Chapter 6

LAN Technologies and Its

Components

1
Outline
 Channel Access Protocols
 Ethernet: LAN technology
 LAN Components

2
 Multiple-Access Protocols

The data link layer can be divided in to two layers:

 the upper sub-layer that is responsible for flow and error control is
called the logical link control (LLC) layer;
 the lower sub-layer that is mostly responsible for multiple access
resolution is called the media access control (MAC) layer.
 If there is a dedicated link between the sender and receiver then
data link control layer is sufficient.
 However, if there is no dedicated link present then multiple station
can access the channel simultaneously.
 Hence MAP are required to decrease collision and avoid crosstalk.
Types of Multiple-Access Protocols

MAC Protocols: a taxonomy

Three broad classes:
• Random Access(Contention based)
• channel not divided, allow collisions
• “recover” from collisions
• Channel Partitioning
• divide channel into smaller “pieces” (time slots, frequency,
code)
• allocate piece to node for exclusive use
• Taking turns 4
 Random Access(Contention based) Protocols
 In this, all station have same superiority that is no station has more priority than
another station. Any station can send data depending on medium’s state(idle or
busy).
 In a Rnadom access method, each station has the right to the medium without
being controlled by any other station.
 If more than one station tries to send, there is an access conflict(collision) and
the frame will be either destroyed or modified.
 Examples of random access MAC protocols:
• ALOHA
 Pure (unslotted) ALOHA
 slotted ALOHA
• CSMA: Carrier Sense Multiple Access,
 CSMA/CD (Ethernet): CSMA with collision detection
 CSMA/CA (WiFi 802.11): CSMA with collision avoidance
ALOHA
Aloha is a random access protocol.
It was actually designed for WLAN but it is also applicable for
shared medium.
In this, multiple stations can transmit data at the same and
can hence lead to collision and data being garbled.
Types of Aloha:
 Pure Aloha
 Slotted Aloha
Pure (unslotted) ALOHA
In pure ALOHA, frames are transmitted at completely
arbitrary times

7
 Pure (unslotted) ALOHA…..cont’d

 Pure Aloha allows station to transmit whenever they have data to be sent.
 When a station sends data it waits for acknowledgement.
 If the acknowledgement does not come within the allotted time then the
station waits for a random amount of time called back-off time and re-
send the data.
 Since different stations wait for different amount of time, the probability
of further collision decreases.
 The throughput of pure aloha is maximized when frames are of uniform
length.
 Whenever two frames try to occupy the channel at the same time, there
will be a collision and both will be garbled.
 If the first bit of a new frame overlaps with just the last bit of a frame
almost finished, both frames will be totally destroyed and both will have to
be retransmitted later.
8
 Slotted ALOHA
 It was developed just to improve the efficiency of pure aloha as the chances for

collision in pure aloha are high.

 The time of the shared channel is divided into discrete time intervals called

slots.
 Sending of data is allowed only at the beginning of these slots.

 If a station misses out the allowed time, it must wait for the next [Link]

reduces the probability of collision.

9
Slotted ALOHA….cont’d
C - collision slot
S - successful
slot
E - empty slot

Pros Cons
 single active node can  collisions, wasting slots
continuously transmit at  idle slots
full rate of channel  nodes may be able to detect
 highly decentralized: only
collision in less than time to
slots in nodes need to be in transmit packet
sync  clock synchronization 10
2. CSMA (Carrier Sense Multiple Access)
 In both slotted and pure ALOHA, a node’s decision to transmit is
made independently of the activity of the other nodes attached to
the broadcast channel. In particular, a node neither pays
attention to whether another node happens to be transmitting
when it begins to transmit, nor stops transmitting if another node
begins to interfere with its transmission. But,
CSMA: listen before transmit:
 If channel sensed idle(if there is no signal energy entering the
adapter from the channel): transmit entire frame
 If channel sensed busy, defer transmission

Analogy: there are two important rules for polite human

conversation:
 Listen before speaking. If someone else is speaking, wait until
they are finished. In the networking world, this is called carrier
sensing 11
CSMA collisions
collisions can still occur:
propagation delay means two nodes may not hear each other’s transmission

collision:
entire packet transmission time wasted
 The probability of collision still exists because of propagation delay, a
station may sense the medium and find it idle, only because the first bit
sent by another station has not yet been received.
 Types of CSMA
 CSMA CD(CSMA with collision Detection)
 CSMA CA(CSMA with collision Avoidance)

12
 CSMA/CD (Collision Detection)
 If two stations sense the channel to be idle and begin transmitting

simultaneously, they will both detect the collision almost immediately.

