Medium Access Control Protocols and

Local Area Networks

EE534
Sonali Chouhan
Dept of EEE
IITG
 Outline
• MAC for wired and wireless Local Area Networks
(LAN)
• Multiple access communication
– Scheduling
• Polling and Reservations

– Random Access
• Pure and Slotted ALOHA,
• CSMA, CSMA/CD,

• IEEE 802.3 and ETHERNET

• IEEE 802.11 and Wireless LAN
MAC
 Multiple Access Communications
• Shared media basis for broadcast networks
– Inexpensive: radio over air; copper or coaxial
cable
– M users communicate by broadcasting into
medium
• Key issue: How to share the medium?
3
2
4
1

Shared multiple
access medium

M 5

 Approaches to Media Sharing
Medium sharing techniques

Static Dynamic medium

channelization access control

Scheduling Random access

• Partition medium • Polling: take • Loose

• Dedicated turns coordination
allocation to users • Request for slot in • Send, wait,
• Satellite transmission retry if
transmission schedule necessary
• Cellular • Token ring • Aloha
Telephone • Wireless LANs • Ethernet
 Channelization: Satellite

Satellite Channel

uplink fin downlink fout

Channelization: Cellular

uplink f1 ; downlink f2

uplink f3 ; downlink f4
 Scheduling: Polling

Inbound line
Data from 1 from 2
Data

Poll 1 Poll 2 Data to M

Outbound line
Host
2 M
computer 1 3

Stations
 Scheduling: Token-Passing
Ring networks
token

Data to M
token

Station that holds token transmits into ring

 Random Access
Multitapped Bus

Crash!!

Transmit when ready

Transmissions can occur; need retransmission strategy

 Outline
• MAC for wired and wireless Local Area Networks
(LAN)
• Multiple access communication
• Scheduling
• Polling and Reservations

• Random Access
• Pure and Slotted ALOHA,
• CSMA, CSMA/CD,

• IEEE 802.3 and ETHERNET

• IEEE 802.11 and Wireless LAN
Random Access
 ALOHA
Wireless link to provide data transfer between main
campus & remote campuses of University of Hawaii
(ALOHA originated at University of Hawaii )
Simplest solution: just do it
A station transmits whenever it has data to transmit
If more than one frames are transmitted, they interfere with
each other (collide) and are lost
If ACK not received within timeout, then a station picks random
backoff time (to avoid repeated collision)
Station retransmits frame after backoff time

First transmission Backoff period B Retransmission

t
t0-X t0 t0+X t0+X+2tprop t0+X+2tprop + B
Vulnerable Time-out
period
 ALOHA Model
• Definitions and assumptions
– X frame transmission time (assume constant)
– S: throughput (average # successful frame
transmissions per X seconds)
– G: load (average # transmission attempts per X sec.)
– Psuccess : probability a frame transmission is successful

S=GP success • Any transmission

that begins during
vulnerable period
leads to collision
X X • Success if no
Prior interval frame arrivals during 2X
transmission seconds
 Abramson’s Assumption
• What is probability of no arrivals in vulnerable
period?
• Abramson assumption: Effect of backoff algorithm is
that frame arrivals are equally likely to occur at any
time interval
• G is avg. # arrivals per X seconds
• Divide X into n intervals of duration =X/n
• p = probability of arrival in  interval, then
G = n p since there are n intervals in X seconds
P success =P[ 0 arrivals in 2X seconds ]=
=P[ 0 arrivals in 2n intervals ]
2n G 2 n −2 G
=(1-p) =(1− ) → e as n →∞
n
Throughput of ALOHA
−2G
S=GP success =Ge
• Collisions are means
for coordinating
1/(2e) = 0.184
access
• Max throughput is
max=1/(2e)= 18.4%
• Bimodal behavior:
Small G, S≈G
Large G, S↓0
• Collisions can
snowball and drop
throughput to zero
 Slotted ALOHA
Time is slotted in X seconds slots
Stations synchronized to frame times
Stations transmit frames in first slot after frame arrival
Backoff intervals in multiples of slots
Backoff period B

