Chapter 4: Network Access

Objectives
Upon completion of this chapter, you will be able to:
-Identify device connectivity options.
-Describe the purpose and functions of the physical layer in the network.
-Describe basic principles of the physical layer standards.
-Identify the basic characteristics of copper cabling.
-Build a UTP cable used in Ethernet networks.
-Describe fiber-optic cabling and its main advantages over other media.
-Describe wireless media.
-Select the appropriate media for a given requirement and connect devices.
-Describe the purpose and function of the data link layer in preparing communication for transmission on specific
media.
-Describe the Layer 2 frame structure and identify generic fields.
-Identify several sources for the protocols and standards used by the data link layer.
-Compare the functions of logical topologies and physical topologies.
-Describe the basic characteristics of media control methods on WAN topologies.
-Describe the basic characteristics of media control methods on LAN topologies.
-Describe the characteristics and functions of the data link frame.
4.1 Physical Layer Protocols
4.2 Network Media
4.3 Data Link Layer Protocols
4.4 Media Access Control
4.5 Summary

4.1 Physical Layer Protocols

Getting it Connected
Connecting to the Network Network Interface Cards
Purpose of the Physical Layer
The Physical Layer
Physical Layer Media

Physical Layer Standards

Standard Organization

Networking Standards

ISO

ISO 8877: Officially adopted the RJ connectors (e.g., RJ-11, RJ-45)

ISO 11801: Network cabling standard similar to EIA/TIA 568.
TIA-568-C: Telecommunications cabling standards, used by nearly all voice, video and data networks.
TIA-569-B: Commercial Building Standards for Telecommunications Pathways and Spaces
TIA-598-C: Fiber optic color coding
TIA-942: Telecommunications Infrastructure Standard for Data Centers
568-C: RJ-45 pinouts. Co-developed with EIA/TIA
G.992: ADSL
802.3: Ethernet
802.11: Wireless LAN (WLAN) & Mesh (Wi-Fi certification)
802.15: Bluetooth

EIA/TIA

ANSI
ITU-T
IEEE

Fundamental Principles of Layer 1

Physical Layer Fundamental Principles
Media
Copper Cable

Fiber Optic Cable

Wireless Media

Physical
Components
UTP
Coaxial
Connectors
NICs
Ports
Interfaces
Single-mode Fiber
Multimode Fiber
Connectors
NICs
Interfaces
Lasers and LEDs
Photoreceptors
Access Points
NICs
Radio
Antennae

Frame Encoding Technique

Signalling Method

Manchester Encoding
Non-Return to Zero (NRZ) techniques
4B/5B codes are used with Multi-Level Transition
Level 3 (MLT-3) signaling
8B/10B
PAM5
Pulses of light
Wavelength multiplexing using different colors

Changes in the electromagnetic field

Intensity of the electromagnetic field
Phase of the electromagnetic wave

DSSS (direct-sequence spread-spectrum)

OFDM (orthogonal frequency division multiplexing)

Radio waves

Bandwidth

Throughput

Types of Physical Media

4.2 Network Media

Copper Cabling
Characteristics of Copper Media

A pulse equals 1.
No pulse is 0.

Copper Media

UTP Cable

STP Cable

Coaxial Cable

UTP Cabling
Properties of UTP Cabling
UTP cable does not use shielding to counter the effects of EMI and RFI. Instead, cable designers have
discovered that they can limit the negative effect of crosstalk by:
-Cancellation
-Varying the number of twists per wire pair
UTP Cabling Standards

Types of UTP Cable

Testing UTP Cables

After installation, a UTP cable tester should be used to test for the following parameters:
-Wire map
-Cable length
-Signal loss due to attenuation
-Crosstalk
Fiber Optic
Cabling Properties of Fiber Optic Cabling
Fiber-optic cabling is now being used in four types of industry:
-Enterprise Networks
-Fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) and Access Networks
-Long-Haul Networks
-Submarine Networks
Fiber Media Cable Design

Types of Fiber Media

Network Fiber Connectors

Testing Fiber Cables

Fiber versus Copper

Implementation Issues
Bandwidth Supported
Distance
Immunity To EMI And RFI

Copper Media
10 Mbps 10 Gbps
Relatively short
(1 100 meters)
Low

Immunity To Electrical Hazards

Low

Media And Connector Costs

Installation Skills Required
Safety Precautions

Lowest
Lowest
Lowest

Fibre Optic
10 Mbps 100 Gbps
Relatively High
(1 100,000 meters)
High
(Completely immune)
High
(Completely immune)
Highest
Highest
Highest

Wireless Media
Properties of Wireless Media
Wireless does have some areas of concern including:
-Coverage area
-Interference
-Security
Types of Wireless Media
IEEE 802.11 standards
Commonly referred to as Wi-Fi.
Uses CSMA/CA
Variations include:
802.11a: 54 Mbps, 5 GHz
802.11b: 11 Mbps, 2.4 GHz
802.11g: 54 Mbps, 2.4 GHz
802.11n: 600 Mbps, 2.4 and 5 GHz
802.11ac: 1 Gbps, 5 GHz
802.11ad: 7 Gbps, 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 60 GHz
IEEE 802.15 standard
Supports speeds up to 3 Mb/s
Provides device pairing over distances from 1 to 100 meters.
IEEE 802.16 standard
Provides speeds up to 1 Gbps
Uses a point-to-multipoint topology to provide wireless broadband access.