 Rather than finishing transmitting their frames, which are irretrievably

garble anyway, they should abruptly stop transmitting as soon as the

collision is detected.
 Quickly terminating damaged frames saves time and bandwidth.

 This protocol, known as CSMA with collision detection is widely used on

LANs in the MAC sublayer.

 Collisions can be detected by looking at the power or pulse width of the

received signal and comparing it to the transmitted signal

 After a station detects a collision, it absorbs its transmission waits a

random period of time and then tries again assuming that no other station
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CSMA/CD efficiency

 Tprop = max prop between 2 nodes in LAN

 ttrans = time to transmit max-size frame

1
efficiency 
1  5t prop / ttrans

 Efficiency goes to 1 as tprop goes to 0

 Goes to 1 as ttrans goes to infinity

 Much better than ALOHA, and still decentralized, simple, and

cheap

14
 “Taking Turns(Controlled)” MAC protocols
Polling:
 The polling protocol requires one of the nodes to be designed as a master

node (primary station).

 The master node polls each of the nodes in a round-robin fashion.

 In particular, the master node irst sends a message to node 1, saying that

it (node 1)can transmit up to some maximum number of frames.

 After node 1 transmits some frames, the master node tells node 2 it can

transmit up to the maximum number of frames.

 The master node can determine when a node has finished sending its

frames by observing the lack of a signal on the channel.

 The procedure continues in this manner, with the master node polling

each of the nodes in a cyclic manner. 15

Taking Turns” MAC protocols….cont’d

The drawback of polling is

 Pollingdelay
 Potentially more serious-is that if the master node fails, the entire

channel become inoperative.

“Taking Turns” MAC protocols….cont’d
Token passing:
 Stations arranged in logical ring
T
 Special packet called control
‘token’ passed from one node to
next sequentially.
 If a station wants to send a data,
(nothing
it waits till it receives a token to send)
 Send the data and releases the T
token to the successor
 concerns:

 token overhead
 latency data
 single point of failure (token) 17
Ethernet
 is a family of computer networking technologies commonly used
in local area networks LANs and MANs.
 is a link layer protocol in the TCP/IP stack, describing how
networked devices can format data for transmission to other
network devices on the same network segment
“dominant” LAN technology:
 first widely used LAN technology

 Simpler, cheaper than token LANs and ATM

 Kept up with speed race: 10, 100, 1000 Mbps

A Cat 5e connection on
a laptop, used for Ethernet
 History

 Developed by Bob Metcalfe and others at Xerox PARC in mid-

1970s but the term is now often used to refer to all CSMA/CD
LANs.
 Roots in Aloha packet-radio network
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
Ethernet Frame Structure
Systems communicating over Ethernet divide a stream of data into
shorter pieces called frames.
A data packet on an Ethernet link is called an Ethernet packet,
which transports an Ethernet frame as its payload.

An Ethernet frame is preceded by a preamble and start frame

delimiter (SFD), which are both part of the Ethernet packet at
the physical layer
 Preamble:
 7 bytes with pattern 10101010 followed by one byte with
pattern 10101011
 used to synchronize receiver, sender clock rates
 Addresses(source and destination MAC addresses): 6 bytes
 if adapter receives frame with matching destination address, it
passes data in frame to network layer protocol
 otherwise, adapter discards frame
19

LAN Topologies
• The term topology
refers to the way in
which the end points,
or stations, attached to
the network are
interconnected.

• The bus is a special

case of the tree, with
only one trunk and no
branches.

20
Bus and Tree
 are characterized by the use of a multipoint medium.

 For the bus, all stations attach, through appropriate hardware

interfacing known as a tap, directly to a linear transmission

medium, or bus.
 transmission propagates throughout medium

 heard by all stations

 full duplex connection between station and tap

 allows for transmission and reception

 need to regulate transmission

 to avoid collisions and hogging

 terminator absorbs frames at end of medium removing it from

the bus 21
Frame Transmission on Bus LAN
Two problems present
themselves in these topologies:
1. Because a transmission from
any one station can be received
by all other stations, there
needs to be some way of
indicating for whom the
transmission is intended.
2. a mechanism is needed to
regulate transmission.
To solve these problems, a
frame header that contains
control information should be
appended to the frame, i.e with
destination address.

22
Ring Topology
 a closed loop of repeaters joined by point to point links

 receive data on one link & retransmit on another

 links are unidirectional that is, data are transmitted in one

direction only, so that data circulate around the ring in one

direction (clockwise or counterclockwise).
 stations attach to repeaters and can transmit data onto the

network through the repeater.

 data in frames

 circulate past all stations

 destination recognizes address and copies frame

 frame circulates back to source where it is removed

 media access control determines when a station can insert frame 23

Frame Transmission Ring LAN

Figure: illustrates how a frame

continues to circulate until it
returns to the source station,
where it is removed .