t
kX (k+1)X t0 +X+2tprop t0 +X+2tprop+ B
Time-out
Vulnerable
period

Only frames that arrive during prior X seconds collide

Throughput of Slotted ALOHA
S=GP success =GP [ no arrivals in X seconds ]
=GP [ no arrivals in n intervals ]
n G n
=G(1− p ) =G(1− ) →Ge−G
n
 Application of Slotted Aloha
cycle
... ...

Reservation X-second slot

mini-slots

Reservation protocol allows a large number of stations

with infrequent traffic to reserve slots to transmit
their frames in future cycles
Each cycle has mini-slots allocated for making
reservations
Stations use slotted Aloha during mini-slots to request
slots
 Outline
• MAC for wired and wireless Local Area Networks
(LAN)
• Multiple access communication
• Scheduling
• Polling and Reservations

• Random Access
• Pure and Slotted ALOHA,
• CSMA, CSMA/CD,

• IEEE 802.3 and ETHERNET

• IEEE 802.11 and Wireless LAN
 Carrier Sense Multiple Access
• Low maximum throughput of the ALOHA is due to
wastage of transmission bandwidth due to frame
collisions
• The wastage can be reduced by avoiding
transmissions that are certain to cause collisions.
• By sensing the medium for the presence of a carrier
signal from other stations, a station can determine
whether there is an on going collision
 Carrier Sensing Multiple Access (CSMA)
• A station senses the channel before it starts transmission
• If busy, either wait or schedule backoff (different options)
• If idle, start transmission
• Vulnerable period is reduced to tprop (due to channel capture effect)
• When collisions occur they involve entire frame transmission
times
• If tprop >X (or if a>1), no gain compared to ALOHA or slotted
ALOHA
Station A begins
transmission at
t=0 A

Station A captures
channel at t = tprop
A
 CSMA Options
Transmitter behavior when busy channel is sensed
1-persistent CSMA (most greedy)
•Start transmission as soon as the channel becomes idle
•In case of a collision, the sender keeps on sensing the channel and as soon it
finds it idle, transmits again
•Low delay and low efficiency
•1-persistent CSMA is used in CSMA/CD systems including Ethernet.
Non-persistent CSMA (least greedy)
•if the channel is idle it starts transmitting the data.
•if the channel is busy, the station waits for random amount of time and
repeats the algorithm.
•High delay and high efficiency

Sensing
 CSMA Options
p-persistent CSMA (adjustable greedy)
•Wait till channel becomes idle, transmit with prob. p; or wait one mini-slot
time & re-sense with probability 1-p
•when idle, transmits with a probability p, and so on
•used in CSMA/CA systems including Wi-Fi and other packet radio systems.
•Delay and efficiency can be balanced

Sensing
 1-Persistent CSMA Throughput

S
0.53
• Better than
Aloha & slotted
0.45
a 0.01 Aloha for small
a
0.16
a =0.1• Worse than
Aloha for a > 1
G
a=1
 Non-Persistent CSMA Throughput

a = 0.01
S 0.81 • Higher
maximum
0.51 throughput than
1-persistent for
a = 0.1 small a
0.14
• Worse than
G
Aloha for a > 1
a=1
 CSMA with Collision Detection
(CSMA/CD)
•Monitor for collisions & abort transmission
•Stations with frames to send, first do carrier sensing
•After beginning transmissions, stations continue listening to
the medium to detect collisions
•If collisions detected, all stations involved stop transmission,
reschedule random backoff times, and try again at scheduled
times
•In CSMA collisions result in wastage of X seconds spent
transmitting an entire frame
•CSMA-CD reduces wastage to time to detect collision and
abort transmission
 CSMA/CD reaction time

A begins to
transmit at A B B begins to
t=0 transmit at
B t = tprop- ;
A
B detects
A detects collision at
collision at A t = tprop
B
t= 2 tprop- 

It takes 2 tprop to find out if channel has been captured

 CSMA-CD Model
Assumptions
• Collisions can be detected and resolved in 2tprop
• Time slotted in 2tprop slots during contention periods
• Assume n busy stations, and each may transmit with
probability p in each contention time slot
• Once the contention period is over (a station successfully
occupies the channel), it takes X seconds for a frame to be
transmitted
• It takes tprop before the next contention period starts.

