point-to-
point protocols, some wireless LANs, and some WANs.

RANDOM ACCESS
➢ In random-access or contention methods, no station is superior to another station and none is
assigned control over another. At each instance, a station that has data to send uses a procedure
defined by the protocol to make a decision on whether or not to send. This decision depends
on the state of the medium (idle or busy). In other words, each station can transmit when it
desires on the condition that it follows the predefined procedure, including testing the state of
the medium.

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➢ Two features give this method its name. First, there is no scheduled time for a station to
transmit. Transmission is random among the stations. That is why these methods are called
random access. Second, no rules specify which station should send next. Stations compete with
one another to access the medium. That is why these methods are also called contention
methods.
➢ In a random-access method, each station has the right to the medium without being controlled
by any other station. However, if more than one station tries to send, there is an access
conflict—collision—and the frames will be either destroyed or modified. To avoid access
conflict or to resolve it when it happens, each station follows a procedure that answers the
following questions:
• When can the station access the medium?
• What can the station do if the medium is busy?
• How can the station determine the success or failure of the transmission?
• What can the station do if there is an access conflict?
➢ The random-access methods have evolved from a very interesting protocol known as ALOHA,
which used a very simple procedure called multiple access (MA). The method was improved
with the addition of a procedure that forces the station to sense the medium before transmitting.
This was called carrier sense multiple access (CSMA). This method later evolved into two
parallel methods: carrier sense multiple access with collision detection (CSMA/CD), which
tells the station what to do when a collision is detected, and carrier sense multiple access with
collision avoidance (CSMA/CA), which tries to avoid the collision.
ALOHA
➢ ALOHA, the earliest random-access method, was developed at the University of Hawaii in
early 1970. It was designed for a radio (wireless) LAN, but it can be used on any shared
medium.
➢ It is obvious that there are potential collisions in this arrangement. The medium is shared
between the stations. When a station sends data, another station may attempt to do so at the
same time. The data from the two stations collide and become garbled.
Pure ALOHA
➢ The original ALOHA protocol is called pure ALOHA. This is a simple but elegant protocol.
The idea is that each station sends a frame whenever it has a frame to send (multiple access).

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However, since there is only one channel to share, there is the possibility of collision between
frames from different stations. Fig. 6 shows an example of frame collisions in pure ALOHA.

Fig. 6: Frames in a pure ALOHA network

➢ There are four stations (unrealistic assumption) that contend with one another for access to the
shared channel. The Fig. 6 shows that each station sends two frames; there are a total of eight
frames on the shared medium. Some of these frames collide because multiple frames are in
contention for the shared channel. Fig. 6 shows that only two frames survive: one frame from
station 1 and one frame from station 3. We need to mention that even if one bit of a frame
coexists on the channel with one bit from another frame, there is a collision and both will be
destroyed. It is obvious that we need to resend the frames that have been destroyed during
transmission.
➢ The pure ALOHA protocol relies on acknowledgments from the receiver. When a station sends
a frame, it expects the receiver to send an acknowledgment. If the acknowledgment does not
arrive after a 9time-out period, the station assumes that the frame (or the acknowledgment) has
been destroyed and resends the frame. A collision involves two or more stations. If all these
stations try to resend their frames after the time-out, the frames will collide again.
➢ Pure ALOHA dictates that when the time-out period passes, each station waits a random
amount of time before resending its frame. The randomness will help avoid more collisions.
We call this time the backoff time TB.
➢ Pure ALOHA has a second method to prevent congesting the channel with retransmitted
frames. After a maximum number of retransmissions attempts Kmax, a station must give up and
try later. Fig. 7 shows the procedure for pure ALOHA based on the above strategy.

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Fig. 7: Procedure for pure ALOHA protocol

➢ The time-out period is equal to the maximum possible round-trip propagation delay, which is
twice the amount of time required to send a frame between the two most widely separated
stations (2 × Tp). The backoff time TB is a random value that normally depends on K (the
number of attempted unsuccessful transmissions). The formula for TB depends on the
implementation. One common formula is the binary exponential backoff.
➢ In this method, for each retransmission, a multiplier R = 0 to 2K − 1 is randomly chosen and
multiplied by Tp (maximum propagation time) or Tfr (the average time required to send out a
frame) to find TB. Note that in this procedure, the range of the random numbers increases after
each collision. The value of Kmax is usually chosen as 15.
Vulnerable time
➢ Let us find the vulnerable time, the length of time in which there is a possibility of collision.
We assume that the stations send fixed-length frames with each frame taking Tfr seconds to
send. Fig. 8 shows the vulnerable time for station B.
➢ Station B starts to send a frame at time t. Now imagine station A has started to send its frame
after t − Tfr. This leads to a collision between the frames from station B and station A. On the
other hand, suppose that station C starts to send a frame before time t + Tfr. Here, there is also
a collision between frames from station B and station C. Looking at Fig. 8, we see that the

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vulnerable time during which a collision may occur in pure ALOHA is 2 times the frame
transmission time.

Fig. 8: Vulnerable time for pure ALOHA protocol

Throughput
➢ Let us call G the average number of frames generated by the system during one frame
transmission time. Then it can be proven that the average number of successfully transmitted
frames for pure ALOHA is S = G × e−2G. The maximum throughput Smax is 0.184, for G = 1/2.
(We can find it by setting the derivative of S with respect to G to 0).
➢ In other words, if one-half a frame is generated during one frame transmission time (one frame
during two frame transmission times), then 18.4 percent of these frames reach their destination
successfully. We expect G = 1/2 to produce the maximum throughput because the vulnerable
time is 2 times the frame transmission time. Therefore, if a station generates only one frame in
this vulnerable time (and no other stations generate a frame during this time), the frame will
reach its destination successfully.
Slotted ALOHA
➢ Pure ALOHA has a vulnerable time of 2 × Tfr. This is so because there is no rule that defines
when the station can send. A station may send soon after another station has started or just
before another station has finished. Slotted ALOHA was invented to improve the efficiency of
pure ALOHA.
➢ In slotted ALOHA we divide the time into slots of Tfr seconds and force the station to send
only at the beginning of the time slot. Fig. 9 shows an example of frame collisions in slotted
ALOHA.

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➢ Because a station is allowed to send only at the beginning of the synchronized time slot, if a
station misses this moment, it must wait until the beginning of the next time slot. This means
that the station which started at the beginning of this slot has already finished sending its frame.
Of course, there is still the possibility of collision if two stations try to send at the beginning
of the same time slot. However, the vulnerable time is now reduced to one-half, equal to Tfr.
Fig. 10 shows the situation.

Fig. 9: Frames in a slotted ALOHA network

Fig. 10: Vulnerable time for slotted ALOHA protocol

Throughput
➢ It can be proven that the average number of successful transmissions for slotted ALOHA is S
= G × e−G. The maximum throughput Smax is 0.368, when G = 1. In other words, if one frame
is generated during one frame transmission time, then 36.8 percent of these frames reach their
destination successfully.

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➢ We expect G = 1 to produce maximum throughput because the vulnerable time is equal to the
frame transmission time. Therefore, if a station generates only one frame in this vulnerable
time (and no other station generates a frame during this time), the frame will reach its
destination successfully.
CSMA
➢ To minimize the chance of collision and, therefore, increase the performance, the CSMA
method was developed. The chance of collision can be reduced if a station senses the medium
before trying to use it. Carrier sense multiple access (CSMA) requires that each station first
listen to the medium (or check the state of the medium) before sending. In other words, CSMA
is based on the principle “sense before transmit” or “listen before talk.”
➢ CSMA can reduce the possibility of collision, but it cannot eliminate it. The reason for this is
shown in Fig. 11, a space and time model of a CSMA network. Stations are connected to a
shared channel (usually a dedicated medium).
➢ The possibility of collision still exists because of propagation delay; when a station sends a
frame, it still takes time (although very short) for the first bit to reach every station and for
every station to sense it. In other words, a station may sense the medium and find it idle, only
because the first bit sent by another station has not yet been received.