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Star Topology
 each station connects to central node

 usually via two point to point links one for transmission and

one for reception.

 either central node can broadcast

 physical star, logical bus

 In this case, the central element is referred to as a hub.

 only one station can transmit at a time

 or central node can act as frame switch

25
Choice of Topology
 reliability

 expandability

 performance

 needs considering in context of:

 medium

 wiring layout

 access control

26
Five categories of connecting devices

27
 Physical Layer: Repeaters
 Distance limitation in local-area networks

 Electrical signal becomes weaker as it travels

 Imposes a limit on the length of a LAN

 Repeaters join LANs together

 Analog electronic device

 Continuously monitors electrical signals on each LAN

 Transmits an amplified copy

Repeater

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Repeaters
 A physical layer device that acts on bits not on frames or
packets
 Can have two or more interfaces

 When a bit (0,1) arrives, the repeater receives it and

regenerates it, the transmits it onto all other interfaces
 Used in LAN to connect cable segments and extend the
maximum cable length  extending the geographical LAN
range
 Repeaters do not implement any access method

 If any two nodes on any two connected segments transmit at

the same time collision will happen

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Function of a repeater

30
Physical Layer : Hubs

 Acts on the physical layer

 Operate on bits rather than frames

 Also called multiport repeater

 Used to connect stations adapters in a physical star topology but

logically bus
 Connection to the hub consists of two pairs of twisted pair

wire one for transmission and the other for receiving.

 Hub receives a bit from an adapter and sends it to all the other

adapters without implementing any access method.

 does not do filtering (forward a frame into a specific destination

or drop it) just it copies the received frame onto all other links
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Physical Layer : Hubs….cont’d
 The entire hub forms a single collision domain, and a single

Broadcast domain
 Collision domain: is that part of the network (set of NICs)

when two or more nodes transmit at the same time collision

will happen.
 Broadcast domain: is that part of the network (set of NIC)

where each NIC can 'see' other NICs' traffic broadcast

messages.
 Multiple Hubs can be used to extend the network length

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Figure: Hubs

33
Interconnecting with hubs
 Backbone hub interconnects LAN segments
 Hubs can be arranged in a hierarchy (or multi-tier design), with
backbone hub at its top
 Advantage:
 Extends max distance between nodes Here we have a single collision
 simple, inexpensive device domain and a single broadcast
domain
 Multi-tier provides graceful degradation: portions of the LAN
continue to operate if one hub malfunctions
 Disadvantages
 Individual segment collision domains become one large collision
domain  (reduce the performance)
 Can’t interconnect different Ethernet technologies(like 10BaseT
& 100BaseT) because no buffering at the hub

Backbone

34
Hub limitations
 single collision domain results in no increase in max throughput

 multi-tier throughput same as single segment throughput

 individual LAN restrictions pose limits on number of nodes in

same collision domain and on total allowed geographical coverage

 cannot connect different Ethernet types (e.g., 10BaseT and

100baseT)

35
Hubs Vs. Repeaters
 Hub are different from repeaters in the following:

 They provide network management features by gathering

information about the network and report them to a

monitoring host connected to the hub so some statistics about
the network (bandwidth usages, collision rates, average
frame sizes) can be generated.
 If an adapter is not working, the hub can disconnect it

internally and the network will not be affected.

36
Bridges
 Link Layer devices: operate on Ethernet frames, examining

frame header and selectively forwarding frame based on its

destination
 Bridge isolates collision domains since it buffers frames

 When frame is to be forwarded on segment, bridge uses CSMA/CD

to access segment and transmit

 Bridge advantages:

 Isolates collision domains resulting in higher total max

throughput, and does not limit the number of nodes nor
geographical coverage
 Can connect different type Ethernet since it is a store and
37
forward device
Example:
Three LANs connected through a bridge
Note: here we have three collision domains and a single
broadcast domain

38
Bridges Vs. Hubs

Bridg
e

A Hub sending a A Bridge sending a

packet form F to packet from F to C
C.