(a)
Busy Contention Busy Idle Contention Busy

Time
 Contention Resolution
• Calculate the mean time required for a station to
successfully capture the channel.
• Contention is resolved (“success’) if exactly 1 station
transmits in a slot:
n−1
P success =np(1−p)
• By taking derivative of Psuccess w.r.t. p we find max
occurs at p=1/n
max 1 1 n−1 1 n−1 1
P success =n (1− ) =(1− ) →
n n n e
 Contention Resolution
The average number of minislots that elapse until a station
successfully captures the channel is calculated as follows.
The probability that j minislots are required is given by

The average number of minislots in a contention period is

• On average, 1/Pmax = e = 2.718 minislots to resolve

contention
Average Contention Period=2 t prop e seconds
 CSMA/CD Throughput
Busy Contention Busy Contention Busy Contention Busy

Time

• At maximum throughput, systems alternates

between contention periods and frame
transmission times
X 1
max  
X  t prop  2et prop 1  2e 1a
• where:
R bits/sec, L bits/frame, X=L/R seconds/frame
a = tprop/X
2e+1 = 6.44
 CSMA-CD Application: Ethernet
• First Ethernet LAN standard used CSMA-CD
• 1-persistent Carrier Sensing
• R = 10 Mbps
• tprop = 51.2 microseconds
• 512 bits = 64 byte minimum slot size
• Maximum cable length 2.5 km with a maximum of 4
repeaters
• Truncated Binary Exponential Backoff
• After nth collision, select backoff from {0, 1,…, 2k – 1},
where k=min(n, 10)
 Throughput for Random Access MACs
CSMA/CD
1-P CSMA

Non-P CSMA
max

Slotted ALOHA

ALOHA

• For small a: CSMA-CD has best throughput

• For larger a: Aloha & slotted Aloha better
throughput
 Carrier Sensing and Priority
Transmission

Certain applications require faster response than others,
e.g. ACK messages

Impose different interframe times
High priority traffic sense channel for time  


Low priority traffic sense channel for time 


High priority traffic, if present, seizes channel first

This priority mechanism is used in IEEE 802.11 wireless
LAN
 Outline
• MAC for wired and wireless Local Area Networks
(LAN)
• Multiple access communication
– Scheduling
• Polling and Reservations

– Random Access
• Pure and Slotted ALOHA,
• CSMA, CSMA/CD,

• IEEE 802.3 and ETHERNET

• IEEE 802.11 and Wireless LAN
Scheduling
 Scheduling for MAC
•Schedule frame transmissions to avoid collision
in shared medium
•More efficient channel utilization
•Less variability in delays
•Can provide fairness to stations
•Increased computational or procedural
complexity
•Two main approaches
– Reservation
– Polling
 Reservations Systems
Centralized systems: A central controller accepts requests from
stations and issues grants to transmit
Frequency Division Duplex (FDD): Separate frequency bands for uplink &
downlink
Time-Division Duplex (TDD): Uplink & downlink time-share the same
channel
Distributed systems: Stations implement a decentralized
algorithm to determine transmission order