Fig. 11: Space/time model of a collision in CSMA

➢ At time t1, station B senses the medium and finds it idle, so it sends a frame. At time t2 (t2 >
t1), station C senses the medium and finds it idle because, at this time, the first bits from station

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B have not reached station C. Station C also sends a frame. The two signals collide and both
frames are destroyed.

Vulnerable Time
➢ The vulnerable time for CSMA is the propagation time Tp. This is the time needed for a signal
to propagate from one end of the medium to the other. When a station sends a frame and any
other station tries to send a frame during this time, a collision will result.
➢ But if the first bit of the frame reaches the end of the medium, every station will already have
heard the bit and will refrain from sending. Fig. 12 shows the worst case. The leftmost station,
A, sends a frame at time t1, which reaches the rightmost station D, at time t1 + Tp. The gray
area shows the vulnerable area in time and space.

Fig. 12: Vulnerable time in CSMA

Persistence Methods
➢ What should a station do if the channel is busy? What should a station do if the channel is idle?
Three methods have been devised to answer these questions: the 1-persistent method, the
nonpersistent method, and the p-persistent method. Fig. 13 shows the behavior of three
persistence methods when a station finds a channel busy. Fig. 14 shows the flow diagrams for
these methods.
➢ 1-Persistent: The 1-persistent method is simple and straightforward. In this method, after the
station finds the line idle, it sends its frame immediately (with probability 1). This method has
the highest chance of collision because two or more stations may find the line idle and send
their frames immediately. We will see later that Ethernet uses this method.

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Fig. 13: Behavior of three persistence methods

➢ Nonpersistent: In the nonpersistent method, a station that has a frame to send senses the line.
If the line is idle, it sends immediately. If the line is not idle, it waits a random amount of time
and then senses the line again. The nonpersistent approach reduces the chance of collision
because it is unlikely that two or more stations will wait the same amount of time and retry to
send simultaneously. However, this method reduces the efficiency of the network because the
medium remains idle when there may be stations with frames to send.
➢ p-Persistent: The p-persistent method is used if the channel has time slots with a slot duration
equal to or greater than the maximum propagation time. The p-persistent approach combines
the advantages of the other two strategies. It reduces the chance of collision and improves
efficiency. In this method, after the station finds the line idle it follows these steps:
• With probability p, the station sends its frame.
• With probability q = 1 − p, the station waits for the beginning of the next time slot and
checks the line again.
o If the line is idle, it goes to step 1.
o If the line is busy, it acts as though a collision has occurred and uses the backoff
procedure.

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Fig. 14: Flow diagram for three persistence methods

CSMA/CD
➢ The CSMA method does not specify the procedure following a collision. Carrier sense multiple
access with collision detection (CSMA/CD) augments the algorithm to handle the collision.
➢ In this method, a station monitors the medium after it sends a frame to see if the transmission
was successful. If so, the station is finished. If, however, there is a collision, the frame is sent
again.
➢ To better understand CSMA/CD, let us look at the first bits transmitted by the two stations
involved in the collision. Although each station continues to send bits in the frame until it
detects the collision, we show what happens as the first bits collide. In Fig. 15, stations A and
C are involved in the collision.

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Fig. 15: Collision of the first bits in CSMA/CD

At time t1, station A has executed its persistence procedure and starts sending the bits of its
frame. At time t2, station C has not yet sensed the first bit sent by A. Station C executes its
persistence procedure and starts sending the bits in its frame, which propagate both to the left
and to the right. The collision occurs sometime after time t2. Station C detects a collision at
time t3 when it receives the first bit of A’s frame. Station C immediately (or after a short time,
but we assume immediately) aborts transmission. Station A detects collision at time t4 when it
receives the first bit of C’s frame; it also immediately aborts transmission. Looking at the Fig.
15, we see that A transmits for the duration t4 − t1; C transmits for the duration t3 − t2.
➢ Now that we know the time durations for the two transmissions, we can show a more complete
graph in Fig. 16.

Fig. 16: Collision and abortion in CSMA/CD

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Minimum Frame Size
➢ For CSMA/CD to work, we need a restriction on the frame size. Before sending the last bit of
the frame, the sending station must detect a collision, if any, and abort the transmission. This
is so because the station, once the entire frame is sent, does not keep a copy of the frame and
does not monitor the line for collision detection. Therefore, the frame transmission time Tfr
must be at least two times the maximum propagation time Tp.
➢ To understand the reason, let us think about the worst-case scenario. If the two stations
involved in a collision are the maximum distance apart, the signal from the first takes time Tp
to reach the second, and the effect of the collision takes another time TP to reach the first. So,
the requirement is that the first station must still be transmitting after 2Tp.
Procedure
➢ Now let us look at the flow diagram for CSMA/CD in Fig. 17. It is similar to the one for the
ALOHA protocol, but there are differences. The first difference is the addition of the
persistence process. We need to sense the channel before we start sending the frame by using
one of the persistence processes, we discussed previously (nonpersistent, 1-persistent, or p-
persistent). The corresponding box can be replaced by one of the persistence processes shown
in Fig. 14.
➢ The second difference is the frame transmission. In ALOHA, we first transmit the entire frame
and then wait for an acknowledgment. In CSMA/CD, transmission and collision detection are
continuous processes. We do not send the entire frame and then look for a collision. The station
transmits and receives continuously and simultaneously (using two different ports or a
bidirectional port). We use a loop to show that transmission is a continuous process. We
constantly monitor in order to detect one of two conditions: either transmission is finished or
a collision is detected. Either event stops transmission. When we come out of the loop, if a
collision has not been detected, it means that transmission is complete; the entire frame is
transmitted. Otherwise, a collision has occurred.
➢ The third difference is the sending of a short jamming signal to make sure that all other stations
become aware of the collision.

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Fig. 17: Flow diagram for the CSMA/CD

Energy Level
➢ We can say that the level of energy in a channel can have three values: zero, normal, and
abnormal. At the zero level, the channel is idle. At the normal level, a station has successfully
captured the channel and is sending its frame. At the abnormal level, there is a collision and
the level of the energy is twice the normal level. A station that has a frame to send or is sending
a frame needs to monitor the energy level to determine if the channel is idle, busy, or in
collision mode. Fig. 18 shows the situation.

Fig. 18: Energy level during transmission, idleness, or collision

Throughput

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The throughput of CSMA/CD is greater than that of pure or slotted ALOHA. The maximum
throughput occurs at a different value of G and is based on the persistence method and the value
of p in the p-persistent approach. For the 1-persistent method, the maximum throughput is around
50 percent when G = 1. For the nonpersistent method, the maximum throughput can go up to 90
percent when G is between 3 and 8.
Traditional Ethernet
One of the LAN protocols that used CSMA/CD is the traditional Ethernet with the data rate of 10
Mbps. Now, it is good to know that the traditional Ethernet was a broadcast LAN that used the 1-
persistence method to control access to the common media. Later versions of Ethernet try to move
from CSMA/CD access methods.

CSMA/CA
➢ Carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA/CA) was invented for wireless
networks. Collisions are avoided through the use of CSMA/CA’s three strategies: the
interframe space, the contention window, and acknowledgments, as shown in Fig. 36. We
discuss RTS and CTS frames later.
➢ Interframe Space (IFS): First, collisions are avoided by deferring transmission even if the
channel is found idle. When an idle channel is found, the station does not send immediately. It
waits for a period of time called the interframe space or IFS. Even though the channel may
appear idle when it is sensed, a distant station may have already started transmitting. The
distant station’s signal has not yet reached this station. The IFS time allows the front of the
transmitted signal by the distant station to reach this station. After waiting an IFS time, if the
channel is still idle, the station can send, but it still needs to wait a time equal to the contention
window. The IFS variable can also be used to prioritize stations or frame types. For example,
a station that is assigned a shorter IFS has a higher priority.
➢ Contention Window: The 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 backoff strategy. This means that it is set to
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. One interesting point about the contention window is
that the station needs to sense the channel after each time slot. However, if the station finds the

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channel busy, it does not restart the process; it just stops the timer and restarts it when the channel
is sensed as idle. This gives priority to the station with the longest waiting time as shown in Fig.
20.

