LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY

Synopsis
Of
CSE 409
Topic: Ethernet

Submitted To: Submitted By:

Igloo mam Name: Shekhar
Roll no: B26
Section: J1804
Introduction:
Ethernet is the least expensive high speed LAN alternative. Ethernet adapter cards for a PC
range from $60 to $120. They transmit and receive data at speeds of 10 million bits per second
through up to 300 feet of telephone wire to a "hub" device normally stacked in a wiring closet.
The hub adds less than $50 to the cost of each desktop connection. Data is transferred between
wiring closets using either a heavy coax cable ("Thicknet") or fiber optic cable.

Most textbook treatments of Ethernet would concentrate on Thicknet coax, because that is the
wiring arrangement used when Xerox invented the LAN. Today this is still used for medium-long
distances where medium levels of reliability are needed. Fiber goes farther and has greater
reliability, but a higher cost. To connect a number of workstations within the same room, a light
duty coax cable called "Thinnet" is commonly used. These other media reflect an older view of
workstation computers in a laboratory environment.

However, the PC and Macintosh have changed the geography of networking. Computers are
now located on desktops, dorm rooms, and at home. Telephone wire is the clear choice (where
possible) for the last hop from basement to desktop.

Drivers to support the PC Ethernet card come in four versions:

• Access to the Internet under DOS can be provided using one of the Packet Driver
programs. A collection of free drivers is available from various Internet servers.

• Support for Novell clients under DOS can be packaged as a module called IPX.COM.

• When Novell must share the Ethernet with other software, it supplies a proprietary
interface called ODI. Because of the large market share controlled by Novell, ODI
supports most adapter cards and is used by several other software vendors.

• All the major companies (Microsoft, IBM, DEC, AT&amp T) and all the other operating
systems (Windows for Workgroups, OS/2, NT, Chicago) use NDIS. Developed jointly by
Microsoft and 3Com, NDIS also supports most adapter cards and is the native choice for
Windows and OS/2 peer networks.

Through NDIS or ODI it is possible to support Novell IPX, IBM SNA, DECNET, Appletalk,
TCP/IP (for the Internet), and NETBIOS all simultaneously. Of course, it takes a very large
machine and an advanced operating system to squeeze all this software into memory.
Defination and standards:
The early development of Ethernet was done by Xerox research. The name "Ethernet" was a
registered trademark of Xerox Corporation. The technology was refined and a second
generation called Ethernet II was widely used. Ethernet from this period is often called DIX after
its corporate sponsors Digital, Intel, and Xerox. As the holder of the trademark, Xerox
established and published the standards.

Obviously, no technology could become an international standard for all sorts of equipment if
the rules were controlled by a single US corporation. The IEEE was assigned the task of
developing formal international standards for all Local Area Network technology. It formed the
"802" committee to look at Ethernet, Token Ring, Fiber Optic, and other LAN technology. The
objective of the project was not just to standardize each LAN individually, but also to establish
rules that would be global to all types of LANs so that data could easily move from Ethernet to
Token Ring or Fiber Optics.

This larger view created conflicts with the existing practice under the old Xerox DIX system. The
IEEE was careful to separate the new and old rules. It recognized that there would be a period
when old DIX messages and new IEEE 802 messages would have to coexist on the same LAN.
It published a set of standards of which the most important are:

• 802.3 - Hardware standards for Ethernet cards and cables

• 802.5 - Hardware standards for Token Ring cards and cables

• 802.2 - The new message format for data on any LAN

The 802.3 standard further refined the electrical connection to the Ethernet. It was immediately
adopted by all the hardware vendors. Today all cards and other devices conform to this
standard.

However, the 802.2 standard would require a change to the network architecture of all existing
Ethernet users. Apple had to change its Ethertalk, and did so when converting from Phase 1 to
Phase 2 Appletalk. DEC had to change its DECNET. Novell added 802 as an option to its IPX,
but it supports both DIX and 802 message formats at the same time.

The TCP/IP protocol used by the Internet refused to change. Internet standards are managed
by the IETF group, and they decided to stick with the old DIX message format indefinitely. This
produced a deadlock between two standards organizations that has not been resolved.
IBM waited until the 802 committee released its standards, then rigorously implemented the 802
rules for everything except TCP/IP where the IETF rules take precedence. This means that
NETBEUI (the format for NETBIOS on the LAN) and SNA obey the 802 conventions.

So "Ethernet" suffers from too many standards. The old DIX rules for message format persist for
some uses (Internet, DECNET, some Novell). The new 802 rules apply to other traffic (SNA,
NETBEUI). The most pressing problem is to make sure that Novell clients and servers are
configured to use the same frame format.