Central
Controller
 Reservation Systems
Reservation Frame
interval transmissions

r d d d r d d d Time
Cycle n Cycle (n + 1)

r = 1 2 3 M

• Transmissions organized into cycles

• Cycle: reservation interval + frame transmissions
• Reservation interval has a minislot for each station to
request reservations for frame transmissions
 Reservation System Options
Centralized or distributed system
Centralized systems: A central controller listens to reservation information,
decides order of transmission, issues grants
Distributed systems: Each station determines its slot for transmission from
the reservation information
Single or Multiple Frames
Single frame reservation: Only one frame transmission can be reserved
within a reservation cycle
Multiple frame reservation: More than one frame transmission can be
reserved within a frame
Channelized or Random Access Reservations
Channelized (typically TDMA) reservation: Reservation messages from
different stations are multiplexed without any risk of collision
Random access reservation: Each station transmits its reservation message
randomly until the message goes through
 Example
• Initially stations 3 & 5 have reservations to transmit
frames
(a)
r 3 5 r 3 5 r 3 5 8 r 3 5 8 r 3
t

• Station 8 becomes active and makes reservation

• Cycle now also includes frame transmissions from
station 8
(b) 8

r 3 5 r 3 5 r 3 5 8 r 3 5 8 r 3
t
 Efficiency of Reservation Systems
Assume minislot duration = vX
TDM single frame reservation scheme
If propagation delay is negligible, a single frame transmission requires (1+v)X seconds
Link is fully loaded when all stations transmit, maximum efficiency is:

MX 1
ρmax = =
MvX+MX 1 +v
TDM k frame reservation scheme
If k frame transmissions can be reserved with a reservation message
and if there are M stations, as many as Mk frames can be transmitted
in XM(k+v) seconds
Maximum efficiency is: MkX 1
ρmax = =
MvX+MkX v
1+
k
 Random Access Reservation Systems
Large number of light traffic stations
Dedicating a minislot to each station is inefficient
Slotted ALOHA reservation scheme
Stations use slotted Aloha on reservation minislots
On average, each reservation takes at least e minislot
attempts
Effective time required for the reservation is 2.71vX

X 1
ρmax = =
X(1+ev) 1 + 2.71v
 Example: GPRS

General Packet Radio Service

Packet data service in GSM cellular radio

GPRS devices, e.g., cellphones or laptops, send
packet data over radio and then to Internet

Slotted Aloha MAC used for reservations

Single & multi-slot reservations supported
 Reservation Systems and QoS

Different applications; different requirements

Immediate transfer for ACK frames

Low-delay transfer & steady bandwidth for voice

High-bandwidth for Web transfers

Reservation provide direct means for QoS

Stations makes requests per frame

Stations can request for persistent transmission access

Centralized controller issues grants
Preferred approach

Decentralized protocol allows stations to determine grants
Protocol must deal with error conditions when requests or grants are
lost
 Polling Systems
Centralized polling systems: A central controller transmits
polling messages to stations according to a certain order
The central controller sends a polling message to a
particular station.
When polled, the station sends its inbound messages and
indicates the completion of its transmission through a go-
ahead message.
The central controller might poll the stations in round-robin
fashion , or according to some other pre-determined order
Polling Systems
 Polling Systems
Distributed polling systems: A permit for frame transmission
is passed from station to station according to a certain
order
A signaling procedure exists for setting up order
 Polling System Options
Service Limits: How much is a station allowed to
transmit per poll?
Exhaustive: until station’s data buffer is empty
(including new frame arrivals)
Gated: all data in buffer when poll arrives
Frame-Limited: one frame per poll
Time-Limited: up to some maximum time
 Polling System Options

Priority mechanisms
More bandwidth & lower delay for stations that
appear multiple times in the polling list
Issue polls for stations with message of priority k or
higher
 Walk Time & Cycle Time
Assume polling order is round robin
Time is “wasted” polling stations
Time to prepare & send polling message
Time for station to respond
Walk time: from when a station completes transmission to when
next station begins transmission
Cycle time is between consecutive polls of a station
Overhead/cycle = total walk time/cycle time