Fig. 19: Flow diagram of CSMA/CA

➢ Acknowledgment: With all these precautions, there still may be a collision resulting in
destroyed data. In addition, the data may be corrupted during the transmission. The positive
acknowledgment and the time-out timer can help guarantee that the receiver has received the
frame.

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Fig. 20: Contention window

Frame Exchange Time Line

Fig. 21 shows the exchange of data and control frames in time.
1. Before sending a frame, the source station senses the medium by checking the energy level at
the carrier frequency.
a. The channel uses a persistence strategy with backoff until the channel is idle.
b. After the station is found to be idle, the station waits for a period of time called the DCF
interframe space (DIFS); then the station sends a control frame called the request to send
(RTS).

Fig. 21: CSMA/CA and NAV

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2. After receiving the RTS and waiting a period of time called the short interframe space (SIFS),
the destination station sends a control frame, called the clear to send (CTS), to the source
station. This control frame indicates that the destination station is ready to receive data.
3. The source station sends data after waiting an amount of time equal to SIFS.
4. The destination station, after waiting an amount of time equal to SIFS, sends an
acknowledgment to show that the frame has been received. Acknowledgment is needed in this
protocol because the station does not have any means to check for the successful arrival of its
data at the destination. On the other hand, the lack of collision in CSMA/CD is a kind of
indication to the source that data have arrived.

Network Allocation Vector

➢ How do other stations defer sending their data if one station acquires access? In other words,
how is the collision avoidance aspect of this protocol accomplished? The key is a feature called
NAV.
➢ When a station sends an RTS frame, it includes the duration of time that it needs to occupy the
channel. The stations that are affected by this transmission create a timer called a network
allocation vector (NAV) that shows how much time must pass before these stations are allowed
to check the channel for idleness. Each time a station accesses the system and sends an RTS
frame, other stations start their NAV. In other words, each station, before sensing the physical
medium to see if it is idle, first checks its NAV to see if it has expired. Fig. 21 shows the idea
of NAV.
Collision During Handshaking
What happens if there is a collision during the time when RTS or CTS control frames are in
transition, often called the handshaking period? Two or more stations may try to send RTS frames
at the same time. These control frames may collide.
➢ However, because there is no mechanism for collision detection, the sender assumes there has
been a collision if it has not received a CTS frame from the receiver. The backoff strategy is
employed, and the sender tries again.
Hidden-Station Problem
➢ The solution to the hidden station problem is the use of the handshake frames (RTS and CTS).
Fig. 21 also shows that the RTS message from B reaches A, but not C.

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➢ However, because both B and C are within the range of A, the CTS message, which contains
the duration of data transmission from B to A, reaches C. Station C knows that some hidden
station is using the channel and refrains from transmitting until that duration is over.

CSMA/CA and Wireless Networks

➢ CSMA/CA was mostly intended for use in wireless networks. The procedure described above,
however, is not sophisticated enough to handle some particular issues related to wireless
networks, such as hidden terminals or exposed terminals.
➢ We will see how these issues are solved by augmenting the above protocol with handshaking
features.
ETHERNET PROTOCOL
➢ We discussed about TCP/IP protocol suite does not define any protocol for the data-link or the
physical layer. In other words, TCP/IP accepts any protocol at these two layers that can provide
services to the network layer. The data-link layer and the physical layer are actually the
territory of the local and wide area networks.
➢ This means that when we discuss these two layers, we are talking about networks that are using
them. We learned that a local area network (LAN) is a computer network that is designed for
a limited geographic area such as a building or a campus. Although a LAN can be used as an
isolated network to connect computers in an organization for the sole purpose of sharing
resources, most LANs today are also linked to a wide area network (WAN) or the Internet.
➢ In the 1980s and 1990s several different types of LANs were used. All of these LANs used a
media-access method to solve the problem of sharing the media. The Ethernet used the
CSMA/CD approach. The Token Ring, Token Bus, and FDDI (Fiber Distribution Data
Interface) used the token-passing approach. During this period, another LAN technology,
ATM LAN, which deployed the high-speed WAN technology (ATM), appeared in the market.
➢ Almost every LAN except Ethernet has disappeared from the marketplace because Ethernet
was able to update itself to meet the needs of the time. Several reasons for this success have
been mentioned in the literature, but we believe that the Ethernet protocol was designed so that
it could evolve with the demand for higher transmission rates. It is natural that an organization
that has used an Ethernet LAN in the past and now needs a higher data rate would update to
the new generation instead of switching to another technology, which might cost more. This
means that we confine our discussion of wired LANs to the discussion of Ethernet.

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IEEE Project 802

➢ Here, we need to briefly discuss the IEEE standard that we often encounter in text or real life.
In 1985, the Computer Society of the IEEE started a project, called Project 802, to set standards
to enable intercommunication among equipment from a variety of manufacturers. Project 802
does not seek to replace any part of the OSI model or TCP/IP protocol suite.
➢ Instead, it is a way of specifying functions of the physical layer and the data-link layer of major
LAN protocols. The relationship of the 802 Standard to the TCP/IP protocol suite is shown in
Fig. 22.
➢ The IEEE has subdivided the data-link layer into two sublayers: logical link control (LLC) and
media access control (MAC). IEEE has also created several physical-layer standards for
different LAN protocols. Logical Link Control (LLC).
➢ We know that data link control handles framing, flow control, and error control. In IEEE
Project 802, flow control, error control, and part of the framing duties are collected into one
sublayer called the logical link control (LLC). Framing is handled in both the LLC sublayer
and the MAC sublayer.
➢ The LLC provides a single link-layer control protocol for all IEEE LANs. This means LLC
protocol can provide interconnectivity between different LANs because it makes the MAC
sublayer transparent.

Fig. 22: IEEE standard for LANs

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Media Access Control (MAC)
➢ Earlier we discussed multiple access methods including random access, controlled access, and
channelization. IEEE Project 802 has created a sublayer called media access control that
defines the specific access method for each LAN.
➢ For example, it defines CSMA/CD as the media access method for Ethernet LANs and defines
the token-passing method for Token Ring and Token Bus LANs. As we mentioned in the
previous section, part of the framing function is also handled by the MAC layer.

ETHERNET EVOLUTION
The Ethernet LAN was developed in the 1970s by Robert Metcalfe and David Boggs. Since then,
it has gone through four generations: Standard Ethernet (10 Mbps), Fast Ethernet (100 Mbps),
Gigabit Ethernet (1 Gbps), and 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10 Gbps), as shown in Fig. 23.

Fig. 23: Ethernet evolution through four generations

STANDARD ETHERNET
We refer to the original Ethernet technology with the data rate of 10 Mbps as the Standard Ethernet.
Although most implementations have moved to other technologies in the Ethernet evolution, there
are some features of the Standard Ethernet that have not changed during the evolution.

CHARACTERISTICS
1. Connectionless and Unreliable Service
➢ Ethernet provides a connectionless service, which means each frame sent is independent of the
previous or next frame. Ethernet has no connection establishment or connection termination
phases.