39
 Backbone Bridge

Interconnection
Without Backbone

 Interconnection Without Backbone is not recommended for two

reasons:
- single point of failure at Computer Science hub
40
Bridges: frame filtering, forwarding
 bridges filter packets

 same-LAN -segment frames not forwarded onto other LAN

segments
 forwarding:

 how to know on which LAN segment to forward frame

Bridge Filtering: bridges learn which hosts can be reached

through which interfaces: maintain filtering tables
 when frame received, bridge “learns” location of sender:
incoming LAN segment
 records sender location in filtering table

 filtering table entry:

 (Node LAN Address, Bridge Interface, Time Stamp)

41
Bridge Learning: example

Suppose C sends frame to D and D replies back with frame to C

 C sends frame, bridge has no info about D, so floods to both LANs

 bridge notes that C is on port 1

 frame ignored on upper LAN
 frame received by D 42
Switches
 N-Port bridge where N is equal to number of stations
 Usually used to connect individual computers not LANs like
bridge
 Allows more than one device connected to the switch directly to
transmit simultaneously
 Can operates in Full-duplex mode (can send and receive frames
at the same time over the same interface)
 Performs MAC address recognition and frame forwarding in
hardware (bridge in software)
 Two types :
 Store-and-forward: switch receives the whole frame on the
input line, buffers it briefly , performs error checking, then
routes it to the appropriate output line (similar to bridge).
Buffering will cause some delay.
 Cut-through: based on the fact that the destination address
appears at the beginning of the MAC frame, so once the
address is recognized the frame is directly sent to the 43
Some switch features
 Implements CSMA/CD
 switches isolates collision domains (each LAN segment is a
separate collision domain), This will reduce the possibility of
collisions and result in higher total max throughput
 switch forwards a frame with broadcast address to all devices
attached to the whole network (single broadcast domain)
 Can be used to combine Ethernet segments using different
Ethernet technologies (10Base2 and 100BaseT and 10BaseT)
because it has buffering capabilities
 Increases geographical coverage
 No limit on the size of the LANs connected through switches
 Transparent: installing or removing a switch does not require the
stations networking software to be reconfigured.
 (“plug-and-play”): no configuration necessary at installation of
switch or when a host is removed from one of the LAN segments
 Disadvantage: switch does not allow multiple paths between LAN
segments or between any two devices.
44
Switch learning process
 When the switch receives a frame, it compares the source
address of the frame with each entry in the forwarding table
 If No match is found, the switch will add to the table the
frame source address and the interface on which the frame
was received.
 If a match is found, the switch updates the interface
number on which the frame was received if it is different
from the one in the table and also it updates the record time
 Then, the switch compares the destination address of the frame
with each entry in the forwarding table (MAC table)
 If a match is found then
 The switch compares the interface number on which the

frame was received and the interface number in the table,

 if they are different the bridge forwards the frame

through the interface number stored in the table.

 Otherwise, if they are the same the switches discards

(drops) the frame.

 If no match is found, the switch floods the frame on all
45
interfaces except the one on which the frame was received.
Isolated
collision
domain
s

Full-Duplex
operation

46
Shared Medium Bus and Hub
Fig (a): In this configuration,
all the stations must share the
total capacity of the bus,
which is 10 Mbps.

Fig(c): shows an example in

which B is transmitting a
frame to A and at the same
time C is transmitting a frame
to D. So, in this example, the
current throughput on the
LAN is 20 Mbps, although
each individual device is
limited to 10 Mbps. 47
Routers
 Operates at network layer = deals with packets not frames

 Connect LANs and WANs with similar or different protocols

together
 Switches and bridges isolate collision domains but forward
broadcast messages to all LANs connected to them. Routers
isolate both collision domains and broadcast domains
 Acts like normal stations on a network, but have more than
one network address (an address to each connected network)
 Deals with global address ( network layer address (IP)) not
local address (MAC address)
 Routers Communicate with each other and exchange
routing information
 Determine best route using routing algorithm by special
software installed on them
48

Figure: Routers connecting independent LANs and WANs

Router
s

49
An Institutional Network Using Hubs, Ethernet Switches, and a Router

50
Bridges vs. Routers
 both store-and-forward devices

 routers: network layer devices (examine network layer headers)

 bridges are Link Layer devices

 routers maintain routing tables, implement routing algorithms

 bridges maintain filtering tables, implement filtering, learning and

spanning tree algorithms

51
Routers vs. Bridges
Bridges pros and cons
Pros:
 Bridge operation is simpler requiring less processing

Cons:
 Topologies are restricted with bridges

 Bridges do not offer protection from broadcast storms (endless

broadcasting by a host will be forwarded by a bridge)

52
Routers vs. Bridges
Routers pros and cons
Pros:
 arbitrary topologies can be supported, cycling is limited by TTL

counters (and good routing protocols)

 provide firewall protection against broadcast storms

Cons:
 require IP address configuration (not plug and play)

 require higher processing

 bridges do well in small (few hundred hosts) while routers used

in large networks (thousands of hosts)

53
 Summary Comparison

Hubs Bridges Routers Switches

Traffic Isolation No Yes Yes Yes

Plug and Play Yes Yes No Yes

Optimal Routing No No Yes No

Cut Through Yes No No Yes

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