Polling
messages
1 2 3 4 5 … M 1 2
t
Frame transmissions
Cycle Time
 Average Cycle Time
t’ t’ t’ t’ t’ t’
1 2 3 4 5 … M 1
t
Tc

Assume walk times all equal to t’

Exhaustive Service: stations empty their buffers

Cycle time = Mt’ + time to empty M station buffers

/M be frame arrival rate at a station
N average number of frames transmitted from a station
C

Time to empty one station buffer:
λ ρT c
T station =N c X=( T c ) X= ρ=λX
M M

Average Cycle Time: '
' ' Mt
T c =Mt +MT station =Mt +ρT c ⇒ T c=
1−ρ
 Efficiency of Polling Systems
Exhaustive Service
Cycle time increases as traffic increases, so delays become very
large
Walk time per cycle becomes negligible compared to cycle time:
MT station Can approach
Efficiency= =ρ 100%
Tc
Limited Service
Many applications cannot tolerate extremely long delays
Time or transmissions per station are limited
This limits the cycle time and hence delay
Efficiency of 100% is not possible
MX 1 Single frame
Efficiency= = per poll
MX+Mt 1 +t ' / X
'
Polling Application: Token-Passing
Rings

token
Free Token = Poll
Frame Delimiter is Token
Free = 01111110
Busy = 01111111
 Token Ring
• Proposed in 1969 and initially referred to as a
Newhall ring.
• Token ring :: a number of stations connected by
transmission links in a ring topology.
Information flows in one direction along the
ring from source to destination and back to
source.
• Medium access control is provided by a small
frame, the token, that circulates around the ring
when all stations are idle. Only the station
possessing the token is allowed to transmit at
any given time.
 Toke Ring
Such ring networks consists of station interfaces
Each interface acts like a repeater + has some
additional functions
 Token Passing Rings
• An interface in the listen mode reproduces each bit it
has received at its input at its output with a constant
delay, typically of the order of one bit
• This delay allows interface to observe pattern, e.g.,
address of the attached station, free token
• When the address is observed it copies all information
to the attached station

Listen mode

Input Output
from Delay to
ring ring

Ready station looks for free token

Flips bit to change free token to busy
 Token Passing Rings
• When a station wishes to transmit, it
must wait for the token to pass by and
seize the token.
• Interface change to transmit mode
• Packet circulated around the ring and
copied at the destination station interface
Transmit mode
• Simultaneously listen as well as transmit
• If ring circulation time is less than packet
transmission time then arriving info Delay
corresponds to the same pkt it is
transmitting From device
To device
• Otherwise, it could be from another Ready station inserts its frames
station, so it will buffer it for later Reinserts free token when done
transmission
 Token Ring Operation
• The packet inserted into the ring must be
removed
• One approach: Destination address removes
it.
• Second approach: The data frame circles the
ring and is removed by the transmitting
station.
– Preferred,
– Transmitter interface forwards the frame to its
attached station
– A form of acknowledgement
 Token Reinsertion
• The token reinsertion after completing transmission
• Three approaches:
– Multi-token
– Single token
– Single frame
• Ring latency: number of bits that can be
simultaneously in transit on ring
 Methods of Token Reinsertion
• Multi-token operation
• Free token transmitted immediately Busy token
after last bit of data frame Free token
• Single-token operation Frame
• Free token inserted after last bit of Idle Fill
the busy token is received back
• Transmission time at least ring
latency
• If frame is longer than ring latency,
equivalent to multi-token operation
• Otherwise, gap between last frame
bit transmission and reinsertion of
free token
• Error in token is simplified
 Methods of Token Reinsertion
Busy token
Free token
Frame
• Single-Frame operation
Idle Fill
• Free token inserted after
transmitting station has received
last bit of its frame
• Equivalent to attaching trailer
equal to ring latency
 Token Ring Throughput
Definition
’: ring latency (time required for bit to circulate ring)
X: maximum frame transmission time allowed per station
Multi-token operation
Assume network is fully loaded, and all M stations transmit for X
seconds upon the reception of a free token
This is a polling system with limited service time:

