Lecture 7

Computer Networks
BTCSE 603

Multiple Access Protocols

● The upper sublayer that is responsible for flow and error control is called the logical link control (LLC)
layer; the lower sublayer that is mostly responsible for multiple- access resolution is called the media access
control (MAC) layer.

● When nodes or stations are connected and use a common link, called a multipoint or broadcast link, we need a
multiple-access protocol to coordinate access to the link.
Taxonomy of multiple-access protocols
RANDOM ACCESS

● No station is superior to another station and none is assigned the control over another.

● Each station can transmit when it desires on the condition that it follows the predefined procedure, including
the testing of the state of the medium.

● Two features give this method its name.

○ 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?

● In pure ALOHA, the time of transmission is continuous.

● Whenever a station has an available frame, it sends the frame.

● If there is collision and the frame is destroyed, the sender waits for a random amount of time before
retransmitting it.

● When a station sends data it waits for an acknowledgement.

● If the acknowledgement doesn’t come within the allotted time then the station waits for a random amount of
time called back-off time (Tb) and re-sends the data.

● Since different stations wait for different amount of time, the probability of further collision decreases.
● 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 time-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 back-off
time Tb.

● Pure ALOHA has a second method to prevent congesting the channel with retransmitted frames. After a
maximum number of retransmission attempts Kmax a station must give up and try later.
Vulnerable time

● Vulnerable time is the time in which there is a possibility of collision.

● We assume that the stations send fixed-length frames with each frame taking Tfr to send. Average time
required to send off a frame

● Station A sends a frame at time t. Now imagine station B has already sent a frame between t - Tfr and t. This
leads to a collision between the frames from station A and station B.

● The end of B's frame collides with the beginning of A's frame.

● On the other hand, suppose that station C sends a frame between t and t + Tfr . Here, there is a collision
between frames from station A and station C. The beginning of C's frame collides with the end of A's frame.

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

● Pure ALOHA vulnerable time = 2 x Tfr

● Let G be the average number of frames generated by the system during one frame transmission time.

● Then the average number of successful transmissions for pure ALOHA is S = G x e^-2G.

● The maximum throughput Smax is 0.184, for G = 1.

● In other words, one frame during two frame transmission times

● Slotted ALOHA reduces the number of collisions and doubles the capacity of pure ALOHA.

● The shared channel is divided into a number of discrete time intervals called slots.

● A station can transmit only at the beginning of each slot. However,there can still be collisions if more than one
station tries to transmit at the beginning of the same time slot.

● If a station misses out the allowed time, it must wait for the next slot. This reduces the probability of collision.
The vulnerable time for slotted ALOHA is one-half that of pure ALOHA.

Slotted ALOHA vulnerable time = Tfr

● The average number of successful transmissions for slotted ALOHA is S = G x e^-G.

● The maximum throughput Smax is 0.368, when G = 1.

A pure ALOHA network transmits 200-bit frames on a shared channel of 200 kbps. What is the requirement to make
this frame collision-free?

Solution

Average frame transmission time Tfr is 200 bits/200 kbps or 1 ms.

The vulnerable time is 2 x 1 ms =2 ms.

This means no station should send later than 1 ms before this station starts transmission and no station should start
sending during the one 1-ms period that this station is sending.