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➢ The sender sends a frame whenever it has it; the receiver may or may not be ready for it. The
sender may overwhelm the receiver with frames, which may result in dropping frames.
➢ If a frame drops, the sender will not know about it. Since IP, which is using the service of
Ethernet, is also connectionless, it will not know about it either.
➢ If the transport layer is also a connectionless protocol, such as UDP, the frame is lost and
salvation may only come from the application layer. However, if the transport layer is TCP,
the sender TCP does not receive acknowledgment for its segment and sends it again.
➢ Ethernet is also unreliable like IP and UDP. If a frame is corrupted during transmission and
the receiver finds out about the corruption, which has a high level of probability of happening
because of the CRC-32, the receiver drops the frame silently. It is the duty of high-level
protocols to find out about it.
2. Frame Format
The Ethernet frame contains seven fields, as shown in Fig. 24.

Fig. 24: Ethernet frame

➢ Preamble: This field contains 7 bytes (56 bits) of alternating 0s and 1s that alert the receiving
system to the coming frame and enable it to synchronize its clock if it’s out of synchronization.
The pattern provides only an alert and a timing pulse. The 56-bit pattern allows the stations to
miss some bits at the beginning of the frame. The preamble is actually added at the physical
layer and is not (formally) part of the frame.
➢ Start frame delimiter (SFD): This field (1 byte: 10101011) signals the beginning of the
frame. The SFD warns the station or stations that this is the last chance for synchronization.
The last 2 bits are (11)2 and alert the receiver that the next field is the destination address. This

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field is actually a flag that defines the beginning of the frame. We need to remember that an
Ethernet frame is a variable-length frame. It needs a flag to define the beginning of the frame.
The SFD field is also added at the physical layer.
➢ Destination address (DA): This field is six bytes (48 bits) and contains the link layer address
of the destination station or stations to receive the packet. When the receiver sees its own link-
layer address, or a multicast address for a group that the receiver is a member of, or a broadcast
address, it decapsulates the data from the frame and passes the data to the upper layer protocol
defined by the value of the type field.
➢ Source address (SA): This field is also six bytes and contains the link-layer address of the
sender of the packet.
➢ Type: This field defines the upper-layer protocol whose packet is encapsulated in the frame.
This protocol can be IP, ARP, OSPF, and so on. In other words, it serves the same purpose as
the protocol field in a datagram and the port number in a segment or user datagram. It is used
for multiplexing and demultiplexing.
➢ Data: This field carries data encapsulated from the upper-layer protocols. It is a minimum of
46 and a maximum of 1500 bytes. We discuss the reason for these minimum and maximum
values shortly. If the data coming from the upper layer is more than 1500 bytes, it should be
fragmented and encapsulated in more than one frame. If it is less than 46 bytes, it needs to be
padded with extra 0s. A padded data frame is delivered to the upper-layer protocol as it is
(without removing the padding), which means that it is the responsibility of the upper layer to
remove or, in the case of the sender, to add the padding. The upper-layer protocol needs to
know the length of its data. For example, a datagram has a field that defines the length of the
data.
➢ CRC: The last field contains error detection information, in this case a CRC-32. The CRC is
calculated over the addresses, types, and data field. If the receiver calculates the CRC and finds
that it is not zero (corruption in transmission), it discards the frame.

3. Frame Length
➢ Ethernet has imposed restrictions on both the minimum and maximum lengths of a frame. The
minimum length restriction is required for the correct operation of CSMA/CD.
➢ An Ethernet frame needs to have a minimum length of 512 bits or 64 bytes. Part of this length
is the header and the trailer. If we count 18 bytes of header and trailer (6 bytes of source

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address, 6 bytes of destination address, 2 bytes of length or type, and 4 bytes of CRC), then the
minimum length of data from the upper layer is 64 − 18 = 46 bytes. If the upper-layer packet
is less than 46 bytes, padding is added to make up the difference.
➢ The standard defines the maximum length of a frame (without preamble and SFD field) as
1518 bytes. If we subtract the 18 bytes of header and trailer, the maximum length of the payload
is 1500 bytes.
➢ The maximum length restriction has two historical reasons. First, memory was very expensive
when Ethernet was designed; a maximum length restriction helped to reduce the size of the
buffer. Second, the maximum length restriction prevents one station from monopolizing the
shared medium, blocking other stations that have data to send.

Addressing
Each station on an Ethernet network (such as a PC, workstation, or printer) has its own network
interface card (NIC). The NIC fits inside the station and provides the station with a link-layer
address. The Ethernet address is 6 bytes (48 bits), normally written in hexadecimal notation, with
a colon between the bytes. For example, the following shows an Ethernet MAC address:
4A:30:10:21:10:1A
Transmission of Address Bits
The way the addresses are sent out online is different from the way they are written in hexadecimal
notation. The transmission is left to right, byte by byte; however, for each byte, the least significant
bit is sent first and the most significant bit is sent last. This means that the bit that defines an
address as unicast or multicast arrives first at the receiver. This helps the receiver to immediately
known if the packet is unicast or multicast.
Unicast, Multicast, and Broadcast Addresses
➢ A source address is always a unicast address—the frame comes from only one station. The
destination address, however, can be unicast, multicast, or broadcast. Fig. 25 shows how to
distinguish a unicast address from a multicast address.
➢ If the least significant bit of the first byte in a destination address is 0, the address is unicast;
otherwise, it is multicast. Note that with the way the bits are transmitted, the unicast/multicast
bit is the first bit which is transmitted or received.
➢ The broadcast address is a special case of the multicast address: the recipients are all the
stations on the LAN. A broadcast destination address is forty-eight 1s.
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Fig. 25: Unicast and multicast addresses

Distinguish Between Unicast, Multicast, and Broadcast Transmission

➢ Standard Ethernet uses a coaxial cable (bus topology) or a set of twisted-pair cables with a hub
(star topology) as shown in Fig. 26. We need to know that transmission in the standard Ethernet
is always broadcast, no matter if the intention is unicast, multicast, or broadcast. In the bus
topology, when station

Fig. 26: Implementation of standard Ethernet

➢ A sends a frame to station B, all stations will receive it. In the star topology, when station A
sends a frame to station B, the hub will receive it. Since the hub is a passive element, it does

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not check the destination address of the frame; it regenerates the bits (if they have been
weakened) and sends them to all stations except station A. In fact, it floods the network with
the frame.
➢ The question is, then, how the actual unicast, multicast, and broadcast transmissions are
distinguished from each other. The answer is in the way the frames are kept or dropped.
• In a unicast transmission, all stations will receive the frame, the intended recipient keeps
and handles the frame; the rest discard it.
• In a multicast transmission, all stations will receive the frame, the stations that are members
of the group keep and handle it; the rest discard it.
• In a broadcast transmission, all stations (except the sender) will receive the frame and all
stations (except the sender) keep and handle it.