MX 1 1
ρmax = ' = =
τ +MX 1+τ / MX 1 +a' / M
'
'
τ
a '= is the normalized ring latency
X
 Token Ring Throughput
Single-frame operation
Effective frame transmission time is maximum of X and ’ ,
therefore
MX 1
ρmax = =
΄+ M max{(X,΄} max{1, a΄} + a΄/M

Single-token operation
Effective frame transmission time is X+ ’ ,therefore

MX ΄+ 1
ρmax = =
M(X+ ΄) 1+a΄(1 + 1/M)
 Token Reinsertion Efficiency
Comparison

a <<1, any token reinsertion strategy acceptable

a ≈1, single token reinsertion strategy acceptable
a >1, multitoken reinsertion strategy necessary
 Application Examples
Single-frame reinsertion
IEEE 802.5 Token Ring LAN @ 4 Mbps
Single token reinsertion
IBM Token Ring @ 4 Mbps
Multitoken reinsertion
IEEE 802.5 and IBM Ring LANs @ 16 Mbps
FDDI Ring @ 50 Mbps
All of these LANs incorporate token priority
mechanisms
 Comparison of MAC approaches
Aloha & Slotted Aloha
Simple & quick transfer at very low load
Accommodates large number of low-traffic bursty users
Highly variable delay at moderate loads
Efficiency does not depend on a
CSMA-CD
Quick transfer and high efficiency for low delay-bandwidth
product
Can accommodate large number of bursty users
Variable and unpredictable delay
 Comparison of MAC approaches
Reservation
On-demand transmission of bursty or steady streams
Accommodates large number of low-traffic users with slotted
Aloha reservations
Can incorporate QoS
Handles large delay-bandwidth product via delayed grants
Polling
Generalization of time-division multiplexing
Provides fairness through regular access opportunities
Can provide bounds on access delay
Performance deteriorates with large delay-bandwidth product
Overview of LANs
 What is a LAN?
Local area means:
1) Private ownership
freedom from regulatory constraints of WANs
2) Short distance (~1km) between computers
low cost
very high-speed, relatively error-free communication
complex error control unnecessary
3) Machines are constantly moved
Keeping track of location of computers a chore
Simply give each machine a unique address
Broadcast all messages to all machines in the LAN
Need a medium access control protocol
 Typical LAN Structure
• Transmission
Medium
• Network
Interface Card
(NIC)
Ethernet
• Unique MAC
RAM

“physical”
Processor

ROM
RAM
address
 Medium Access Control Sublayer
In IEEE 802.1, Data Link Layer divided into:
1) Medium Access Control Sublayer

Coordinate access to medium

Connectionless frame transfer service

Machines identified by MAC/physical address

Broadcast frames with MAC addresses
2) Logical Link Control Sublayer
Between Network layer & MAC sublayer
 MAC Sub-layer
IEEE 802 OSI

Network layer Network layer

LLC 802.2 Logical link control

Data link
layer

802.3 802.5 802.11 Other

MAC
CSMA-CD Token Ring Wireless LANs
LAN

Physical
Physical Various physical layers
layer
layer
 Logical Link Control Layer
 IEEE 802.2: LLC enhances service provided by MAC

A C

A Reliable frame service C

Unreliable Datagram Service LLC LLC LLC

MAC MAC MAC MAC MAC MAC

PHY PHY PHY PHY PHY PHY

 Logical Link Control Services
Type 1: Unacknowledged connectionless service
– Unnumbered frame mode of HDLC
Type 2: Reliable connection-oriented servic
– Asynchronous balanced mode of HDLC
Type 3: Acknowledged connectionless service
– To provide type-3 service2 additional unnumbered frames
added to the defined HDLC set
Additional addressing provided by LLC to supplement
MAC address
A workstation has a single MAC physical address
Can handle several logical connections, distinguished by their
SAP (service access points).
 LLC PDU Structure
1 byte 1 1 or 2 bytes
1
Destination Source
SAP Address SAP Address Control Information