Access and Collisions:

Ethernet uses a protocol called CSMACD. This stands for "Carrier Sense, Multiple Access,
Collision Detect". The "Multiple Access" part means that every station is connected to a single
copper wire (or a set of wires that are connected together to form a single data path). The
"Carrier Sense" part says that before transmitting data, a station checks the wire to see if any
other station is already sending something. If the LAN appears to be idle, then the station can
begin to send data.

An Ethernet station sends data at a rate of 10 megabits per second. That bit allows 100
nanoseconds per bit. Light and electricity travel about one foot in a nanosecond. Therefore,
after the electric signal for the first bit has traveled about 100 feet down the wire, the station has
begun to send the second bit. However, an Ethernet cable can run for hundreds of feet. If two
stations are located, say, 250 feet apart on the same cable, and both begin transmitting at the
same time, then they will be in the middle of the third bit before the signal from each reaches the
other station.

In common practice, repeaters are used to convert the Ethernet signal from one type of wire to
another. In particular, when the connection to the desktop uses ordinary telephone wire, the hub
back in the telephone closet contains a repeater for every phone circuit. Any data coming down
any phone line is copied onto the main Ethernet coax cable, and any data from the main cable
is duplicated and transmitted down every phone line. The repeaters in the hub electrically
isolate each phone circuit, which is necessary if a 10 megabit signal is going to be carried 300
feet on ordinary wire.
Problem and determination:

In the classical "Thick Net" fat yellow Ethernet cable, a heavy copper wire is embedded in
plastic and surrounded by a grounded metal shield. At each end of the cable, the central signal
wire is connected to a resistor that in turn connects to the grounded shield. As was previously
noted, each bit follows the previous bit at a distance of about 100 feet. The bits are represented
by a wave of electrical voltage. The resistor at each end of the wire removes the signal cleanly
from the wire. Without such a termination, some part of the voltage wave would hit the end of
the wire and bounce back, causing confusion and perhaps appearing as a collision.

Ethernets fail in three common ways. A nail can be driven into the cable breaking the signal
wire. A nail can be driven in touching the signal wire and shorting it to the external grounded
metal shield. Finally, a station on the LAN can break down and start to generate a continuous
stream of junk blocking everyone else from sending.

There is a specialized device that finds problems in an Ethernet LAN. It plugs into any
attachment point in the cable, and sends out its own voltage pulse. The effect is similar to a
sonar "ping." If the cable is broken, then there is no proper terminating resistor. The pulse will hit
the loose end of the broken cable and will bounce back. The test device senses the echo,
computes how long the round trip took, and then reports how far away the break is in the cable.

If the Ethernet cable is shorted out, a simple volt meter would determine that the proper resistor
is missing from the signal and shield wires. Again, by sending out a pulse and timing the return,
the test device can determine the distance to the problem.

Most of the thinking about Ethernet repair have been based on the original Thicknet media.
However, modern Ethernet installation may not use any of this old coax cable. The connection
to the desktop may be based on telephone wire between the PC and a "hub" device. The hubs
may stack up in a wiring closet and then be connected to other rooms using fiber optic cable.

Ethernet presents a classic trade-off. The simplest equipment has a very low cost, but requires
some technical expertise to locate and repair errors. More sophisticated equipment may be able
to do automatic error detection and recovery, but at a higher price.
Frame formats:
A block of data transmitted on the Ethernet is called a "frame." The first 12 bytes of every frame
contain the 6 byte destination address (the recipient) and a 6 byte source address (the sender).
Each Ethernet adapter card comes with a unique factory installed address (the "universally
administered address"). Use of this hardware address guarantees a unique identity to each
card.

The PC software (in PROTOCOL.INI or NET.CFG) can be configured to substitute a different

address number. When this option is used, it is called a "locally administered address." If the
use of this feature is properly controlled, the address can contain information about the building,
department, room, machine, wiring circuit, or owner's telephone number. When accurate, such
information can speed problem determination.

In normal operation, an Ethernet adapter will receive only frames with a destination address that
matches its unique address, or destination addresses that represent a multicast message.
However, most Ethernet adapters can be set into "promiscuous" mode where they receive all
frames that appear on the LAN. If this poses a security problem, a new generation of smart hub
devices can filter out all frames with private destination addresses belonging to another station.

There are three common conventions for the format of the remainder of the frame:

1. Ethernet II or DIX

2. IEEE 802.3 and 802.2

3. SNAP