Access Method
Since the network that uses the standard Ethernet protocol is a broadcast network, we need to use
an access method to control access to the sharing medium. The standard Ethernet chose CSMA/CD
with 1-persistent method. Let us use a scenario to see how this method works for the
Ethernet protocol.
➢ Assume station A in Fig. 26 has a frame to send to station D. Station A first should check
whether any other station is sending (carrier sense). Station A measures the level of energy on
the medium (for a short period of time, normally less than 100 μs). If there is no signal energy
on the medium, it means that no station is sending (or the signal has not reached station A).
Station A interprets this situation as idle medium. It starts sending its frame. On the other hand,
if the signal energy level is not zero, it means that the medium is being used by another station.
Station A continuously monitors the medium until it becomes idle for 100 μs. It then starts
sending the frame. However, station A needs to keep a copy of the frame in its buffer until it
is sure that there is no collision. When station A is sure of this is the subject.
➢ The medium sensing does not stop after station A has started sending the frame Station A needs
to send and receive continuously. Two cases may occur:
Case – 1:
• Station A has sent 512 bits and no collision is sensed (the energy level did not go above the
regular energy level), the station then is sure that the frame will go through and stops sensing
the medium. Where does the number 512 bits come from?
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• If we consider the transmission rate of the Ethernet as 10 Mbps, this means that it takes the
station 512/(10 Mbps) = 51.2 μs to send out 512 bits. With the speed of propagation in a cable
(2 × 108 meters), the first bit could have gone 10,240 meters (one way) or only 5120 meters
(round trip), have collided with a bit from the last station on the cable, and have gone back.
• In other words, if a collision were to occur, it should occur by the time the sender has sent out
512 bits (worst case) and the first bit has made a round trip of 5120 meters. We should know
that if the collision happens in the middle of the cable, not at the end, station A hears the
collision earlier and aborts the transmission. We also need to mention another issue.
• The above assumption is that the length of the cable is 5120 meters. The designer of the
standard Ethernet actually put a restriction of 2500 meters because we need to consider the
delays encountered throughout the journey. It means that they considered the worst case. The
whole idea is that if station A does not sense the collision before sending 512 bits, there must
have been no collision, because during this time, the first bit has reached the end of the line
and all other stations know that a station is sending and refrain from sending.
• In other words, the problem occurs when another station (for example, the last station) starts
sending before the first bit of station A has reached it. The other station mistakenly thinks that
the line is free because the first bit has not yet reached it.
• The reader should notice that the restriction of 512 bits actually helps the sending station: The
sending station is certain that no collision will occur if it is not heard during the first 512 bits,
so it can discard the copy of the frame in its buffer.
Case – 2:
• Station A has sensed a collision before sending 512 bits. This means that one of the previous
bits has collided with a bit sent by another station. In this case both stations should refrain from
sending and keep the frame in their buffer for resending when the line becomes available.
• However, to inform other stations that there is a collision in the network, the station sends a
48-bit jam signal. The jam signal is to create enough signal (even if the collision happens after
a few bits) to alert other stations about the collision.
• After sending the jam signal, the stations need to increment the value of K (number of
attempts). If after increment K = 15, the experience has shown that the network is too busy,
the station needs to abort its effort and try again. If K < 15, the station can wait a backoff time
(TB in Fig. 25) and restart the process.

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• As Fig. 25 shows, the station creates a random number between 0 and 2K − 1, which means
each time the collision occurs, the range of the random number increases exponentially. After
the first collision (K = 1) the random number is in the range (0, 1). After the second collision
(K = 2) it is in the range (0, 1, 2, 3). After the third collision (K = 3) it is in the range (0, 1, 2,
3, 4, 5, 6, 7).
• So, after each collision, the probability increases that the backoff time becomes longer. This is
due to the fact that if the collision happens even after the third or fourth attempt, it means that
the network is really busy; a longer backoff time is needed.

EFFICIENCY OF STANDARD ETHERNET

➢ The efficiency of the Ethernet is defined as the ratio of the time used by a station to send data
to the time the medium is occupied by this station. The practical efficiency of standard Ethernet
has been measured to be in which the parameter “a” is the number of frames that can fit on the
medium. It can be calculated as a = (propagation delay)/(transmission delay) because the
transmission delay is the time it takes a frame of average size to be sent out and the propagation
delay is the time it takes to reach the end of the medium.
➢ Note that as the value of parameter a decrease, the efficiency increases. This means that if the
length of the media is shorter or the frame size longer, the efficiency increases. In the ideal
case, a = 0 and the efficiency is 1.

IMPLEMENTATION
➢ The Standard Ethernet defined several implementations, but only four of them became popular
during the 1980s. Table 1 shows a summary of Standard Ethernet implementations.
➢ In the nomenclature 10BaseX, the number defines the data rate (10 Mbps), the term Base
means baseband (digital) signal, and X approximately defines either the maximum size of the
cable in 100 meters (for example 5 for 500 or 2 for 185 meters) or the type of cable, T for
unshielded twisted pair cable (UTP) and F for fiber-optic.
➢ The standard Ethernet uses a baseband signal, which means that the bits are changed to a digital
signal and directly sent on the line.

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Table 1: Summary of Standard Ethernet implementations

Encoding and Decoding

All standard implementations use digital signaling (baseband) at 10 Mbps. At the sender, data are
converted to a digital signal using the Manchester scheme; at the receiver, the received signal is
interpreted as Manchester and decoded into data. As we know, Manchester encoding is self-
synchronous, providing a transition at each bit interval. Fig. 27 shows the encoding scheme for
Standard Ethernet.

Fig. 27: Encoding in a Standard Ethernet implementation

10Base5: Thick Ethernet

➢ The first implementation is called 10Base5, thick Ethernet, or Thicknet. The nickname derives
from the size of the cable, which is roughly the size of a garden hose and too stiff to bend with
your hands. 10Base5 was the first Ethernet specification to use a bus topology with an external
transceiver (transmitter/receiver) connected via a tap to a thick coaxial cable. Fig. 28 shows a
schematic diagram of a 10Base5 implementation.

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Fig. 28: 10Base5 implementation

➢ The transceiver is responsible for transmitting, receiving, and detecting collisions. The
transceiver is connected to the station via a transceiver cable that provides separate paths for
sending and receiving. This means that collision can only happen in the coaxial cable.
➢ The maximum length of the coaxial cable must not exceed 500 m, otherwise, there is excessive
degradation of the signal. If a length of more than 500 m is needed, up to five segments, each
a maximum of 500 meters, can be connected using repeaters.
10Base2: Thin Ethernet
➢ The second implementation is called 10Base2, thin Ethernet, or Cheapernet. 10Base2 also uses
a bus topology, but the cable is much thinner and more flexible. The cable can be bent to pass
very close to the stations. In this case, the transceiver is normally part of the network interface
card (NIC), which is installed inside the station. Fig. 29 shows the schematic diagram of a
10Base2 implementation.

Fig. 29: 10Base2 implementation

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➢ Note that the collision here occurs in the thin coaxial cable. This implementation is more cost
effective than 10Base5 because thin coaxial cable is less expensive than thick coaxial and the
tee connections are much cheaper than taps.
➢ Installation is simpler because the thin coaxial cable is very flexible. However, the length of
each segment cannot exceed 185 m (close to 200 m) due to the high level of attenuation in thin
coaxial cable.
10Base-T: Twisted-Pair Ethernet
➢ The third implementation is called 10Base-T or twisted-pair Ethernet. 10Base-T uses a
physical star topology. The stations are connected to a hub via two pairs of twisted cable, as
shown in Fig. 30.

Fig. 30: 10Base-T implementation

➢ Note that two pairs of twisted cable create two paths (one for sending and one for receiving)
between the station and the hub. Any collision here happens in the hub.
➢ Compared to 10Base5 or 10Base2, we can see that the hub actually replaces the coaxial cable
as far as a collision is concerned. The maximum length of the twisted cable here is defined as
100 m, to minimize the effect of attenuation in the twisted cable.

10Base-F: Fiber Ethernet

➢ Although there are several types of optical fiber 10-Mbps Ethernet, the most common is called
10Base-F. 10Base-F uses a star topology to connect stations to a hub.
➢ The stations are connected to the hub using two fiber-optic cables, as shown in Fig. 31.

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Fig. 31: 10Base-F implementation

WIRELESS LANs
Wireless communication is one of the fastest-growing technologies. The demand for connecting
devices without the use of cables is increasing everywhere. Wireless LANs can be found on college
campuses, in office buildings, and in many public areas.

Architectural Comparison
Let us first compare the architecture of wired and wireless LANs to give some idea of what we
need to look for when we study wireless LANs.