Wireless LAN
Cisco Linksys EA6500 802.11ac Wireless Router

802.11 Wi-Fi Standards

Standard

Maximum Speed

Frequency

Backwards Compatible

802.11a
802.11b
802.11g
802.11n
802.11ac
802.11ad

54 Mbps
11 Mbps
54 Mbps
600 Mbps
1.3 Gbps (1300 Mbps)
7 Gbps (7000 Mbps)

5 GHz
2.4 GHz
2.4 GHz
2.4 GHz or 5 GHz
2.4 GHz and 5.5 GHz
2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and 60 GHz

No
No
802.11b
802.11b/g
802.11b/g/n
802.11b/g/n/ac

4.3 Data Link Layer Protocols

Purpose of the Data Link Layer
The Data Link Layer

Data Link Sublayers

Media Access Control

The Data Link Layer

Providing Access to Media

Data Link Layer

Formatting Data for Transmission

Layer 2 Frame
Structure Creating a Frame

Layer 2 Standards
Data Link Layer Standards
Standard organization

Networking Standards

IEEE

802.2: Logical Link Control (LLC)

802.3: Ethernet
802.4: Token bus
802.5: Token passing
802.11: Wireless LAN (WLAN) & Mesh (Wi-Fi certification)
802.15: Bluetooth
802.16: WiMax
G.992: ADSL
G.8100 - G.8199: MPLS over Transport aspects
Q.921: ISDN
Q.922: Frame Relay
HDLC (High Level Data Link Control)
ISO 9314: FDDI Media Access Control (MAC)
X3T9.5 and X3T12: Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI)

ITU-T

ISO
ANSI

4.4 Media Access Control

Topologies
Controlling Access to the Media

Physical and Logical Topologies

WAN Topologies
Common Physical WAN Topologies Physical Point-to-Point Topology Logical Point-to-Point Topology

Half- and Full-Duplex

LAN Topologies
Physical LAN Topologies

Logical Topology for Shared Media

Contention-Based Access

Characteristics
Stations can transmit at any time
Collision exist
There are mechanisms to resolve contention for the media

Contention-Based Technologies
CSMA/CD for 802.3 Ethernet networks
CSMA/CA for 802.11 wireless networks

Multi-Access Topology

Controlled Access

Characteristics
Only one station can transmit at a time
Devices wanting to transmit must wait their turn
No collisions
May use a token passing method

Ring Topology

Data Link Frame

The Frame

Controlled Access Technologies

Token Ring (IEEE 802.5)
FDDI

The Header

Layer 2 Address

The Trailer

LAN and WAN Frames

Ethernet Frame

Point-to-Point Protocol Frame

802.11 Wireless Frame

Summary
The TCP/IP network access layer is the equivalent of the OSI data link layer (Layer 2) and the physical layer
(Layer 1).
The OSI physical layer provides the means to transport the bits that make up a data link layer frame across the
network media.
The physical layer standards address three functional areas: physical components, frame encoding technique,
and signaling method.
Using the proper media is an important part of network communications. Without the proper physical
connection, either wired or wireless, communications between any two devices will not occur.
Wired communication consists of copper media and fiber cable.
There are three main types of copper media used in networking: unshielded-twisted pair (UTP), shieldedtwisted pair (STP), and coaxial cable. UTP cabling is the most common copper networking media.
Optical fiber cable has become very popular for interconnecting infrastructure network devices. It permits the
transmission of data over longer distances and at higher bandwidths (data rates) than any other networking
media.
Wireless media carry electromagnetic signals that represent the binary digits of data communications using
radio or microwave frequencies.
The data link layer is responsible for the exchange of frames between nodes over a physical network media. It
allows the upper layers to access the media and controls how data is placed and received on the media.
Among the different implementations of the data link layer protocols, there are different methods of controlling
access to the media. These media access control techniques define if and how the nodes share the media.
The actual media access control method used depends on the topology and media sharing. LAN and WAN
topologies can be physical or logical.
WANs are commonly interconnected using the point-to-point, hub and spoke, or mesh physical topologies.
In shared media LANs, end devices can be interconnected using the star, bus, ring, or extended star (hybrid)
physical topologies.
All data link layer protocols encapsulate the Layer 3 PDU within the data field of the frame. However, the
structure of the frame and the fields contained in the header and trailer vary according to the protocol.