Destination SAP Address Source SAP Address

I/G C/R

1 7 bits 1 7 bits

I/G = Individual or group address Examples of SAP Addresses:

C/R = Command or response frame 06 IP packet
E0 Novell IPX (Internetwork pkt exchange)
FE OSI packet
AA SubNetwork Access protocol (SNAP)
 Encapsulation of MAC frames
IP IP
Packet

LLC LLC Data

PDU Header

MAC FCS
Header
Ethernet
 IEEE 802.3 MAC: Ethernet
MAC Protocol:
CSMA/CD
Slot Time is the critical system parameter
– upper bound on time to detect collision
– upper bound on time to acquire channel
– upper bound on length of frame segment generated by
collision
– quantum for retransmission scheduling
– max{round-trip propagation, MAC jam time}
Truncated binary exponential backoff

for retransmission n: 0 < r < 2k, where k=min(n,10)

Give up after 16 retransmissions
 IEEE 802.3 Original Parameters
• Transmission Rate: 10 Mbps
• Min Frame: 512 bits = 64 bytes
• Slot time: 512 bits/10 Mbps = 51.2 sec
– 51.2 sec x 2x105 km/sec =10.24 km, 1 way
– 5.12 km round trip distance
• Max Length: 2500 meters + 4 repeaters
• Each x10 increase in bit rate, must be accompanied
by x10 decrease in distance

81
 IEEE 802.3 MAC Frame
802.3 MAC Frame
7 1 6 6 2 4
Destination Source
Preamble SD Length Information Pad FCS
address address
Synch Start 64 - 1518 bytes
frame

Every frame transmission begins “from scratch”

Preamble helps receivers synchronize their clocks
to transmitter clock
7 bytes of 10101010 generate a square wave
Start frame byte changes to 10101011
Receivers look for change in 10 pattern
 IEEE 802.3 MAC Frame
802.3 MAC Frame
7 1 6 6 2 4
Destination Source
Preamble SD Length Information Pad FCS
address address
Synch Start 64 - 1518 bytes
frame

0 Single address • Destination address

• single address
• group address
1 Group address • broadcast = 111...111
Addresses
0 Local address • local or global
• Global addresses
• first 24 bits assigned to
1 Global address manufacturer;
• next 24 bits assigned by
manufacturer
• Cisco 00-00-0C
• 3COM 02-60-8C
 IEEE 802.3 MAC Frame
802.3 MAC Frame
7 1 6 6 2 4
Destination Source
Preamble SD Length Information Pad FCS
address address
Synch Start 64 - 1518 bytes
frame

 Length: # bytes in information field

 Max frame 1518 bytes, excluding preamble & SD
 Max information 1500 bytes: 05DC
 Pad: ensures min frame of 64 bytes
 FCS: CCITT-32 CRC, covers addresses, length, information,
pad fields
 NIC discards frames with improper lengths or failed CRC
 DIX Ethernet II Frame Structure
Ethernet frame
7 1 6 6 2 4
Destination Source Information FCS
Preamble SD Type
address address
Synch Start 64 - 1518 bytes
frame

DIX: Digital, Intel, Xerox joint Ethernet specification

Type Field: to identify protocol of PDU in information
field, e.g. IP, ARP
Framing: How does receiver know frame length?
physical layer signal, byte count, FCS
 SubNetwork Address Protocol (SNAP)
IEEE standards assume LLC always used
Higher layer protocols developed for DIX expect type field
DSAP, SSAP = AA, AA indicate SNAP PDU;
03 = Type 1 (connectionless) service
SNAP used to encapsulate Ethernet II frames