Medium
➢ The first difference we can see between a wired and a wireless LAN is the medium. In a wired
LAN, we use wires to connect hosts. Earlier, we saw that we moved from multiple access to
point-to-point access through the generation of the Ethernet.
➢ In a switched LAN, with a link-layer switch, the communication between the hosts is point to-
point and full-duplex (bidirectional).
➢ In a wireless LAN, the medium is air, the signal is generally broadcast. When hosts in a
wireless LAN communicate with each other, they are sharing the same medium (multiple
access).
➢ In a very rare situation, we may be able to create a point-to-point communication between two
wireless hosts by using a very limited bandwidth and two-directional antennas. Here it is to
know about the multiple-access medium, which means we need to use MAC protocols.

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Hosts
➢ In a wired LAN, a host is always connected to its network at a point with a fixed link layer
address related to its network interface card (NIC). Of course, a host can move from one point
in the Internet to another point.
➢ In this case, its link-layer address remains the same, but its network-layer address will change.
However, before the host can use the services of the Internet, it needs to be physically
connected to the Internet.
➢ In a wireless LAN, a host is not physically connected to the network; it can move freely (as
we’ll see) and can use the services provided by the network. Therefore, mobility in a wired
network and wireless network are totally different issues.
Isolated LANs
➢ The concept of a wired isolated LAN also differs from that of a wireless isolated LAN. A wired
isolated LAN is a set of hosts connected via a link-layer switch (in the recent generation of
Ethernet).
➢ A wireless isolated LAN, called an ad hoc network in wireless LAN terminology, is a set of
hosts that communicate freely with each other. The concept of a link-layer switch does not
exist in wireless LANs. Fig. 48 shows two isolated LANs, one wired and one wireless.

Fig. 32: Isolated LANs: wired versus wireless

Connection to Other Networks
➢ A wired LAN can be connected to another network or an internetwork such as the Internet
using a router. A wireless LAN may be connected to a wired infrastructure network, to a
wireless infrastructure network, or to another wireless LAN.

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➢ The first situation is the one that we discuss in this section: connection of a wireless LAN to a
wired infrastructure network. Figure 33 shows the two environments.
➢ In this case, the wireless LAN is referred to as an infrastructure network, and the connection
to the wired infrastructure, such as the Internet, is done via a device called an access point
(AP). Note that the role of the access point is completely different from the role of a link-layer
switch in the wired environment.
➢ An access point is gluing two different environments together: one wired and one wireless.
Communication between the AP and the wireless host occurs in a wireless environment;
communication between the AP and the infrastructure occurs in a wired environment.

Fig. 33: Connection of a wired LAN and a wireless LAN to other networks

Moving between Environments

➢ A wired LAN or a wireless LAN operates only in the lower two layers of the TCP/IP protocol
suite. This means that if we have a wired LAN in a building that is connected via a router or a
modem to the Internet, all we need in order to move from the wired environment to a wireless
environment is to change the network interface cards designed for wired environments to the
ones designed for wireless environments and replace the link-layer switch with an access point.
➢ In this change, the link-layer addresses will change (because of changing NICs), but the
network-layer addresses (IP addresses) will remain the same; we are moving from wired links
to wireless links.

CHARACTERISTICS
There are several characteristics of wireless LANs that either do not apply to wired LANs or the
existence of which is negligible and can be ignored. Following are some of these characteristics
here to pave the way for discussing wireless LAN protocols.

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➢ Attenuation
The strength of electromagnetic signals decreases rapidly because the signal disperses in all
directions; only a small portion of it reaches the receiver. The situation becomes worse with mobile
senders that operate on batteries and normally have small power supplies.
➢ Interference
Another issue is that a receiver may receive signals not only from the intended sender, but also
from other senders if they are using the same frequency band.
➢ Multipath Propagation
A receiver may receive more than one signal from the same sender because electromagnetic waves
can be reflected back from obstacles such as walls, the ground, or objects. The result is that the
receiver receives some signals at different phases (because they travel different paths). This makes
the signal less recognizable.
➢ Error
With the above characteristics of a wireless network, we can expect that errors and error detection
are more serious issues in a wireless network than in a wired network. If we think about the error
level as the measurement of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), we can better understand why error
detection and error correction and retransmission are more important in a wireless network. SNR
is enough to say that it measures the ratio of good stuff to bad stuff (signal to noise). If SNR is
high, it means that the signal is stronger than the noise (unwanted signal), so we may be able to
convert the signal to actual data. On the other hand, when SNR is low, it means that the signal is
corrupted by the noise and the data cannot be recovered.

ACCESS CONTROL
➢ Maybe the most important issue we need to discuss in a wireless LAN is access control—how
a wireless host can get access to the shared medium (air). We know that the Standard Ethernet
uses the CSMA/CD algorithm. In this method, each host contends to access the medium and
sends its frame if it finds the medium idle.
➢ If a collision occurs, it is detected and the frame is sent again. Collision detection in CSMA/CD
serves two purposes. If a collision is detected, it means that the frame has not been received
and needs to be resent. If a collision is not detected, it is a kind of acknowledgment that the
frame was received.
➢ The CSMA/CD algorithm does not work in wireless LANs for three reasons:
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1. To detect a collision, a host needs to send and receive at the same time (sending the frame
and receiving the collision signal), which means the host needs to work in a duplex mode.
Wireless hosts do not have enough power to do so (the power is supplied by batteries).
They can only send or receive at one time.

Fig. 34: Hidden station problem

2. Because of the hidden station problem, in which a station may not be aware of another
station’s transmission due to some obstacles or range problems, collision may occur but
not be detected. Fig. 34 shows an example of the hidden station problem. Station B has a
transmission range shown by the left oval (sphere in space); every station in this range can
hear any signal transmitted by station B. Station C has a transmission range shown by the
right oval (sphere in space); every station located in this range can hear any signal
transmitted by C. Station C is outside the transmission range of B; likewise, station B is
outside the transmission range of C. Station A, however, is in the area covered by both B
and C; it can hear any signal transmitted by B or C. The figure also shows that the hidden
station problem may also occur due to an obstacle. Assume that station B is sending data
to station A. In the middle of this transmission, station C also has data to send to station A.
However, station C is out of B’s range and transmissions from B cannot reach C. Therefore,
C thinks the medium is free. Station C sends its data to A, which results in a collision at A
because this station is receiving data from both B and C. In this case, we say that stations
B and C are hidden from each other with respect to A. Hidden stations can reduce the
capacity of the network because of the possibility of collision.
3. The distance between stations can be great. Signal fading could prevent a station at one
end from hearing a collision at the other end.

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➢ To overcome the above three problems, Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision
Avoidance (CSMA/CA) was invented for wireless LANs.
CONNECTING DEVICES
Hosts and networks do not normally operate in isolation. We use connecting devices to connect
hosts together to make a network or to connect networks together to make an internet. Connecting
devices can operate in different layers of the Internet model. We discuss three kinds of connecting
devices: hubs, link-layer switches, and routers. Hubs today operate in the first layer of the Internet
model. Link-layer switches operate in the first two layers. Routers operate in the first three layers.
(See Figure 35.)

Fig 35 : Three categories of connecting devices

Hubs
A hub is a device that operates only in the physical layer. Signals that carry information within a
network can travel a fixed distance before attenuation endangers the integrity of the data. A
repeater receives a signal and, before it becomes too weak or corrupted, regenerates and retimes
the original bit pattern. The repeater then sends the refreshed signal. In the past, when Ethernet
LANs were using bus topology, a repeater was used to connect two segments of a LAN to
overcome the length restriction of the coaxial cable. Today, however, Ethernet LANs use star
topology. In a star topology, a repeater is a multiport device, often called a hub, that can be used
to serve as the connecting point and at the same time function as a repeater. Fig 36 shows that
when a packet from station A to station B arrives at the hub, the signal representing the frame is
regenerated to remove any possible corrupting noise, but the hub forwards the packet from all
outgoing ports except the one from which the signal was received. In other words, the frame is
broadcast. All stations in the LAN receive the frame, but only station B keeps it. The rest of the
stations discard it. Fig 36 shows the role of a repeater or a hub in a switched LAN. The figure

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definitely shows that a hub does not have a filtering capability; it does not have the intelligence to
find from which port the frame should be sent out.
A repeater has no filtering capability.
A hub or a repeater is a physical-layer device. They do not have a link-layer address and they do
not check the link-layer address of the received frame. They just regenerate the corrupted bits and
send them out from every port.

Fig 36: A hub

Link-Layer Switches
A link-layer switch (or switch) operates in both the physical and the data-link layers. As a physical-
layer device, it regenerates the signal it receives. As a link-layer device, the link-layer switch can
check the MAC addresses (source and destination) contained in the frame.
Filtering
One may ask what the difference in functionality is between a link-layer switch and a hub. A link-
layer switch has filtering capability. It can check the destination address of a frame and can decide
from which outgoing port the frame should be sent.

Fig 37: Link-layer switch

A link-layer switch has a table used in filtering decisions.

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Let us give an example. In Fig 37, we have a LAN with four stations that are connected to a link-
layer switch. If a frame destined for station 71:2B:13:45:61:42 arrives at port 1, the link-layer
switch consults its table to find the departing port. According to its table, frames for
71:2B:13:45:61:42 should be sent out only through port 2; therefore, there is no need for
forwarding the frame through other ports.
A link-layer switch does not change the link-layer (MAC) addresses in a frame.
Transparent Switches
A transparent switch is a switch in which the stations are completely unaware of the switch’s
existence. If a switch is added or deleted from the system, reconfiguration of the stations is
unnecessary. According to the IEEE 802.1d specification, a system equipped with transparent
switches must meet three criteria:
❑ Frames must be forwarded from one station to another.

❑ The forwarding table is automatically made by learning frame movements in the network.

❑ Loops in the system must be prevented.

Forwarding
A transparent switch must correctly forward the frames, as discussed in the previous section.
Learning
The earliest switches had switching tables that were static. The system administrator would
manually enter each table entry during switch setup. Although the process was simple, it was not
practical. If a station was added or deleted, the table had to be modified manually. The same was
true if a station’s MAC address changed, which is not a rare event. For example, putting in a new
network card means a new MAC address. A better solution to the static table is a dynamic table
that maps addresses to ports (interfaces) automatically. To make a table dynamic, we need a switch
that gradually learns from the frames’ movements. To do this, the switch inspects both the
destination and the source addresses in each frame that passes through the switch. The destination
address is used for the forwarding decision (table lookup); the source address is used for adding
entries to the table and for updating purposes. Let us elaborate on this process using Fig 38.
1. When station A sends a frame to station D, the switch does not have an entry for either D or A.
The frame goes out from all three ports; the frame floods the network. However, by looking at the
source address, the switch learns that station A must be connected to port 1. This means that frames

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destined for A, in the future, must be sent out through port 1. The switch adds this entry to its table.
The table has its first entry now.
2. When station D sends a frame to station B, the switch has no entry for B, so it floods the network
again. However, it adds one more entry to the table related to station D.
3. The learning process continues until the table has information about every port. However, note
that the learning process may take a long time. For example, if a station does not send out a frame
(a rare situation), the station will never have an entry in the table.

Fig 38: Learning switch

Loop Problem
Transparent switches work fine as long as there are no redundant switches in the system. Systems
administrators, however, like to have redundant switches (more than one switch between a pair of
LANs) to make the system more reliable. If a switch fails, another switch takes over until the failed
one is repaired or replaced. Redundancy can create loops in the system, which is very undesirable.
Loops can be created only when two or more broadcasting LANs (those using hubs, for example)
are connected by more than one switch.
Fig 39 shows a very simple example of a loop created in a system with two LANs connected by
two switches.

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1. Station A sends a frame to station D. The tables of both switches are empty. Both forward the
frame and update their tables based on the source address A.
2. Now there are two copies of the frame on LAN 2. The copy sent out by the left switch is received
by the right switch, which does not have any information about the destination address D; it
forwards the frame. The copy sent out by the right switch is received by the left switch and is sent
out for lack of information about D. Note that each frame is handled separately because switches,
as two nodes on a broadcast network sharing the medium, use an access method such as
CSMA/CD. The tables of both switches are updated, but still there is no information for destination
D.
3. Now there are two copies of the frame on LAN 1. Step 2 is repeated, and both copies are sent
to LAN2.
4. The process continues on and on. Note that switches are also repeaters and regenerate frames.
So in each iteration, there are newly generated fresh copies of the frames.
Spanning Tree Algorithm
To solve the looping problem, the IEEE specification requires that switches use the spanning tree
algorithm to create a loopless topology. In graph theory, a spanning tree is a graph in which there
is no loop. In a switched LAN, this means creating a topology in which each LAN can be reached
from any other LAN through one path only (no loop). We cannot change the physical topology of
the system because of physical connections between cables and switches, but we can create a
logical topology that overlays the physical one. Fig 40 shows a system with four LANs and
five switches. We have shown the physical system and its representation in graph theory. Although
some textbooks represent the LANs as nodes and the switches as the connecting arcs, we have
shown both LANs and switches as nodes. The connecting arcs show the connection of a LAN to a
switch and vice versa. To find the spanning tree, we need to assign a cost (metric) to each arc. The
interpretation of the cost is left up to the systems administrator. We have chosen the minimum
hops.
The process for finding the spanning tree involves three steps:
1. Every switch has a built-in ID (normally the serial number, which is unique). Each switch
broadcasts this ID so that all switches know which one has the smallest ID. The switch
with the smallest ID is selected as the root switch (root of the tree). We assume that switch
S1 has the smallest ID. It is, therefore, selected as the root switch.

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2. The algorithm tries to find the shortest path (a path with the shortest cost) from the root
switch to every other switch or LAN. The shortest path can be found by examining the total
cost from the root switch to the destination. Fig 41 shows the shortest paths.

Fig 39: Loop problem in a learning switch

3. The combination of the shortest paths creates the shortest tree, which is also shown in Fig 41.
4. Based on the spanning tree, we mark the ports that are part of it, the forwarding ports, which
forward a frame that the switch receives. We also mark those ports that are not part of the spanning
tree, the blocking ports, which block the frames received by the switch. Fig 42 shows the logical
systems of LANs with forwarding ports (solid lines) and blocking ports (broken lines).

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Fig 40: A system of connected LANs and its graph representation

Fig 41: Finding the shortest paths and the spanning tree in a system of switches

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Fig 42: Forwarding and blocking ports after using spanning tree algorithm
Note that there is only one path from any LAN to any other LAN in the spanning tree system. This
means there is only one path from one LAN to any other LAN. No loops are created. You can
prove to yourself that there is only one path from LAN 1 to LAN 2, LAN 3, or LAN 4. Similarly,
there is only one path from LAN 2 to LAN 1, LAN 3, and LAN 4. The same is true for LAN 3 and
LAN 4.
We have described the spanning tree algorithm as though it required manual entries. This is not
true. Each switch is equipped with a software package that carries out this process dynamically.
Advantages of Switches
A link-layer switch has several advantages over a hub. We discuss only two of them here.
Collision Elimination
A link-layer switch eliminates the collision. This means increasing the average bandwidth
available to a host in the network. In a switched LAN, there is no need for carrier sensing and
collision detection; each host can transmit at any time.
Connecting Heterogenous Devices
A link-layer switch can connect devices that use different protocols at the physical layer (data
rates) and different transmission media. As long as the format of the frame at the data-link layer
does not change, a switch can receive a frame from a device that uses twisted-pair cable and sends
data at 10 Mbps and deliver the frame to another device that uses fiber-optic cable and can receive
data at 100 Mbps.