ORG Type
3 2

SNAP Header
SNAP PDU Information

LLC PDU AA AA 03
1 1 1

MAC Header FCS

 IEEE 802.3 Physical Layer
IEEE 802.3 10 Mbps medium alternatives

10base5 10base2 10baseT 10baseFX

Medium Thick coax Thin coax Twisted pair Optical fiber

Max. Segment Length 500 m 200 m 100 m 2 km

Topology Bus Bus Star Point-to-point

link
Hubs & Switches!
(a transceivers (b)
)

Thick Coax: Stiff, hard to work with

T connectors flaky
 Ethernet Hubs & Switches
Single collision domain
High-Speed backplane
(a)      (b) or interconnection fabric


  


Twisted Pair Cheap

Easy to work with Twisted Pair Cheap
Reliable Bridging increases scalability
Star-topology CSMA-CD Separate collision domains
Full duplex operation
 Ethernet Scalability
CSMA-CD a = .01
a = .1
a = .2
30
Avg. Transfer Delay

25
20
15
10
5
0
0.24

0.42
0.48
0.54

0.96
0
0.06
0.12
0.18

0.36

0.6
0.66
0.72
0.78
0.84
0.9
0.3

CSMA-CD maximum throughputLoad depends on normalized

delay-bandwidth product a=tprop/X

x10 increase in bit rate = x10 decrease in X
To keep a constant need to either: decrease tprop (distance)
by x10; or increase frame length x10
 Fast Ethernet
IEEE 802.3 100 Mbps Ethernet medium alternatives

100baseT4 100baseT 100baseFX

Medium Twisted pair category 3 Twisted pair category 5 Optical fiber multimode
UTP 4 pairs UTP two pairs Two strands

Max. Segment 100 m 100 m 2 km

Length

Topology Star Star Star

•To preserve compatibility with 10 Mbps Ethernet:
•Same frame format, same interfaces, same protocols
•Hub topology only with twisted pair & fiber
•Bus topology & coaxial cable abandoned
•Category 3 twisted pair (ordinary telephone grade) requires 4 pairs
•Category 5 twisted pair requires 2 pairs (most popular)
•Most prevalent LAN today
 Gigabit Ethernet
IEEE 802.3 1 Gbps Fast Ethernet medium alternatives

1000baseSX 1000baseLX 1000baseCX 1000baseT

Medium Optical fiber Optical fiber Shielded copper Twisted pair

multimode single mode cable category 5
Two strands Two strands UTP

Max. Segment 550 m 5 km 25 m 100 m

Length

•Slot time increased

Topology Starto 512 bytes Star Star Star

•Small frames need to be extended to 512 B

•Frame bursting to allow stations to transmit burst of short frames
•Frame structure preserved but CSMA-CD essentially abandoned
•Extensive deployment in backbone of enterprise data networks
and in server farms
 10 Gigabit Ethernet
IEEE 802.3 10 Gbps Ethernet medium alternatives

10GbaseSR 10GBaseLR 10GbaseEW 10GbaseLX4

Medium Two optical Two optical fibers Two optical fibers Two optical fibers
fibers multimode/single-
Multimode at Single-mode at Single-mode at mode with four
850 nm 1310 nm 1550 nm wavelengths at 1310
SONET nm band
64B66B code 64B66B compatibility 8B10B code

Max. Segment 300 m 10 km 40 km 300 m – 10 km

Length

•Frame structure preserved

•CSMA-CD protocol officially abandoned
•LAN PHY for local network applications
•WAN PHY for wide area interconnection using SONET OC-192c
•Extensive deployment in metro networks anticipated
 Typical Ethernet Deployment
Server farm

Server Server Server

Gigabit Ethernet links

Switch/router Switch/router
Gigabit Ethernet links

Ethernet Server Ethernet

Server Ethernet Server
switch switch
switch
100 Mbps links 100 Mbps links
100 Mbps links

Hub Hub
Hub

10 Mbps links 10 Mbps links

10 Mbps links

Department A Department B Department C