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Routers
In this section, we mention routers to compare them with a two-layer switch and a hub. A router
is a three-layer device; it operates in the physical, data-link, and network layers.
As a physical-layer device, it regenerates the signal it receives. As a link-layer device, the router
checks the physical addresses (source and destination) contained in the packet. As a network-layer
device, a router checks the network-layer addresses.
A router is a three-layer (physical, data-link, and network) device.
A router can connect networks. In other words, a router is an internetworking device; it connects
independent networks to form an internetwork. According to this definition, two networks
connected by a router become an internetwork or an internet.
There are three major differences between a router and a repeater or a switch.
1. A router has a physical and logical (IP) address for each of its interfaces.
2. A router acts only on those packets in which the link-layer destination address matches the
address of the interface at which the packet arrives.
3. A router changes the link-layer address of the packet (both source and destination) when it
forwards the packet.
Let us give an example. In Fig 43, assume an organization has two separate buildings with a
Gigabit Ethernet LAN installed in each building. The organization uses switches in each LAN.
The two LANs can be connected to form a larger LAN using 10 Gigabit Ethernet technology that
speeds up the connection to the Ethernet and the connection to the organization server. A router
then can connect the whole system to the Internet.

Fig 43: Routing example

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VIRTUAL LANS
A station is considered part of a LAN if it physically belongs to that LAN. The criterion of
membership is geographic. What happens if we need a virtual connection between two stations
belonging to two different physical LANs? We can roughly define a virtual local area network
(VLAN) as a local area network configured by software, not by physical wiring.
Let us use an example to elaborate on this definition. Fig 44 shows a switched LAN in an
engineering firm in which nine stations are grouped into three LANs that are connected by a
switch.

Fig 44: A switch connecting three LANs

The first three engineers work together as the first group, the next two engineers work together as
the second group, and the last four engineers work together as the third group. The LAN is
configured to allow this arrangement. But what would happen if the administrators needed to move
two engineers from the first group to the third group, to speed up the project being done by the
third group?
The LAN configuration would need to be changed. The network technician must rewire. The
problem is repeated if, in another week, the two engineers move back to their previous group. In a
switched LAN, changes in the work group mean physical changes in the network onfiguration.
Fig 45 shows the same switched LAN divided into VLANs. The whole idea of VLAN technology
is to divide a LAN into logical, instead of physical, segments. A LAN can be divided into several
logical LANs, called VLANs. Each VLAN is a work group in the organization.
If a person moves from one group to another, there is no need to change the physical configuration.
The group membership in VLANs is defined by software, not hardware. Any station can be
logically moved to another VLAN. All members belonging to a VLAN can receive broadcast
messages sent to that particular VLAN. This means that if a station moves from VLAN1 to

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VLAN2, it receives broadcast messages sent to VLAN 2, but no longer receives broadcast
messages sent to VLAN 1.

Fig 45: A switch using VLAN software

It is obvious that the problem in our previous example can easily be solved by using VLANs.
Moving engineers from one group to another through software is easier than changing the
configuration of the physical network. VLAN technology even allows the grouping of stations
connected to different switches in a VLAN. Fig 46 shows a backbone local area network with two
switches and three VLANs. Stations from switches A and B belong to each VLAN.

Fig 46: Two switches in a backbone using VLAN software

This is a good configuration for a company with two separate buildings. Each building can have
its own switched LAN connected by a backbone. People in the first building and people in the

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second building can be in the same work group even though they are connected to different
physical LANs.
From these three examples, we can see that a VLAN defines broadcast domains. VLANs group
stations belonging to one or more physical LANs into broadcast domains. The stations in a VLAN
communicate with one another as though they belonged to a physical segment.
Membership
What characteristic can be used to group stations in a VLAN? Vendors use different characteristics
such as interface numbers, port numbers, MAC addresses, IP addresses, IP multicast addresses, or
a combination of two or more of these.
Interface Numbers
Some VLAN vendors use switch interface numbers as a membership characteristic. For example,
the administrator can define that stations connecting to ports 1, 2, 3, and 7 belong to VLAN 1,
stations connecting to ports 4, 10, and 12 belong to VLAN 2, and so on.
MAC Addresses
Some VLAN vendors use the 48-bit MAC address as a membership characteristic. For example,
the administrator can stipulate that stations having MAC addresses E2:13:42:A1:23:34 and
F2:A1:23:BC:D3:41 belong to VLAN 1.
IP Addresses
Some VLAN vendors use the 32-bit IP address (see Chapter 18) as a membership characteristic.
For example, the administrator can stipulate that stations having IP addresses [Link],
[Link], [Link], and [Link] belong to VLAN 1.
Multicast IP Addresses
Some VLAN vendors use the multicast IP address (see Chapter 21) as a membership characteristic.
Multicasting at the IP layer is now translated to multicasting at the datalink layer.
Combination
Recently, the software available from some vendors allows all these characteristics to be
combined. The administrator can choose one or more characteristics when installing the software.
In addition, the software can be reconfigured to change the settings.
Configuration
How are the stations grouped into different VLANs? Stations are configured in one of three ways:
manually, semiautomatically, and automatically.

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Manual Configuration
In a manual configuration, the network administrator uses the VLAN software to manually assign
the stations into different VLANs at setup. Later migration from one VLAN to another is also done
manually. Note that this is not a physical configuration; it is a logical configuration. The term
manually here means that the administrator types the port numbers, the IP addresses, or other
characteristics, using the VLAN software.
Automatic Configuration
In an automatic configuration, the stations are automatically connected or disconnected from a
VLAN using criteria defined by the administrator. For example, the administrator can define the
project number as the criterion for being a member of a group. When a user changes projects, he
or she automatically migrates to a new VLAN.
Semiautomatic Configuration
A semiautomatic configuration is somewhere between a manual configuration and an automatic
configuration. Usually, the initializing is done manually, with migrations done automatically.
Communication between Switches
In a multi-switched backbone, each switch must know not only which station belongs to which
VLAN, but also the membership of stations connected to other switches. For example, in Figure
17.12, switch A must know the membership status of stations connected to switch B, and switch
B must know the same about switch A. Three methods have been devised for this purpose: table
maintenance, frame tagging, and timedivision multiplexing.
Table Maintenance
In this method, when a station sends a broadcast frame to its group members, the switch creates an
entry in a table and records station membership. The switches send their tables to one another
periodically for updating.
Frame Tagging
In this method, when a frame is traveling between switches, an extra header is added to the MAC
frame to define the destination VLAN. The frame tag is used by the receiving switches to
determine the VLANs to be receiving the broadcast message.
Time-Division Multiplexing (TDM)
In this method, the connection (trunk) between switches is divided into time-shared channels (see
TDM in Chapter 6). For example, if the total number of VLANs in a backbone is five, each trunk

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is divided into five channels. The traffic destined for VLAN 1 travels in channel 1, the traffic
destined for VLAN 2 travels in channel 2, and so on. The receiving switch determines the
destination VLAN by checking the channel from which the frame arrived.
IEEE Standard
In 1996, the IEEE 802.1 subcommittee passed a standard called 802.1Q that defines the format for
frame tagging. The standard also defines the format to be used in multiswitched backbones and
enables the use of multivendor equipment in VLANs. IEEE 802.1Q has opened the way for further
standardization in other issues related to VLANs. Most vendors have already accepted the
standard.
Advantages
There are several advantages to using VLANs.
Cost and Time Reduction
VLANs can reduce the migration cost of stations going from one group to another. Physical
reconfiguration takes time and is costly. Instead of physically moving one station to another
segment or even to another switch, it is much easier and quicker to move it by using software.
Creating Virtual Work Groups
VLANs can be used to create virtual work groups. For example, in a campus environment,
professors working on the same project can send broadcast messages to one another without the
necessity of belonging to the same department. This can reduce traffic if the multicasting capability
of IP was previously used.
Security
VLANs provide an extra measure of security. People belonging to the same group can send
broadcast messages with the guaranteed assurance that users in other groups will not receive these
messages.

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